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| Cynthia Holiday - Greater Hartford Festival of Jazz An exciting jazz and blues singer who always gets a strong reaction from her audience, Cynthia Holiday is a veteran performer with an electric stage presence. Born and raised in Newark, New Jersey, Cynthia grew up around music. Her stepfather Calvin Hughes led his own big band and played trumpet with Count Basie, Frank Foster, Clark Terry, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis and Big Maybelle. Her sister, Valerie Holiday is the lead singer of the Philadelphia soul group, The Three Degrees. Cynthia began her life on stage as a dancer, studying for years with the Garden State Ballet Company, touring with a modern dance company and teaching dance during college. But singing was her true love. Cynthia's initial vocal training began at the Newark School of the Arts and the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York. She also studied privately with composer Duke Anderson, Kevin Mahogany, Marion Cowings and the late Rita DaCosta Turrentine. Equally important to Cynthia was the experience she gained sitting in with musicians on the Newark/New York jazz scene like her dad, Calvin Hughes; the late bassist, Earl May; pianist, Harry Whittaker; the Bob Harris Orchestra and B3 organist, Radam Schwartz. In 2008, Cynthia released her debut CD "Cynthia Holiday. . . All The Way." Produced by John Snyder and Radam Schwartz, the recording features the singer giving her own personal touch to standards and introducing some originals. In fact, she co-wrote two of the tunes with Schwartz, "I Like What I See" and "You've Got A Job To Do." When asked to pick out a few favorite selections from the CD, Cynthia says, "'My Little Rainbow' is a lovely tune and one of two songs, along with 'I Like What I See, ' that I recorded with the great pianist Cedar Walton including bassist, David Williams and drummer, Joe Farnsworth. Some of Ms. Holiday's highlight performances include: Newark Symphony Hall Jazz Marathon, Baltimore Jazz Festival, Jazzmobile Summer Concert Series, Riverside Theatre Festival of The Arts, Birdland Jazz Club with John Hicks, Harlem Jazz Tour and Jersey Jazz by the Lake. As Matt Rogers wrote in the Amsterdam News, "Catch some Holiday magic - this is a woman who can really put on a show!" About the Festival The Greater Hartford Festival of Jazz is a non-profit organization originally conceived by Paul Brown, noted Hartford jazz bassist and music educator. Now in its thirteenth year The Greater Hartford Festival of Jazz has grown to be the largest FREE jazz event in New England, attracting a record 55, 000 plus fans last July. During the past several years, the attendance has averaged over 45, 000! Notable performers at the Festival have included The McCoy Tyner Big Band and Arturo Sandoval; The Duke Ellington Orchestra under the direction of Mercer Ellington; The George Shearing Quintet; Nancy Wilson; The Heath Brothers and John Hendricks; Dave Brubeck; Marion Meadows and The Dizzy Gillespie All Stars under the direction of Jon Fadis; John Scofield, Chuck Mangione, the Ramsey Lewis Trio and Nicholas Payton; Gerald Albright and Herbie Mann; and Kim Waters and the Woody Herman Big Band. write your comments about the article :: © 2009 Jazz News :: home page |