"Celebrating Great Women in Jazz"

April 9, 2016 ~ 8:00 PM

Rose & Alfred Miniaci Performing Arts Center

 3100 Ray Ferrero, Jr Blvd, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33314

South Florida JAZZ, the area’s premier modern jazz organization, is specially excited to present the Joey DeFrancesco Trio on Saturday, March 12, 2016 at 8:00 PM. This concert will take place at the Rose & Alfred Miniaci Performing Arts Center on the Nova Southeastern University campus, 3100 Ray Ferrero, Jr Blvd, Davie 33314. Tickets are $40 ($10 students with I.D.) and can be purchased from Ticketmaster either by calling 954.462.0222 or online at southfloridajazz.org.

The title of the show is You Know What I Mean and features the instrumental talents of pianist Arriale, saxophonist Kelly, and the voices of Ms Cook and Ms Kelly.

Nina Simone, Abbey Lincoln and Joni Mitchell have established themselves as iconic performers and composers.  The depth and authenticity of their music has profoundly influenced generations of musicians and touched audiences worldwide.  

Lynne Arriale, Carla Cook and Grace Kelly have been moved and influenced by the strength and power of these legends. They will celebrate these great women of jazz by sharing their unique reinterpretations of popular classics with passion, soul and sensitivity in a magical evening of empathetic collaboration.  

All three artists are all highly innovative and original leaders who have recorded extensively and toured internationally.  Lynne Arriale's recordings and performances have garnered international acclaim over her 20-year career. Grace Kelly is truly a prodigious talent, who is currently featured in Jean Batiste's Band "Stay Human" on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Carla Cook brings the powerhouse trio full circle with earthy sophistication and elements of R&B, European classical, Motown, Blues and Gospel. 

Lynne, Carla and Grace have delighted audiences with this special presentation. Recent performances have included The Kennedy Center and concerts throughout the US and Canada. We invite you to join this dynamic group, including Evan Gregor on bass and Jordan Perlson on drums for an evening of joyful interaction and musical spontaneity featuring modern jazz classics, reinvented popular favorites and memorable original compositions.

ARTISTIC PERSONNEL
Lynne Arriale – piano
Grace Kelly – saxophones and vocals
Carla Cook – vocals
Evan Gregor – acoustic bass
Jordan Perlson – drums

Carla Cook: Just a Swingin' and a Groovin'

[This article was originally published at All About Jazz in March 2001.]

By MATHEW BAHL
On the question of categories, Carla Cook will say this much: "I'm definitely a jazz singer in that I like to improvise and I like to swing." Beyond that, the subject doesn't interest her. "I don't spend a lot of time haggling with the word "jazz,?" she explains. "I let the "Jazz Police" handle that. I do music."

Carla Cook has been doing music and doing it spectacularly well for a number of years. However, it was with the release of her acclaimed, Grammy-nominated debut CD, It's All About Love in 1999 that Cook separated herself from the ever-growing pack of young female jazz vocalists. In fact, with her remarkable voice, finely honed musicianship and boundless repertoire, Carla Cook has the potential to be the most important jazz singer of her generation.

Just don't tell her that. "I got into this because I wanted to make music that I loved," says Cook. "Whatever God has for me that's the thing I want to get. I listen to my intuition and if it feels good and it feels right and it feels progressive, then that's what I'm going to do."

On the evidence of her just-released sophomore CD, Dem Bones, Carla Cook has every reason to trust her intuition. Dem Bones is a wonderfully inventive and superbly executed jazz record with references to funk, Brazilian and inspirational music. "It is a tribute to the trombones that I've worked with," Cook explains.

"When I moved to New York, about 10 years ago, I worked with a band whose leader was a trombonist. Sometimes I would sing with lyrics, but other times I would simply harmonize trombone lines with him. Five years later I met yet another trombonist, and the same sort of thing happened." Her work withLionel Hampton's Orchestra and George Gee's Make Believe Ballroom Orchestra only furthered Cook's affinity for the bone section.

The trombonists and other instrumentalists on Dem Bones were not chosen at random. "It is important to me that I know the chemistry is going to work when I select musicians." Cook assembled a trombone section composed of players that she had worked with before.Fred Wesley, who also served in the Count Basie Orchestra, and Tyrone Jefferson both had long stints with James Brown.

Craig Harris, who has worked with Sun Ra and Abdullah Ibrahim, has been more associated with the avant-garde. As she did on It's All About Love, Cook tapped the phenomenally talented Cyrus Chestnut on keyboards, Billy Kilson on drums and Jeffrey Haynes on percussion. She also recruited bassist James Genus. 'they"re just great musicians," enthuses Cook.

As good as the musicians are, it is Cook's own remarkable gifts that hold the listener's attention on Dem Bones. She has a ravishing voice: burnished and soulful with a perfectly clear tone. Her range extends from a second soprano down to a second alto. "I am a B-flat kind of a woman," laughs Cook. Her intonation and articulation are marvels of precision and her trumpet-like scat choruses are exceptionally well constructed.

According to Cook, good pipes alone don't cut it. "When I'm teaching voice, I'm also teaching how to be a band leader. It's not enough to know how to sing a song. You need to learn how to count it off. You better know the key. When [the musicians] know that you know what you are talking about, that's when you earn their respect."

Cook's wide-ranging repertoire reflects her own diverse musical interests. She speaks about Wes Montgomery and Aretha Franklin with equal enthusiasm. On the day of our conversation, she had The Crusaders (Free as the Wind), John Coltrane (Blue Train), Kathleen Battle (So Many Stars), Miles Davis (Kind of Blue), Ernestine Anderson (Now and Then) and Weather Report (Weather Report) in her CD changer. She admires much of the pop music of the 1970s.

Citing writers like Stevie Wonder, Carole King, and Marvin Gaye as examples, Cook observes, 'they crafted lyrics, they didn't just write them." However, don't expect her to join the chorus of voices attacking the Great American Songbook as obsolete. "I happen to love standards," she replies. Cook believes that timelessness is the one quality shared by all great music. "In 50 years, we"ll still be listening to Marvin Gaye and we"ll still be listening to Rodgers & Hammerstein." Of course, if you are going to sing a classic, "you have to have something else to say with it or have a different twist on it." - 

Read More on: http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=40675