An evening of superb, and at times, surprising entertainment is in store for the April 28 performance of Celebrate Jazz! The concert begins at 7 p.m. at the Art Deco-inspired Lake Union Café in Seattle, Wash.
Besides a dozen jazz-inspired compositions, many performed for the first time, the program includes three additional artists who will entertain concert-goers throughout the evening.
Juggler Nickolai Pirak (right) will bring his amazing skills to the Lake Union Café while contortionist Peter Amelia (below) will have the audience tied up in knots with his acrobatics. The beauty and artistry of aerialist Kari Hunter (lower right), from Portland, Ore., adds a touch of elegance to the evening.
“The performers will entertain between sets as well as at the beginning and at the end,” said concert producer Glenna Burmer. “Our audience will be filled with some pretty serious music lovers but we hope they will enjoy the diversion.”
Eric DuBois, the evening’s emcee, agrees. “The idea was to add something fun and unexpected to the evening,” said DuBois. “People are coming here looking for jazz, which they will get, but we also wanted to surprise them with a bit of circus-wild on the side.”
The work of five composers will be featured at Celebrate Jazz! They are: Nan Avant, Barry Dowsett, Eric Goetz, Tim Huling and Glenna Burmer. Nancy Erickson will add jazz vocals to the mix, and French piano prodigy Naémi Pomarede, who is flying in from France, will perform on several solo selections, as well.
Huling will also conduct an orchestra of hand-picked musicians:
Trumpet: Tony Grasso and Andy Omdahl
Alto Sax: Bruce Wilson
Tenor Sax: Brian Kent
Bari Sax: Nathaniel Schleimer
Trombone: Gary Shutes
Piano: Karin Kajita
Guitars: Milo Petersen, Frank Seeberger
Drums: Jeffrey Busch
Violins: Tom Dziekonski and Garrett Overcash
Viola: Jessica Jasper
Cello: Brad Hawkins
Bass: Clipper Anderson