Jazz vocalists and recording artists Janice Borla, Jay Clayton and Suzanne Pittson headline the annual Hot Jazz-6 Cool Nites concert series July 21-27 at North Central College.
The concert series features eight jazz artists who also are the faculty for Borla’s 24th annual jazz camp, a weeklong educational workshop. Each evening of the series will feature a different combination of artists and musical selections.
Borla is a Blujazz recording artist who has been described as “a one-woman jazz tornado” by Jazz Times and “a stunning singer with a lustrous voice and the technique, imagination and daring of the best improvising instrumentalists” by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Her CD From Every Angle was named one of the Best CDs of the Year by DownBeat Magazine.
Clayton is another founder of the jazz camp and has worked with such jazz luminaries as Bobby McFerrin, Fred Hersch, Steve Reich and the group Vocal Summit. Based in New York City, she has been described as “one of the most phenomenal vocalists in creative improvised music“ by All Music Guide. Her CD, The Peace of Wild Things, (Sunnyside) has received wide critical praise.
Pittson is an exuberant, engaging performer who has recorded with such jazz artists as John Patitucci, Harvie Swartz, Keremy Pelt and Jack Walrath. Her current CD Out of the Hub: The Music of Freddie Hubbard earned a four-star review from DownBeat Magazine. All About Jazz describes her as “…one of the best singers on today’s jazz scene.”
The vocalists are joined by trumpeter Art Davis, an assistant professor of music at Northern Illinois University and former featured soloist with the Ray Charles Orchestra; vibraphonist Brad Stirtz, whose career has spanned the globe with concerts in Uganda and Trinidad; pianist Dan Haerle, a Clark Terry Group alumnus who has performed with Al Jarreau; bassist Bob Bowman, a Kansas City-based teacher and performer who has played with many jazz greats; and drummer Jack Mouse, a member of the Janice Borla Group and the Dan Haerle Trio.
Borla, Mouse, Stirtz and McLean are members of North Central College’s acclaimed jazz faculty. Jazz studies is among more than 55 undergraduate majors offered at North Central.
Performances will be presented at 7:30PM. Saturday, July 21, and Monday through Thursday, July 23-26, in the College’s Meiley-Swallow Hall, 31 S. Ellsworth St. Tickets for each of the five performances are $20/adults and $15/students and senior citizens. The series concludes at 7PM Friday, July 27 with a concert featuring student performers from Borla’s annual Vocal Jazz Camp. Tickets for this show are $10/adults and $5/students and senior citizens. For tickets, call the North Central College Box Office at 630-637-SHOW (7469) or visit northcentralcollege.edu/showtix.
