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Jan. 31, 2007

Contact: Jessica Moore, jkmoore@emory.edu, 404-727-1687

Emory Annual Jazz Festival Features Jazz Vocalist Jon Hendricks

The “Father of Vocalese,” jazz vocalist Jon Hendricks, teams up with the Gary Motley Trio, featuring pianist Motley, drummer Pete Siers and bassist Paul Keller, for a performance at Emory University’s Schwartz Center for Performing Arts, Emerson Concert Hall on Feb. 2, 2007, at 8 p.m. Tickets ($15, $10 for discount category members) may be purchased by calling the Arts at Emory box office at 404-727-5050 or by visiting the website at www.arts.emory.edu. On Feb. 3, at 8 p.m. the Emory Big Band, under the direction of Gary Motley, closes the Jazz Festival with a free performance in the Schwartz Center featuring classic and contemporary jazz standards.

Hendricks’s concert is the highlight among the many events planned as part of the 2007 Emory Annual Jazz Festival. On Feb. 1, 2007, at 10 a.m., Hendricks, an Emory Coca-Cola Artist in Residence, will lead a jazz improvisation class in the Tharp Rehearsal Hall of the Schwartz Center, free and open for public observation. That afternoon at 2:30 p.m., Hendricks will lead a lecture/demonstration in the Emerson Concert Hall, also free and open to the public.

Hendricks is one of the originators of the art of setting lyrics to recorded jazz instrumental standards then arranging voices to sing the parts of the instruments, a technique called “vocalese.” Jazz critic and historian Leonard Feather has called him the “poet laureate of jazz,” while Time dubbed him the “James Joyce of jive.” Hendricks was personally chosen by Duke Ellington as a featured vocalist in the world premiere of Ellington’s first sacred concert. Hendricks is the winner of Emmy, Iris and Peabody awards and is also a member of the Kennedy Center Honors Committee. Hendricks is currently a distinguished professor of jazz studies at the University of Toledo.

Gary Motley, an active performer with and without his Trio, has appeared with Wynton Marsalis, Terence Blanchard and others, and has been a guest on Marian McPartland’s National Public Radio program, “Piano Jazz.” Siers, a native of Michigan, is also an active performer and has played with jazz legends Mulgrew Miller, Doc Cheatham and others and has toured with Russell Malone. Keller, also a Michigan native, leads the Paul Keller Orchestra, is co-leader of the Keller/Kocher Quartet and is a member of The Paul Keller Ensemble.

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CALENDAR LISTING:
Emory Annual Jazz Festival: Jon Hendricks, jazz vocalist, and the Gary Motley Trio featuring Pete Siers and Paul Keller
Friday, Feb. 2, 2007, at 8 p.m., Schwartz Center, Emerson Concert Hall; $15; Discount Category Members $10; Emory Students freeJazz vocalist Jon Hendricks, widely considered to be the “Father of Vocalese,” performs with the Gary Motley Trio, featuring pianist Motley, drummer Pete Siers and bassist Paul Keller as part of the Emory Annual Jazz Festival.

Emory Annual Jazz Festival: Perspectives on Performance: Jon Hendricks, jazz vocalist
Thursday, Feb. 1, 2007, at 2:30 p.m., Schwartz Center, Emerson Concert Hall; freeJazz vocalist Jon Hendricks, the “Father of Vocalese,” leads a lecture/demonstration.

Emory Annual Jazz Festival: Big Band Night
Saturday, Feb. 3, 2007, at 8 p.m., Schwartz Center, Emerson Concert Hall; freeAn Emory tradition, “Big Band Night,” features the Emory Big Band, directed by Gary Motley, performing an all-new-for-2007 program of jazz and swing.

ARTS AT EMORY

Emory is home to a vibrant arts community and welcomes the public to more than 250 annual events featuring student, faculty and guest artists. More than 85 concerts are performed each year, ranging from presentations by internationally-acclaimed artists in the Flora Glenn Candler Concert Series and Emory Coca-Cola Artists-in-Residence Series to presentations by more than a dozen Emory music ensembles. The Schwartz Center for Performing Arts opened in February 2003 and houses the Dance Studio, Theater Laboratory and the 800-seat, state-of-the-art Cherry Logan Emerson Concert Hall.

The mission for the arts at Emory University is to provide a dynamic, multidisciplinary environment for the study, creation and presentation of the arts. For more information on the Schwartz Center or Arts at Emory events, visit www.arts.emory.edu and www.schwartzcenter.emory.edu, or call the Arts at Emory box office at 404-727-5050.

EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: Photographs available upon request.

 

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