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| Chicago Vocalist Tammy McCann Makes a Rare L.A. Appearance at Catalina Jazz Club, August 13, 8:30 pm Enjoy an evening with a consummate storyteller when the critically-acclaimed Chicago Vocalist Tammy McCann brings an all-star band – Bassist John Clayton, Guitarist Fareed Haque, Pianist Tamir Hendelman and Drummer Clayton Cameron – to Catalina Jazz Club, 6725 W. Sunset Blvd in Hollywood, on August 13, 8:30 pm, for a special preview performance of her forthcoming CD, Southside Folk Tales. L.A.-based jazz critic/historian Scott Yanow proclaimed that there, "are many fine jazz singers on the scene today, but few are on Tammy McCann's level." Supporting McCann on her West Coast date will be her fellow Chicago native, the expansive and inventive guitarist Fareed Haque (Danilo Perez, Joe Zawinul, Sting), along with a swinging L.A. triad, featuring the rock-steady bassist and co-leader of the Clayton Brothers Bassist John Clayton (Monty Alexander, Diana Krall, Milt Jackson), the evocative, Pianist Tamir Hendelman (Jeff Clayton, Teddy Edwards, Houston Person), and the propulsively profound Drummer Clayton Cameron (Sammy Davis, Jr., Joe Williams, Tony Bennett). A native of the Windy City, McCann's forthcoming CD celebrates the roots of her soulful fusion of gospel and jazz. "I'm from Mississippi, " McCann says, "and I've been wanting to do a really personal record that celebrates my influences, which include Chicago Jazz Legends Von and George Freeman, to explore the origin of the Chicago Jazz sound. It came up from Mississippi and New Orleans through the Great Migration where it was marinated in the blues, gospel and R&B, creating a sound unique to Chicago. This project has been a labor of love." McCann's southern influences are apparent in the selections from the album she will perform, including, Bill Withers' "Grandma's Hands" and WAR's "The World Is a Ghetto, " as well as the timeless classics "Blackbird" by Paul McCartney and Duke Ellington's "Don't You Know I Care." McCann's work speaks for itself. She honed her art as a classically-trained vocalist as a graduate of Chicago's Kenwood Academy High School; she also sang in the St. Paul Church of God in Christ in her hometown. She fully immersed herself in the jazz idiom when she attended Virginia Union University, travelled back home and gained valuable experience gigging and studying with Von and George Freeman. She released several acclaimed recordings, including Love Stories, featuring Laurence Hobgood, and Never Let Me Go, and has worked with a long list of all-star collaborators from Dee Dee Bridgewater and John Clayton to Ramsey Lewis and Ray Charles, who hired her as Raelette. Her many accolades include being named the Chicagoan of the Year in Jazz in 2020 by the Chicago Tribune, and she won the newspaper's award for Best Jazz Vocal Performance three times. She is currently developing a tour to perform Yes Mahalia!, her soulful tribute to the legendary gospel icon, with dates already set in New York and Chicago. Former jazz critic Howard Reich of the Chicago Sun Times, wrote that McCann has, "a voice that soars in all registers, at all tempos, on all occasions…" and her biggest supporter, the late Stanley Crouch, proclaimed that McCann's, "pitch is superb … clear on the top … startling at the bottom, while all of the steps in between are polished with swing … I have not heard a voice like hers in decades." write your comments about the article :: © 2021 Jazz News :: home page |