Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Bill Ware Quartet featuring Annette Sanders

Bill Ware – vibraphone
Annette Sanders – vocals
Bob Albanese – piano
Saadi Zain – bass
Jaime Affoumado – drums


BILL WARE is a quiet giant of the vibraphone who defines the word “groove” as he cooks rhythms on a low burn, inspired by the expressions of his fellow musicians, only to “strike out and impress with his four-mallet attacks of chords, cadences and arpeggios, surprising in every measure.” (allaboutjazz.com <http://allaboutjazz.com> ). Born William A. Ware III in East Orange, NJ, on January 28, 1959, Ware started out as a bass player, and trained at the Harlem Jazzmobile Workshop.

Ware has performed, recorded and toured internationally on vibraphone with hundreds of artists. He first hit the scene playing Latin jazz (on bass and piano), and in 1986 formed his own Latin ensemble, AM Sleep.  Early in his career he became a charter member of the internationally renowned group The Jazz Passengers (Roy Nathanson, saxophone, Curtis Fowlkes, trombone and Marc Ribot, guitar), which has featured guest appearances by Deborah Harry, Elvis Costello, Mavis Staples and many others.

In the 1990s, Ware formed a backing group called the Club Bird All-Stars, with whom he toured Japan; and recorded his debut as a leader, “Long and Skinny” (Knitting Factory). Mr. Ware was at the heart of the New York City “acid jazz” scene with the popular band, Groove Collective. He toured with Steely Dan in the 1993- 1995 Alive in America concert tours as a member of the all-star band dubbed the “Steely Dan Orchestra”.

Annette Sanders’ career has been a constant whirlwind of recording and performing. After attending Hunter College, Annette sand in the New York nightclubs where she was heard by the late producer and composer, Bobby Scott, who signed her to Mercury Records. Her big break came in 1966 when Benny Goodman chose her as his featured vocalist for his prestigious Rainbow Grill engagement, archived on the recently mastered Yale University Music Library Series.

It was at the Goodman performance that Annette was again discovered. This time it was by producers of advertising jingles. Her solo for Imprevu perfume as so successful, it launched Annette’s career as a much sought-after studio singer. Her distinctly recognizable sound has been heard on literally thousands of jingles, movie soundtracks and CDs. She has worked with the “who’s who” of the music industry – from pop to jazz – Dionne Warwick, Roberta Flack, Mel Torme, Michel LeGrand, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Gerry Mulligan, Gloria Estefan, and Barbra Streisand to name a few.

During the late 80s, Annette co-founded the jazz-tinged vocal quintet, Group Five, teaming up with several of her studio cohorts. They have appeared in concerts and clubs throughout Europe and the U.S. In 1996, the second of her four CDs, “On My Way To You” was nominated for a Grammy. That was followed by “Everything I Love”, a CD she recorded with noted pianist and arranger, Mike Renzi.

Since 2000, Annette has served as vocal jazz panelist for the National Foundation for Advance of the Arts, a project that supports talented high-school students.

Most recently, Annette has appeared as the featured vocalist in Dick Hyman’s acclaimed “Jazz Series” at the 92nd St. Y in New York City. It was at one of these concerts that she was discovered yet again by Palm Beach Pops conductor, Bob Lappin, with whom she has concertized.

The past few years, Annette performed with the Token Creek Jazz Festival in Madison Wisconsin as well as the Desert Foothills Festival in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Her latest recording is a duet CD with Bob Florence, the magnificient composer, arranger, and pianist from the west coast. “You Will Be My Music” was released in June, 2007.
In March, 2008, Annette was part of the Billy Taylor Jazz Series at Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.

Her most recent performance was a concert with The Canadian Brass at Avery Fischer Hall.



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