Craven Arts Council & Gallery, Bank of the Arts

TICKETS ON SALE NOW FOR THE
ANNUAL SUNDAY JAZZ SHOWCASE! 

The Craven Arts Council & Gallery’s 23rd Annual Sunday Jazz Showcase will take place on February 19, 2012.  Two performances (1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.)  are scheduled at the Hilton Hotel, 100 Middle Street, New Bern.

Tickets for the 1:30 p.m. performance are $30 for Craven Arts Council members and $35 for nonmembers.  Tickets for the 7 p.m. performance are $25 for members and $30 for nonmembers and are on sale now at the Bank of the Arts.   

For 22 years, New Bern residents and visitors have looked forward to the Craven Arts Council & Gallery’s Annual Sunday Jazz Showcase, and this year’s event will not disappoint. Headlining our 23rd year of traditional jazz are the ever-popular Dave Bennett (leader and clarinet), Lynn Roberts (vocals), John Brown (bass), John Hanks (drums) and John Salmon (piano). These talented artists will come together on February 19 at the Hilton Hotel, on the riverfront in downtown New Bern.

The Sunday Jazz Showcase began in 1990 as the Sunday Jazz Buffet with one performance. Because of its popularity, the event was soon expanded to two shows - an afternoon performance at 1:30 p.m. and an evening performance at 7:00 p.m. Each show lasts approximately two hours, with two 15-minute breaks. A cash bar and snacks will be available.

A little about the artists:

Michigan clarinetist Dave Bennett is an authentic musical prodigy who brings to life the classic sound and music of Benny Goodman with incredible technique, style, beauty of tone, and naturalness. Bennett began playing at 10 years of age and taught himself how to play Goodman songs by ear, listening to a tape given to him by his grandfather. At 12, he was invited to the bandstand of the famous Sweet Basil jazz club in New York to sit in with trumpet great Doc Cheatham.

His mature stage presence, knowledge of the dates and details of Goodman recordings, and his penchant for wire-rim glasses, spats, and double-breasted suits transport listeners back to the time and mood of Benny Goodman’s swing era. In his Goodman tunes, he demonstrates an uncanny ability to “cop” many of Goodman’s famous riffs and lines, balanced by substantial amounts of “free blowing” that still evokes the Goodman sound and style.

Those of us who have been privileged to share musical moments with Lynn Roberts, are grateful that she has prevailed as one of the few stars to bridge the decades. Her dedication and success have provided us with a legacy of an endless flow of wonderful music from the Big Band era to the present. It takes only one short session with her to convince anyone, that Lynn Roberts is their favorite singer, and one of the super songbirds of all time!

Roberts started her exciting career with Charlie Spivak at the age of 15. Roberts also performed with Vincent Lopez, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, Benny Goodman and Harry James and shared the spotlight with Sammy Kay on the ABC-TV show “Music from Manhattan.”  She has the distinction of being the only girl singer to have sung with all the superstar band leaders.

In recent years Roberts has performed with over 40 symphonies throughout the U.S. and Canada. She released “The Men in My Life,” a CD dedicated to the superstar band leaders with whom she has worked. Roberts is our most repeated performer!

Bassist, composer, educator and actor John Brown is a native of Fayetteville, North Carolina, and currently resides in Durham. He began performing with the Fayetteville Symphony Orchestra at age 13, and he was playing Principal Bass with that orchestra and performing with the Florence (SC) Symphony while still in high school.

Brown currently serves as Director of the Jazz Program and Associate Professor of the Practice of Music at Duke University. He has performed in the United States and abroad with artists like Wynton Marsalis, Nnenna Freelon, Diahann Carroll, Rosemary Clooney, Nell Carter, and Slide Hampton.

Welcomed back is John Hanks, a percussionist living in Durham, North Carolina. Hanks took his first lessons on snare drum at the age of seven. He teaches percussion in the Duke Music Department and is the faculty musician for the Duke Dance Program. As a jazz drummer, he has performed with many notable artists, including: John Brown, Wyclif Gordon, Jon Metzger, Mose Allison, the Glen Miller Band, Stephanie Nakasian, Butch Thompson, Scott Hamilton, Warren Vache and Mary Lou Williams.

Hanks is the founding member of the Philidor Percussion Group and has performed frequently with the Mallarme Chamber Players, the Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle, the North Carolina Symphony, and the Greensboro Symphony Orchestra.

Pianist John Salmon, Professor of Music at the University of North Carolina, in Greensboro, has distinguished himself on four continents, as both a classical and jazz artist. His versatility often produces striking juxtapositions. In one concert with the Wilmington (North Carolina) Symphony in 2001, Salmon performed Beethoven’s Second Piano Concerto in the first half, and then, in the second half, Dave Brubeck’s Elementals for orchestra and jazz trio (with Brubeck’s sons, bassist Chris Brubeck and drummer Dan Brubeck).

Salmon, a frequent guest performer at festivals in the U.S. and Europe, has been a member of the faculty of The University of North Carolina at Greensboro School of Music, Theatre & Dance since 1989. He holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from The University of Texas at Austin; the Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School; and the Solistendiplom from the Hochschule für Musik, Freiburg, Germany.