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This
Month's Feature:
"JAZZ
goes to CHURCH!"
presented
by
Kendrick Oliver & The New Life Jazz Orchestra
featuring
Critically-Acclaimed Pianist, Cyrus Chestnut
and Vocalist, Kevin Mahogany
About
JAZZ goes to CHURCH!
This
clubhouse revival draws concert goers from all walks and brims
over with passion and spiritual uplift as World Class Artists,
Cyrus Chestnut and Kevin Mahogany, join the vibrant and youthful
19-piece Kendrick Oliver & The New Life Jazz Orchestra,
to take the infectious gospel of swing into venues throughout
the US and abroad!
The courtship between jazz and gospel music
traditions has been incubating in the periphery of public
curiosity for some time now. Pioneers like Duke Ellington
and Contemporaries like Kirk Whalum have testified about this
compatible union through some of their most celebrated musical
works in styles coined as 'sacred music' and 'gospel jazz'.
Jazz Goes To Church aims to consummate the
marriage of the two disparate genres with a hard-swingin',
foot-stompin' crescendo of jubilation! This clubhouse revival
showcases New Life's spirited and uninhibited performance
style with the blaring of brass instruments-call-and-response-like
big-band arrangements-soul-stirring vocals-and engaging solos
and shouts on swingin' versions of gospel tunes like "Wade
in the Water" and "Joshua Fit the Battle".
Bandleader, Kendrick Oliver, who is being
wooed by national fame with a host of prestigious appearances
ahead, keeps it all in perspective. " I want to swing
like Count Basie and have the impact of Mahalia Jackson -
and Jazz Goes to Church is a vehicle I am going to use to
do so."
About
the Artists
 CYRUS
CHESTNUT
This Baltimore-born pianist began his astonishing career alongside
several celebrated artists, including Wynton Marsalis, Terrence
Blanchard, Betty Carter, and opera diva, Kathleen Battle.
An engaging leader in his own right with several recordings
to his credit, Chestnut's musical education encompasses both
the bandstand and the church service, showcasing his spellbinding
and syncopated command of sacred and secular swing.
His latest recording, You are My Sunshine
(Warner Bros.), comes in the wake of his acclaimed album,
Soul Food - which was included in Down Beat's list of the
best records of 2002 and ascended to the Top 10 on the Jazz
Charts - it is his most evocative and accessible statement
yet. "The difference between this recording and the others,
says Chestnut, " is that it is an attempt to dig deep
into the spiritual force that drives music. I wanted to go
beyond the notes. I wanted to get as close as possible to
the true essence of the spirit behind music." Much like
Ray Charles, Chestnut uses gospel roots to transmit a joyful,
contagious affinity to early jazz forms, revealing "an
orchestral command of the keyboard and a sophisticated sense
of swing" (People Magazine)
 KEVIN
MAHOGANY
Kevin Mahogany picks up where Joe Williams, Billy Eckstine
and Mel Torme left off. This Kansas City born jazz vocalist
grew up within the city's rich jazz heritage, so it is no
surprise that his music has helped to expand, enhance and
bring new meaning to the standard jazz repertoire. As a young
male jazz vocalist, Kevin Mahogany is a rare commodity, but
among that group, he is rarer still - comfortable with a range
that encompasses Memphis R&B, Motown, gospel and jazz.
Kevin moves effortlessly between musical genres, incorporating
elements of one to enhance the essence of the other. Simply
put, over the course of his career, Kevin has made breathtaking
breakthroughs in style and sounds that re-directed, redefined
and even reinvented jazz music, without ever losing touch
with the essentials. "The standout jazz vocalist of his
generation." (Newsweek)
 KENDRICK
OLIVER & THE NEW LIFE JAZZ ORCHESTRA
Bandleader, Kendrick Oliver, has accomplished one of the most
amazing feats around these parts in a long time. He has managed
to keep a big band together for the past 8 years - and evolving"
(Boston Herald). Kendrick Oliver & The New Life Jazz Orchestra
had a breakout year with main-stage performances at Newport
and Tanglewood Jazz Festivals; the launch of a successful
touring jazz program honoring Count Basie's Centennial called,
"Swingin' the Blues - Basie & Beyond! featuring vocalists,
Kevin Mahogany and Marlena Shaw"; a dynamic educational
clinic presented in Middle and High Schools throughout the
United States called, "Sing, Swing, Stomp, Shout! - The
Art of Big Band"; and the release of a critically-acclaimed
debut album entitled, "Welcome to New Life", featuring
young jazz lions, Christian McBride, Jimmy Greene, Miguel
Zenon and Jeremy Pelt, which Jazz Times calls, "…inventive,
vital and fresh…spiritually rousing…gospel-soaked,
big band jazz". The album made Boston Magazine's Hot
List.
On a mission "to take big band where
its never gone before", Kendrick Oliver & The New
Life Jazz Orchestra is a vibrant and energetic 19-piece group
of twenty-something-year-olds that has been captivating audiences,
selling out concerts, and turning heads throughout the jazz
scene since its inception in 1995. Under the musical direction
of 30-year-old Conductor, Arranger and Tubist Kendrick Oliver,
the group combines Basie-style swing, foot-stompin, head-bobbin
arrangements with high-powered rhythms, an unrestrained brass
section, elegant vocals and a talented assortment of spectacular
soloists to produce its infectious sound.
New
Life has featured Grammy-Award-Winning Trumpeters Roy Hargrove
and Nicholas Payton; Grammy-Nominated Bassist Christian McBride;
Acclaimed Vocalist, Kevin Mahogany; Saxophonists Walter Beasley,
Billy Pierce and Teodross Avery; and pianist Jason Moran.
"Nicholas Payton calls New Life, "one of the best
big bands in the world."
If
you are a presenter and are interested in booking this program
click here
For
Press Related Information Contact:
Sphere Entertainment, LLC
PO Box 231084
Boston, MA 02123
(617) 308.9325
info@sphereentertainment.net
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