Grace Kelly Quintet to Perform at Scullers on August 27 in Support of "Mood Changes"

PAZZ Productions is proud to announce that saxophonist Grace Kelly and her Quintet will perform at Boston's Scullers Jazz Club on August 27 in support of their most recent release, Mood Changes. Additionally, Kelly was recently voted “Best Jazz Act in Boston" in The Boston Phoenix's 2009 Best Music Poll (a title that she holds for the second consecutive year).
Kelly's career is growing at an ever excelling pace. Trumpeter and Jazz at Lincoln Center Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis was so impressed with Kelly's three-night stand as guest of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra in November that he invited her to join the ensemble at the Kennedy Center's Eisenhower Theater in Washington, D.C. for an Martin Luther King, Jr. Day/Inauguration Eve concert on January 19th. Harry Connick, Jr. heard Kelly in a master class on a December afternoon and brought her on stage to sit in with his band that night. This capped an already exceptional end of 2008 in which Kelly's appearance on NPR's Piano Jazz with Marian McPartland was syndicated nationally.

Kelly, who enjoyed critically acclaimed success on her previous GRACEFULEE album, has dominated the DownBeat Student Awards over the past four years. From 2006-2009, the saxophonist has garnered 12 student awards, including her latest three for “Jazz Soloist," “Outstanding Jazz Vocalist," and “Pop-Rock Blues Soloist."
“I'm just trying to listen to as much music as possible, which makes it hard for me to put together a CD about just one thing," Kelly says in explaining her inspiration for Mood Changes. “A year before the session, I wrote 'Tender Madness,' which is slow and sad, and around the same time, when I was in a good mood, I wrote 'Happy Theme Song.' At that point, I realized that a concept for my next album was taking shape. Two more originals, '101' and 'But Life Goes On,' extended the idea, as did the six standards."

Kelly is particularly excited about the strides that Mood Changes reveals in her bandleading skills. “There's nothing like playing my own music with my own band," she acknowledges. “Everyone is so comfortable, yet I feel as if I'm getting pushed in every performance. At the same time, I realize more of what I want over the years, and more direction goes into the music. Every time we play is a complete adventure."
Without hesitation, Grace Kelly will tell you that her goal is “to stay in jazz but also do different things, bigger arrangements, like Stevie Wonder and George Benson." Her ambition has yet to outstrip her talent, and Mood Changes suggests that such a turn of events is unlikely in the foreseeable future.

Grace Kelly Quintet at Scullers Jazz Club
Thursday, August 27, 8 PM

Grace Kelly, saxophones and vocals
Jason Palmer, trumpet
Doug Johnson, piano
Evan Gregor, bass
Jordan Perlson, drums

Scullers Jazz Club at the Doubletree Guest Suites-Boston
400 Soldiers Field Road
Boston, MA 02134
Tel: 617-562-4111
Email: info@ScullersJazz.com
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/news.php?id=40194