 MEDIA RELEASE |
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MEDIA RELEASE |
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May 3, 2001
For Immediate Release
Singing up a Storm in The Club
It’s May, and that means one thing - the start of the Banff Arts Festival! From now until August, come up to The Banff Centre and enjoy an explosion of dance, drama, opera, music, Aboriginal arts, journalism, media arts and visual arts. Nowhere else can you experience such a broad spectrum of artistic talent in one summer festival.
The festival kicks off this week with vocal jazz in the intimately cool venue, The Club. These cabaret-style club sessions are the perfect way to enjoy the smooth sounds of vocal jazz. An audience-favourite, approximately 30 jazz singers take the stage over four nights, May 14, 15, 17 & 18. They’ve come to The Banff Centre to take part in the week- long vocal jazz program, and entertain audiences during the week with great jazz standards and cool improvisations.
Vocal jazz wraps up with a final concert in The Club on Saturday, May 19, featuring renowned New York vocalist Sheila Jordan, vocal improviser Jay Clayton, and Viviane Cardinal, one of Canada’s finest jazz vocalists. Three amazingly talented voices on one stage – an event not to be missed!
Wednesday, May 16, features a rare treat for jazz fans – a jazz orchestra concert in the Margaret Greenham Theatre. If that big band sound is your thing, then this event is for you! Hugh Fraser, Canada’s great trombonist and big band leader, heads up the orchestra along with Maria Schneider, a highly acclaimed innovator and big band leader in New York. Maria Schneider was the assistant to the famous composer/arranger Gil Evans, and worked with him on music for the movie The Colour of Money and Sting’s 1987 European tour. Her album, Allegresse, received a Grammy nomination in 2000, and TIME magazine listed it as one of the top ten music releases of the year.
All performances start at 8:00 pm. Tickets to the vocal jazz clubs (May 14, 15, 17 & 18) are pay-what-you-can. The Jazz Orchestra concert on May 16, and the Vocal Jazz Concert on May 19 are $15 adults, $10 seniors/students. Call The Box Office for tickets or details: 762-6301.