Vocalist Mary Stallings comes to The RRazz Room from February 2 to 5. Showtimes are 7pm on Friday and Saturday and 5pm on Sunday. Her band will include David Udolf on piano, Akira Tana on drums and Ron Belcher on bass. I last saw Mary at Yoshi’s Oakland and her show was amazing.

According to the New York Times, “perhaps the best jazz singer singing today is a woman almost everybody seems to have missed.” That woman is Mary Stallings, a Bay Area native who established a name for herself as one of the finest jazz singers of the 1960s, performing with such luminaries as Dizzy Gillespie, Cal Tjader, Billy Eckstine, and Count Basie.

After taking a hiatus from her recording career in the 1970s to raise her daughter and work as a clothes designer, Stallings stepped back into the national jazz spotlight in 1999 when the owner of the famous Village Vanguard nightclub in New York heard a recording of her singing and eventually tracked her down at her home in San Francisco. Ever since then, jazz fans have had the pleasure of rediscovering Stallings, whose voice and phrasing continued to mature and improve during her long sabbatical. In 2006 she was presented with the San Francisco Jazz Festival’s Beacon Award for her contributions to jazz in the Bay Area.
“I had a huge voice when I was just eight years old,” says Mary Stallings about her beginnings as a singer. It was a voice too big to ignore – spanning almost four octaves. Few could. By the time she was 11, she had made her first solo recording and while still in high school she joined Louis Jordan’s Tympani Five. She came of age in the big band era, and was invited to tour as vocalist with most of the major names of the time. “It was the best musical education I could have had,” explains Mary, “I was fired from lessons for playing everything from memory.” Instead, her education came a bit more unconventionally, including stints with the Grover Mitchell – Earl “Father” Hines band, three years touring the U.S. and Europe with Count Basie, and sharing the bill with Joe Williams, Tony Bennett and Ella Fitzgerald. “I met all the heroes of the music and then got a chance to work with them,” she says.

Although Mary took time off from touring and recording during the ’70′s, she never stopped singing. So when she re-emerged back onto the jazz scene reinvigorated, with a sound that gave homage to her past but held a freshness and vigor, she immediately caught the attention of the music press, who called her “stunning” and a “jazz vocal sensation.” During this period, she released several critically acclaimed CDs, one which made many of the year-end “best-of” lists, another that went to the top 10 on the Gavin Jazz Chart. Today, Mary Stallings combines the grace and grandeur of experience with an undiluted passion for performing in her Live At The Village Vanguard release. With its blend of old and new, smoky standards and take-your-breath-away ballads, the CD, in many ways, reflects this current milestone in Mary’s career. “This is the right time for me to be singing these songs,” she says. “I pick songs that feel delicious to me, songs that I relate to at the time, songs that I love. That’s what you’ll find here.”

Photo Credit: James Knox

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PAULA WEST RETURNS TO SAN FRANCISCO FOR ONE NIGHT ONLY

First San Francisco performance in over a year

Paula West, San Francisco’s favorite jazz singer returns to the Herbst Theatre for one performance only on Saturday February 11, 2012 at 8:00 p.m. Performing with the George Mesterhazy Quartet, she will perform songs from her new CD, “Live at the Jazz Standard.” The CD features many of Paula’s best loved tunes never before recorded by her.

When: Saturday, February 11, 2012, 8:00 p.m.
Where: Herbst Theatre
Tickets: City Box Office $35.00/$40.00 www.cityboxoffice.com

A long time resident of San Francisco, Paula West has been a staple of the SF Jazz scene with sold-out, long run engagements at Yoshi’s, the Plush Room, and SF Jazz Performances. She has also performed at the White House; Jazz at Lincoln Center (where she performed with Wynton Marsalis); the legendary Oak Room in Manhattan’s Algonquin Hotel; and top Manhattan jazz clubs; Birdland, the Jazz Standard and The Blue Note where she has built a loyal following. She has won the prestigious Nightlife Award for Outstanding Jazz Vocalist three times. In addition, she has enchanted critics and audiences from coast to coast – and as far away as Tokyo, Athens, Moscow, and Paris.

The new CD “Live at the Jazz Standard” will be available at the concert.

What the critics have said about Paula West

David Wiegand, San Francisco Chronicle, “…the creative spark that Mesterhazy and West have been making for several years is very evident” in their music making.

Steven Holden, The New York Times, she is a “mischievously sexy jazz singer” with a “thick velvety voice” capable of making “the earth move.”

Steven Winn, San Francisco Chronicle, “It’s doubtful that anyone is singing better than Paula West these days”

Contact: Diane Dragone
415-517-7307
diane.dragone@gmail.com

A Special Jazz Salute to Black History Month – February 1 thru March 4, 2012 – Jazz Heritage Center Lush Life Gallery – 1320 Fillmore Street – San Francisco. Opening reception and panel discussion on February 2 from 6-9pm. The panel discussion will be from 6-7pm in the Jazz Heritage Center Media Room and moderated by Norman K. Brown. Please come out!!!

I am pretty excited to be in the company of fellow artists, James Gayles and Jim Dennis for this exhibit.

Vocalist Carmen Lundy will be releasing her 12th album, Changes, on February 7. The promo video above tells us what to expect from her new release and I am very excited. I got to see Carmen in concert last summer at Yoshi’s Oakland and she and her band were amazing. In addition, there will also be a reissue of her Night and Day album next month.

Just in case you missed seeing the incredible José James at Yoshi’s San Francisco Thursday night, you have another opportunity to see him tonight at The New Parish in Oakland. Doors open at 9pm and tickets are $20. Don’t sleep on this for he is definitely the real deal.

Check out the soulful grooves of Tortured Soul at The New Parish next Sunday, December 18.

Photo Credit: James Knox

The Terry Hilliard ‘El Bajo’ Latin Jazz Experience @ La Penca Azul in Alameda – August 7 @ 3pm

The Terry Hilliard ‘El Bajo’ Latin Jazz Experience, led by West Coast Jazz & Latin Jazz Legend John ‘Terry’ Hilliard on Bass will perform every first Sunday, starting August 7 at 3pm at La Penca Azul located at 891 Island Drive in Alameda.

Made famous by his amazing performances on Cal Tjader’s ‘Soul Sauce’ & ‘Soul Bird’ Albums, Terry Hilliard is a name synonymous with Hot West Coast Latin Jazz.

Terry’s All-Stars include Bay Area Jazz Notables George ‘Jazzbeau’ Spencer on Piano, Yancy ‘The Jazz Doctor’ Taylor on Vibes, and Ted Strong (a protégé of the Iconic Armando Peraza) on Congas.

Rounding out the 7-piece Latin Experience is George Spencer’s Eldest Son – Michael on Drums, Terry Hilliard’s Eldest Son – Jeffrey on Bongos & Congas, and Cuban Percussion Phenom ‘Carlitos’ on Timbales.

The group performs a Hot & Powerful mixture of Latin Jazz Hits from Cal Tjader, Tito Puente, and Dizzy Gillespie, that will make you shout, jump, dance, and cheer for MORE!

This Sunday, Trisha Gold & Her Friends will perform at 3pm at Golden Gate Library, 5606 San Pablo Avenue, Oakland, California. This concert is part of the Friends of Golden Gate Library 21st Annual Jazz on Sundays Summer Concert Series which runs through August 28.

Concerts are held every Sunday at 3pm (doors open at 2:30pm), followed by a History of Jazz lecture with jazz legend Randy Moore, and an open jam session. All concerts are held at the Golden Gate Library with the exception of the August 21 concert, featuring the Junius Courtney Big Band. This concert at Temescal Creek Park located on 47th Street between Adeline and San Pablo Avenue in Emeryville.

Admission is free and donations are welcome.

Upcoming concerts:

July 17, 2011
Trisha Gold & Her Friends

July 24, 2011
Bill Bell Trio

July 31, 2011
Faye Carol & Sista Kee

August 7, 2011
Herb Gibson

August 14, 2011
Calvin Keys Trio

August 21, 2011
Julius Courtney Big Band (Temescal Creek Park)

August 28, 2011
Rhonda Benin & Quartet

Photo of guitarist Calvin Keys by James Knox

Healthcare Benefit for Dayna Stephens – All-Star Musicians’ Tribute Monday July 4 at Yoshi’s San Francisco

Many of you know saxophonist Dayna Stephens as a popular face in the local Jazz scene. On Monday July 4th, The All-Star Bay Area Musician’s Community is coming together to support him while he waits on a dire kidney transplant and faces costly anti-rejection medications at a monthly rate of over $4,000 a month for an indefinite time period.

Special Guests Include: Marcus Shelby, Lavay Smith, John Santos, Ray Obiedo, Faye Carol, Kenny Washington, Mike Olmos & Wil Blades, to name just a few who are turning up in support.

Help a musician in need, while seeing a stellar jazz show at the same time!

Cost: $25 advanced / $35 at the door

Tickets can be purchased here:
http://www.yoshis.com/sanfrancisco/jazzclub/artist/show/1940

If you are unable to attend, donations can be made at the following:
Chase Bank – The Attune Agency, Account number 925641219 OR
Send a check to made to: Attune Agency – 2588 Mission Street, Suite 215, SF, CA 94110
(Please Note: Dayna cannot accept contributions directly)

Photo Credit: James Knox