Date: May 3, 2000
Who: The Banff Centre for the Arts, Music & Sound
What: The Banff Arts Festival – Vocal Jazz events
When: May 9 to 13, 2000
Where: The Club and Margaret Greenham Theatre, in the theatre complex at the Banff Centre

The Banff Arts Festival 2000 kicks off with a week of vocal jazz performances.

From May 9 to 13, more than 20 talented jazz singers from Canada, the United States, and Europe will be at the Banff Centre participating in a workshop with internationally acclaimed vocalists Jay Clayton and Sheila Jordan.

Each night at 8pm, you can enjoy workshop performances of jazz standards and vocal improvisation at The Club, located in The Banff Centre’s theatre complex. These pay-what-you-can events are popular for their relaxed atmosphere and sizzling music.

On May 11, guest artists Sheila Jordan and Jay Clayton will be featured in a vocal jazz concert in The Club. Tickets for this event always sell out fast, so make sure to call the Banff Centre Box Office at 762-6301 for reservations.

Backing up the vocalists during these concerts is an outstanding rhythm section featuring David Restivo and Randy Halberstadt on piano, Mike Lent on double bass, and Owen Howard on drums. The workshop gives young singers the opportunity to work with this experienced and supportive rhythm section as well as to explore jazz standards, vocal improvisation techniques, and career development with the visiting artists and with vocal coach Vivianne Cardinal.

Sheila Jordan’s career started in the 1940s, when she was stirring up the Detroit jazz scene and sitting in with many jazz greats who came to town, including Charlie Parker, whose work influenced her profoundly. The 1950s saw her performing in New York where she also studied with jazz composer and pianist Lennie Tristano.

Since her first album, Portrait of Sheila (Blue Note 1962), audiences around the world appreciate Sheila’s intricate, powerful, and creative performances of jazz standards and originals. Still travelling extensively, she performed as a soloist, in duo settings, and with her quartet all over North and South America, Europe, and Asia.

Equally experienced a teacher as a performer, Sheila Jordan shared her musicianship with students at New York City’s City College and at the University of Massachusetts. Her teaching credentials as a visiting professor include Stanford University, Harvard University, New England Conservatory, and the Musica Hochschule in Graz, Austria.

The flexibility of Jay Clayton’s work as a performing artist shows in her projects with musicians as diverse as Steve Reich, John Cage, Paul McCandless, and Gary Peacock. As a member of the a capella ensemble Vocal Summit, she also worked with singers Ursula Dudziak, Norma Winstone, and Bobby McFerrin.

Currently teaching jazz vocals at the Cornish Institute in Seattle, Jay also taught at City College in New York and the Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado.

Stay tuned for nightly jazz concerts during the Banff International Jazz Workshop from May 16 to June 3. More than 80 musicians from around the world will take the stage in The Club and play together with guest faculty including Kenny Werner (piano), Judi Silvano (voice), Joe Lovano (saxophone), Hugh Fraser (trombone), Dave Douglas (trumpet), and Joey Baron (drums).

 Photo available

For more information, please contact
Enza Apa, Marketing Coordinator
Music & Sound, The Banff Centre for the Arts
Phone: (403) 762-6237; Fax: (403) 762-6338
Enza_Apa@banffcentre.ab.ca