|
contents | jazz | |||||||||||||
| Eileen Howard Releases New CD Columbus, Ohio singer and actress Eileen Howard announces the release of her second jazz CD Street of Dreams. A CD release party will be held at Ciao Bar & Grille, Columbus, Thursday, May 17. Howard, a Westerville resident, recorded 13 jazz, Latin, and funk tunes with pianist Richard Lopez, bassist Roger Hines, drummer Matt Wagner and saxophonist Michael Cox at John Schwab Studios in Columbus. She will perform with Lopez, Hines, Wagner and Cox. The CD includes original, previously unreleased compositions by Howard, as well as a composition by Rodgers Grant (”Miedo”) for which Howard wrote the lyrics, resulting in Will You Dance? In addition, Howard covers a number of jazz standards. Hines arranged Chick Corea's “Open Your Eyes, You Can Fly,” as a hot Latin number and Howard arranged “A Night in Tunisia” with an “Arabian Nights” flair. Local big band legend David Wheeler arranged “Street of Dreams,” “When I Grow Too Old to Dream,” and “A Kiss to Build a Dream On.” Howard's previous release All Kinds of Weather (2002) was featured for many weeks on WCBE's Jazz Sunday program and on WJZA-WJZK 103.5-104.3 Smooth Jazz Radio's Night Owl Jazz. DJ Fritz the Night Owl wrote: “Eileen breezes her way thru a varied selection of standards with ease. A terrific voice, fresh interpretations of well- known lyrics, and solid jazz sensibilities all contribute to this superb collection.” Howard has been heard throughout the Central Ohio area at the Columbus Arts Festival, The Westerville Music and Arts Festival, The North Market Food and Wine Festival and Apron Galas, Grove City Summer Sizzle, Worthington Concerts on the Green, Westerville Summer Concerts, the Upper Arlington Arts Festival, the Creekside Jazz and Blues Festival, the Columbus Rose Festival and many other concert venues and private parties. She is a regular at Club Diversity and also previously performed at the Dell. She has also appeared locally with The Saxmen, Trombones Plus, the Classmen, the All People Band, and the Jim Johnson Orchestra. Howard is also known in Columbus circles as a talented theater actor and director. She performed in New York last summer as the lead in the musical Ha Ha Club at the New York International Fringe Festival. While in New York, she sang at The Iridium and Smoke jazz clubs on Broadway. Locally, she received critical acclaim as one of the Merry Wives of Windsor with Actors Theatre and in My Way: A Tribute to Frank Sinatra with SRO Theatre Company. She was the recipient of a Best Supporting Actress Award from Columbus Alive for her portrayal of “Gorgeous” in The Sisters Rosensweig at Gallery players and a Columbus Dispatch ”Sunny Award” honorable mention for her role as “Della” in the musical Blue Plate Special. As a director, she was given an Award of Excellence from the Central Ohio Theatre roundtable for I Never Sang for My Father at Curtain Players. write your comments about the article :: © 2007 Jazz News :: home page |