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| Patricia Adams at Ryles Jazz Club Thursday, May 18, 2006 jazz vocalist Patricia Adams will perform at Ryles Jazz Club, Inman Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts with Ray Santisi - piano, Greg Loughman- bass and Gary Johnson - drums. Patricia Adams, bandleader and vocalist, shuttles her renditions of standards from renaissance Harlem and Tin Pan Alley between Manhattan, Westchester, Hartford and Boston. Stepping onto a nightclub stage for the first time in 1992 at Scullers Jazz Club in Boston, Adams segued to designated show opener there for the Frank Wilkins Vocal Showcase until 1996. Two years, a hundred open mics and twenty nursing homes later, she took the plunge and traded her thirty-five year career in human resources management for life as a full time artist. Many press kits and phone calls later, her venues now attract those who enjoy the jazz and blues standards of the 1930's and '40's. Her following has grown from family and friends to thousands. Earning BS and MBA degrees in the 1960's, Adams studied music theory, harmony, and improvisation at the New England Conservatory in Boston and at the Performing Arts School of Worcester in the 1990's Adams' discography includes Live at Ryles Jazz Club (2005), With Our Compliments! (2004), Out Of This World (2001), which placed in four categories on the 2001 Grammy Awards ballot, Blue For You (1998), and Raw Silk (1996). Adams is a voting member of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences and served on the board of the New England Conservatory. Ray Santisi, pianist and music director, is an internationally known jazz pianist who has played as featured soloist with Charlie Parker, Stan Getz, Mel Torme, Irene Kral, Natalie Cole, and countless other well-known jazz greats. He toured Japan, Russia and parts of Europe and South America over the years, although these days he concentrates his time in Boston. He is a professor of piano at the Berklee College of Music. He has recorded on major labels, such as Capitol, Roulette, United Artists, Bethlehem, Transition, Rasan and Sonnet. His discography includes Spellbinder, released in 1998 and Ray Santisi, Piano: Live at Ryles Jazz Club, released in 2004. Teaching with Stan Kenton's summer jazz clinics on college campuses throughout the country, performing in Europe, Scandinavia, and Asia, receiving two grants for composition and performance from the National Endowment for the Arts are a few examples of Ray's global appeal. Ray Santisi's The Real Thing, a multi-talented group, brings the vitality of fresh, contemporary arrangements to the classic music of the Great American Song Book. The group's internationally-known instrumentalists are complemented and enhanced by fine vocalese, creating a unique ensemble effect. Bassist Greg Loughman started playing electric bass at age fifteen in Zanesville, OH. He earned a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies at Capital University, where he studied electric and upright bass with Doug Richeson (bassist for a number of years with Tony Bennet), Jeff Ciampa, and Lou Fisher. While in college, he worked his way into the Columbus, OH jazz scene. Upon graduation, he quickly rose to a prominent position as one of the top freelance jazz bassists in the Midwest. After spending a year in Montana, Greg moved to Boston where he continues to pursue an active schedule of performing and recording. He has performed with musicians including Curtis Fuller, JoAnne Brackeen, Kenwood Dennard, Greg Abate, Ray Santisi, Mark Greel, Rusty Scott, Al Vega, Grammy-nominated pianist Phillip Aaberg, guitarist Mimi Fox, Brazilian multi-instrumentalist Carlos Malta, jazz violinist Christian Howes, singer Patti Page, actor/singer James Naughton, and the Jimmy Dorsey Big Band, among many others. His musical career has taken him on tours of Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, the Czech Republic, and Japan. Greg is also a faculty member at the University of Maine in Augusta, where he teaches private bass lessons. His debut CD is "a charming and sultry sojourn into Latin jazz. From Eric "The Fish" Paton's first timbale riffs on "Descarga" to Kris Keith's florid flute solo on the album's closer, "Khadsin, " you're transported back to the world of Getz-meets-Jobim and sangria ... This is Greg's baby, he wrote all the tunes, but his playing is supremely unselfish- ... if you're looking to relax to a well-crafted Latin-jazz album, this is definitely worth checking out"--Don Zulaica, jazz critic, Alternate Music Press May 2001 Gary Johnson [drums], attended Berklee College of Music from 1972 to 1974. Formal training consisted of extensive studies with Instructor Bill Flanagan, Fred Buda of the Boston Pops and Jazz Artist Alan Dawson. Gary has been working professionally for the past twentu- eight years. For four years he traveled extensively with the Artie Shaw Orchestra under the direction of Dick Johnson. During that time, he accompanied such artists as: Buddy DeFranco, Rosemarie Clooney, Frankie Laine, Helen Forest and Connie Haines. Other appearances with Scott Hamilton, Dave McKenna, Ken Peplowski, Dizzy Gillespie, Ruby Braff and the Nelson Riddle Orchestra. Gary is currently freelancing in the New England Area. write your comments about the article :: © 2006 Jazz News :: home page |