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POSTPONED – Jazz Cafe Presents: La Tanya Hall
March 20, 2020 @ 7:00 pm - 9:30 pm
Notice: For the safety of our audience, performers, and all our friends and family, this month’s Jazz Cafe has been postponed. Please keep an eye on our website for updates about next month’s Cafe and all of our events. Thank you!
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“A woman ripe with talent…interpretative skills are a marvel.”
-Jazz.com
“….one of jazz’s brightest stars.”
-PopJournalism.com
“Ms. Hall brought a sultry, slow-burning intensity to “Why Try to Change Me Now.”
-Stephen Holden, The New York Times
“La Tanya’s clarity and vocal interpretations are top notch, her easy style au natural.”
-Sandi Durell, Cabaret Scenes
“…satiny voice skating just above brushes [and a] husky purr she uses to fine effect.”
–Alix Cohen, WomenAroundTown.com
La Tanya Hall’s ability to reinvent the Great American Songbook is amassing glorious reviews from around the globe. Her versatility in a variety of musical genres allows her to traverse from playing lead in the final road company of Dreamgirls, to appear as soloist with the American Composers Orchestra and the Colorado and St. Louis symphonies, and to collaborate with some of music’s most celebrated artists, including Diana Ross, Harry Belafonte, Aretha Franklin, Michael McDonald, Burt Bacharach, Quincy Jones, and Patti Labelle.
La Tanya has and continues to appear with an equally diverse range of musical icons: the boundary-less vocal avatar Bobby McFerrin; the master of the Great American Songbook, Michael Feinstein; the crooner and producer Steve Tyrell; pop star Rob Thomas. She has been touring for the past seven years with the legendary Steely Dan.
She appears on Bobby McFerrin’s recording, SpiritYouAll, and is prominently featured on his 2010 masterpiece recording Vocabularies. Since 2002, she has been a member of and toured the world with McFerrin’s 12-voice ensemble, Voicestra. “That’s some of the most creative and fulfilling work that I’ve ever done,” she says. “Everything is totally improvised – we don’t use written or pre-set music of any kind. Sometimes we have gotten to places so deep musically that I’m actually in tears on the stage.”
La Tanya has graced audiences with her singing at Birdland, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Symphony Space, The Iridium, and Feinstein’s/54 Below. And if you’re quick at getting tickets, you’ve enjoyed her on the Steely Dan Tour and the Bobby McFerrin Tour.
For the last ten years, she has been passing along her experience and expertise to the next generation of singers as Associate Professor of Jazz Voice at Oberlin Conservatory and at The New School in NYC.
La Tanya continues to be an in-demand session singer and an accomplished actress, having lent her skills to numerous recording projects, Broadway shows, and television and movie appearances. She was most recently seen in the dramatic role of Sabine Winston on the critically acclaimed CBS show, “Blue Bloods.”
Visit her online at latanyahall.com.
Doors at 6:30. Following our featured artist is an Open Mic hour.
$10 Members, $15 non-members, includes snacks and a beverage (wine, beer, soda)
The Jazz Cafe is curated by John Wilmeth and Steph Walker. Music Director pianist John Wilmeth is a multi-instrumentalist with experience in many genres. He has worked with the likes of Jerry Garcia, Boz Scaggs, Al Jarreau, James Moody, and Jon Hendricks. Open Mic Emcee Steph Walker is a singer of many genres, and a poet, and has performed at such popular jazz venues as Silvana’s, Flute Bar, The Metropolitan Room, and The Triad.
The John Wilmeth Jazz Trio includes: Dave Meade, renowned drummer/percussionist. Dave has worked with a wide spectrum of artists and musicians, including Nancy Wilson, Keely Smith, and Tony award winning singers Leslie Uggams, Paulo Szot, and Diahann Carroll. Meade has toured with Aretha Franklin, The Mamas and the Papas, and the Arturo O’Farrill Afro Cuban Orchestra, to highlight a few. Back in the day, Dave played nightly at the world-famous Rainbow Room; and bassist Ratzo Harris, a Thelonious Monk Competition semi-finalist, has worked with such musicians as Les Paul, Charles Lloyd, and Betty Carter. “Ratzo Harris plays bass that’s living root and steel girder.” (blogcritics).
“Wonderful! A step back in time.” -D. Berkowitz, Asheville, NC
“Totally delighted the whole evening! Classic intimate place, delightful people, and energy the whole time!” – W. T., Brentwood, New York, NY
“The venue for the music was wonderful. There were round tables complete with table clothes and nice mood lighting. The chandeliers were dimmed and it was a nightclub atmosphere. The music was excellent and then there was an open mike so I got to see a number of talented neighborhood folks get up and do their thing. Some people even felt moved to dance. I loved it!” -G. Walsh, Fair Lawn NJ
