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| Count Basie Orchestra Helps Young Inner City Musicians in Oakland Unity Music LLC is pleased to present a night of jazz with the World Famous Count Basie Orchestra, directed by Bill Hughes, and featuring on vocals, local favorite, Jamie Davis. In collaboration with Generations in Jazz and produced by Sam Beler, all proceeds from the evening will go towards helping music students in the Oakland inner city school district. The event will take place on Friday, May 22, 2009 at the Walnut Creek Presbyterian Church, located at 1801 Lacassie Avenue in Walnut Creek, CA. The show starts at 7pm and the doors will open at 6pm. This exciting night of music is not to be missed, with the hope of helping the emerging generation of young musicians. The World Famous Count Basie Orchestra was founded in 1935 by William "Count" Basie and continues to thrive today with renowned musicians. Since its inception in 1935, the Orchestra has achieved such success as having the legacy of an "American Institution", playing the 1939 World's Fair in San Francisco, recording with Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, Joe Williams, Tony Bennett, and Frank Sinatra, and several European concert tours, and that is just the tip of the iceberg. The Count Basie Orchestra today is eighteen performers committed to upholding and advancing this "American Institution." Some members are new, some have been in the band "for a minute", yet the core of the sound still swings from a few musicians hand-picked by Count Basie himself. They are in demand for world tours and recordings, have won every respected jazz poll in the world at least once, and continue to accumulate awards and special recognitions. Generations in Jazz, a community music foundation, is a non-profit public benefit corporation dedicated to supporting music education and other community music activities. The goal of Generations in Jazz is to build our communities by providing educational, performance, and cultural opportunities for children and adults. All proceeds from this event will go towards helping music students in the inner city Oakland School District. Vocalist Jamie Davis holds a position amongst the pantheon of great male vocalists with a full deep baritone voice that has been paired with some of the world's most famous talent. Davis counts Patty Austin, Tony Bennett, George Benson, the Count Basie Orchestra, Rosemary Clooney, Jimmy Cobbs, and Billy Cobham. Sir Michael Parkinson, the BBC's arbiter of important international Jazz, named Davis the "chocolate baritone" after his 2007 performance in London with the BBC's sixty-four piece orchestra. Last year's schedule included the Cheltenham Festival, the Jerry Lewis Telethon in Las Vegas and tours at home and abroad. Davis also performs regularly for both public and private events in United States and Europe. Davis is currently a recorded artist on the Unity Music Record Label. Unity Music's Executive Producer, Sam Beler had a dream after he heard the rich tones of vocalist Jamie Davis' voice. Beler wanted to unite Jamie's amazing sound with his other passion; re-igniting the popularity of Big Band Jazz. The vibrant dream fueled Beler's imagination and ultimately drove him to find collaborators to bring it into reality. A decade later, Beler teamed with Hall Of Fame drummer and producer, Greg Errico, and launched Unity Music. Unity Music has since recorded two albums with Jamie Davis and has just released an album with trumpet player Scotty Barnhart of the Count Basie Orchestra. Unity Music was founded in 2005 by Sam Beler, Greg Errico and Jamie Davis. write your comments about the article :: © 2009 Jazz News :: home page |