NEWS RELEASE
ORILLIA JAZZ FESTIVAL
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Returning for a third year with his series of words and music for the Orillia Jazz Festival, Juno award-winning producer Lance Anderson has assembled another all-star cast for a premier performance of “Nat King Cole: 100 Years of Swing.”
The concert takes place on Sunday, October 14 at 2 pm at St. Paul’s Centre in Orillia.
Nat King Cole: 100 Years of Swing commemorates the 100th Anniversary of Cole’s birth and celebrates the enormous contribution he made to jazz, standard and popular music in the 1950s and ‘60s.
Featuring accomplished musician and CBC personality Andrew Craig (piano and vocals), talented vocalist Quisha Wint, Lance Anderson (piano/narration), Reg Schwager (guitar) and Russ Boswell (bass), the audience will be taken on an fascinating journey though Cole’s incredible career.
Starting off as a swinging jazz pianist with his early trio, into the era in the 1950s when he started to sing and play, and on to his popular success as a world-renowned singer. Through it all Cole swings hard. He was a trailblazer.
Cole was the first African American to have his own network TV show and the first to break into the standard song and pop genre. It was his incredible voice and phrasing that made songs like Mona Lisa, Unforgettable, Straighten Up and Fly Right and Route 66 dominate the charts. He had a major influence on singers such as Frank Sinatra, and Oscar Peterson claimed that Nat Cole was his favourite jazz pianist – for his beautiful lines and undeniable swing.
As with Anderson’s previous jazz festival “words and music” events, the concert will not only feature some of Canada’s best musical performers, but will also provide an interesting insight into the life and times of a musical legend. Anderson shares his musical knowledge and skill in a unique way that both captures and inspires an audience. Last year Anderson presented “Miles of Blue – the Music of Miles Davis,” and the year before, “Jazz Royalty – the Music of Duke Ellington and Count Basie,” both to rave reviews.
“This year’s line-up really is quite a dream team,” says Anderson. “And to be playing the music of Nat King Cole will make it even more memorable – ‘unforgettable,’ in fact.”
Tickets are available on-line at Eventbrite or in person at Alleycats Music and Art, 95 Mississaga St. E. or at the door: St. Paul’s Centre at 62 Peter St. N., both in Orillia.
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