Opening Night: An Evening with Jimmy Heath & Jon Hendricks September 24, 8pm Rose Theater
New Special Guests! Vocalists Bobby McFerrin, Dianne Reeves, and Sachal Vasandani will join Jon Hendricks as special guests.
Jazz royalty begins the 2011-12 JALC season with two NEA Jazz Masters, both stylish veterans who are still finding new ways to swing. A triple threat as a composer, arranger, and player, Jimmy Heath (photo at right) was already a forward-looking musician when he formed his first orchestra in 1947, and has remained so with the current Jimmy Heath Big Band, featuring trumpeters Sean Jones and Terell Stafford, and drummer Lewis Nash, among others. The ageless Jon Hendricks rose to fame with the renowned vocalese group, Lambert, Hendricks & Ross. Along with his vocalist daughters Aria and Michelle Hendricks, and Kevin Burke, he'll revisit favorites from the LHR repertoire, joined by saxophonist Andy Farber and a talented ensemble. Special guests include vocalists Bobby McFerrin, Dianne Reeves, and Sachal Vasandani.