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Press Releases For Immediate Release: 03/03/05 | Click here for PDF version Harlem Speaks Quartet of Stars Shine ·
Gloria Lynne (March 10) Kicking off the new quartet of honorees, on March 10th, is the wondrous Gloria Lynne, a member of a generation of contralto singers embodying the sound of the golden era of jazz. She was born and raised in Harlem, and, like Ella Fitzgerald had before, won the Apollo Theater Amateur Night contest early in her career. In the early sixties, Lynne had a series of hits, which introduced her to a wider audience. With tunes like "June Night," "Love I Found You," and the song she is most famous for, "I Wish You Love," Lynne established herself firmly in the pantheon of 20th century song stylists. These hits prompted producers to pair her with Ray Charles and Billy Eckstine on tours across the country. In her 50+-year career, Lynne has recorded 45 albums. Even after the advent of rock and roll, she continued to perform for loyal fans around the world. One reviewer was so moved that he wrote, "My toes curled, so accusingly insightful was her delivery that it transcended the lyrics and became pure emotion." In the 1990s audiences developed a renewed appreciation for her artistry via the use of another of her hits, "Speaking of Happiness," in the movie Seven, and as music in a Ford TV ad here and in Europe. As befits her Harlem legacy, her must-read autobiography was a recent best seller. Grady Tate (March 24) is a renowned session drummer who is prized for his driving or subtle coaxing of the beat. He has also displayed a warm, rhythmically agile baritone voice. A move to New York City in 1963 led to a gig with the Quincy Jones big band, and soon he caught on as a recording session drummer. His most famous records as an accompanist were made under the aegis of producer Creed Taylor; he also played on many of Wes Montgomery's and Jimmy Smith's most popular recordings, as well as others by Stan Getz, Tony Bennett, Ella Fitzgerald, Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Oscar Peterson, Duke Ellington, J.J. Johnson, among countless other musical artists. Harlemite Ed Cherry, a fluid, expressive guitarist with massive chops, will share his thoughts and experience on April 7th. In addition to a short stint of study at the Berklee School of Music in the early '70s, he studied with guitarist Ted Dunbar at Jazzmobile in Harlem. Cherry moved to New York from New Haven, Connecticut in 1978, and soon joined the band of the great Dizzy Gillespie, with whom he remained from 1978 to 1983, and again in 1986 until his passing in 1993. He's since performed with musicians of the range and caliber of Hamiet Bluiett, Henry Threadgill, Jimmy Smith, Kenny Burrell, Dakota Staton, Roy Hargrove, Oliver Lake, Hilton Ruiz, Yoron Israel, Ruth Brown, Steve Coleman, and many others. Milt Grayson, a Juilliard graduate with a uniquely rich and velvety baritone voice, closes out the set on April 21st. He began his career by touring Europe and South America with dance legend Katherine Dunham during the 1950s, and recorded and toured with Duke Ellington from 1960-1963. Grayson is also an accomplished actor who's performed on Broadway (Raisin, Bubbling Brown Sugar, and Purlie), and, recently, in Black Nativity, with whom he sang for Pope Paul II by special invitation. The Harlem baritone played the role of The Undertaker in George and Ira Gershwin's Porgy and Bess with the Metropolitan Opera during the mid-1980s. Grayson's resonant pipes are a preference of Wynton Marsalis', who tapped the elegant gent to hold forth with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra from 1991-1995, and more recently on its "For Dancers Only" Spring 2000 U.S. Tour. Joey Morant, trumpeter and member of the Harlem Blues & Jazz Band, was a pure delight on Thursday, February 24, 2005. He regaled the packed house with stories of his early years in music in South Carolina, coming all the way up to his move to New York, and his work with a series of legends, including King Curtis and Merv Griffin. He gave numerous musical examples on trumpet and cornet, and filled the offices of the Jazz Museum in Harlem with not only the sound of surprise, but the emotion of love. This interview, as are all in this continuing series, is preserved on video for the museum archives. The bi-weekly series, co-produced by the Jazz Museum in Harlem
and Greg Thomas Associates, is held at the offices of the
Jazz Museum in Harlem, located at 104 East 126th Street, between
Park and Lexington Avenues, from 6:30pm-8:00pm, beginning
on March 10, 2005 until April 21st. |
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