The Peninsula Public Library Presents: “Shakespeare and all that Jazz!â€
Sunday, January 7, 2007 at 2:30 – 4:00 p.m. - FREE - ALL AGES
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December 28, 2006 - The Peninsula Public Library kicks off the new year with a free Jazz and Shakespeare concert program. New York jazz vocalist Christiana Drapkin and her jazz trio celebrate the beauty and power of William Shakespeare’s poetry, set to jazz arrangements by composers John Dankworth, Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn and others. The program is sure to be a musical and literary treat.
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Christiana Drapkin has been performing jazz Standards with her small combo in and around New York and on the Eastern seaboard for twenty years. She is excited to present this new program, which she developed after finding a 1964 recording by Cleo Laine, “Shakespeare and all that Jazzâ€, on Fontana Records. Her husband, John Dankworth had composed many of these arrangements for his wife; the rest were some light-hearted settings by composer Arthur Young. Quite unjustly, they seemed to have been forgotten and deserve to be heard again. The same holds true for a poignant setting of a sonnet by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, from the suite “Such Sweet Thunderâ€. Christiana and her jazz group intersperse the Shakespeare material with lighter but no lesser fare, standards from the Great American Songbook, which address the same age-old themes of love, life and death, that were already sung about in the Bard’s day.
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CHRISTIANA DRAPKIN – VOCALS
Christiana came to the US as a German Fulbright exchange student in theater. At Tulane University in New Orleans, she discovered the inner workings of musical theater and, more importantly, the roots of Jazz. However, New York City has become Christiana’s artistic home. Through her continuing jazz studies with the Park Slope pianist Charles Sibirsky at Slope Music, she has developed a deep connection to the American standards and bebop repertoire. Combined with her voice training under Manhattan vocal coach Barbara Feller, Christiana is known for her fearless and soaring improvisation lines, as well as for her highly personal delivery of lyrics. Well-known vocalists Sheila Jordan, Tierney Sutton, and Mark Murphy support and encourage her. Christiana has released two CDs on Iana Records, “The Man I Love”, and “Songs About You”, which feature original compositions by some of her favorite fellow-musicians, in addition to fresh takes on standards, from Porter and Gershwin to Parker and Monk. They will be available at the performance.
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MICHAEL KANAN – PIANO
Michael Kanan is originally from Boston, MA, where he attended Boston College. His first Jazz instructor, Harvey Diamond, was a student of the legendary pianist and composer Lennie Tristano. After several years of study with Diamond and many freelance gigs in Boston, Michael moved to New York City in 1991. Immediately upon arriving, he studied for one year with another Tristano student, the great Sal Mosca. He continues his studies with Sophia Rosoff, who has been his teacher since 2000.
From 1995 to 2001, Kanan was the accompanist for vocal great Jimmy Scott, with whom he toured the United States, Europe, and Japan, gave numerous TV and radio performances, and recorded three CDs. For the last four years, he has been pianist/arranger for the Jane Monheit band. With Monheit, he has toured the US, Europe, Japan, Brazil, and Canada, and has performed on her recent recordings. He has just returned from a tour accompanying the rising new vocal talent, Madeleine Peyroux.
Besides his work accompanying vocalists, Michael has also played in several instrumental settings. He performed in New York with guitar wizard Kurt Rosenwinkel, and with him recorded the popular CD “Intuit” for Criss-Cross. Michael is a founding member of the International Hashva Orchestra, which also includes Mark Turner and Jorge Rossy. This group, which took a fresh look at the concepts of Tristano, toured Europe several times and recorded twice for the Swiss label TCB. Michael has also led his own trio, with bassist Ben Street and drummer Tim Pleasant on two recordings for Fresh Sound New Talent, “The Gentleman Is A Dopeâ€, and “Convergence”. Last year, Fresh Sound published his latest release with his longtime collaborator, saxophonist Nat Su from Zurich, “Dreams and Reflectionsâ€.Â
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STEPHANIE GREIG – STRING BASS
As the daughter of Las Vegas bassist, Kenny Greig, Stephanie grew up listening to live music, from the Musicians’ Union rehearsal bands playing Count Basie and Duke Ellington charts to the eclectic mix of music that passed through the hotels on the Strip. At age fourteen, she was playing guitar in her father’s pop quartet as well as in blues, funk and rock groups with her peers. As she grew, she developed a life-long love for the great Broadway composers and devoted herself to learning the American standard repertory. At Smith College, she focused on the intersection of music and theater, particularly the Brecht-Weill collaborations. After graduating, she spent a few years acting in small theaters in New York. In 1996, she acquired an upright bass and went to work. Since then, Stephanie has performed in Japan with her husband, pianist Michael Kanan, and has played all over the New York area. She is currently studying classical bass with David Grossman of the New York Philharmonic.Â
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MICHAEL PETROSINO – DRUMS
Michael Petrosino, a native of Auburn, New York, now living in Brooklyn, began his professional career at eighteen, playing gigs in the Toledo, Ohio, and Detroit, Michigan metropolitan areas. He moved on to perform on cruise ships plying the world’s oceans, backing such entertainers as The Fifth Dimension, Lou Rawls, Ben Vereen, The Temptations, and Gladys Knight. Returning to dry land, he landed in Cleveland, Ohio, where he played with local artists and touring artists such as Jeannie Bryson, Rick Margitza, and Gerri Allen. Since moving to New York, Michael has become a fixture in the city’s jazz clubs, including Visiones, Birdland, The Blue Note and others. He leads his own groups in New York clubs, featuring guest artists such as Bruce Barth, Xavier Davis, Joe Barbato, and Randy Johnson, to name a few.
Christiana Drapkin – jazz vocals
Michael Kanan – piano
Stephanie Greig – bass
Michael Petrosino – drums
Peninsula Public Library, 516 239-3262
280 Central Avenue, Lawrence, NY 11559
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More information and downloadable pictures and sounds:
www.ChristianaDrapkin.com
For Press Contact Call
Christiana Drapkin 917 693-4428
