Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts

Winter Jazz at the Kimmel Center: Latin Jazz Vocalist Claudia Acuña Pays Tribute to Billie Holiday and Philly’s Own McCoy Tyner Reunites with Special Guest Joe Lovano

JANUARY 14, 2010

The winter jazz schedule at the Kimmel Center continues to honor Philadelphia’s vibrant jazz roots with a tribute to Billie Holiday’s “Lady in Satin,” and a performance by a locally-bred legendary pianist with his own star on Philadelphia’s Music Walk of Fame.

  • Chilean jazz vocalist Claudia Acuña pays tribute to Billie Holiday with a Pan-Latin jazz program entitled Lady in Satin Goes Latin in Perelman Theater (Saturday, February 6, 2010)
  • Philadelphia-born pianist McCoy Tyner returns to Verizon Hall, joined by  “one of the greatest musicians in jazz history” (New York Times) saxophonist Joe Lovano (Friday, February 19, 2010)

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Claudia Acuña
Lady in Satin Goes Latin
Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 7:30pm
Perelman Theater
Price: $32-38

“…because the moods are colorfully diverse and the arrangements delightfully textured, Acuña’s gifts are revealed in ways that are by turns haunting, heartfelt and high-spirited.” – Washington Post

The Kimmel Center’s Jazz Up Close series continues its season-long tribute to Billie Holiday with Chilean jazz vocalist Claudia Acuña making her Kimmel Center debut on Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 7:30pm. Acuña’s program, Lady in Satin Goes Latin, puts the spotlight on one of Holiday’s last recordings, in which she reinterprets jazz classics onstage and performs works from her most recent album, En Este Momento (2009), recently praised by Downbeat magazine with 4 out of 5 stars.

Born in Santiago, Chile, Claudia Acuña grew up with limited exposure to music and received no formal vocal training, but was enamored with jazz music she heard on the radio—before she even knew there was a name for it. Inspired by the globalized jazz of Dizzy Gillespie’s United Nation Orchestra, Acuña determined to find an original voice by blending the Latin music of her youth with the modern jazz idiom. She moved to New York in the early 1990s and began performing at such clubs as the Zinc Bar and Small’s. In 1999, she was signed to Verve Records; her debut album, Wind from the South was released in 2000, followed by Rhythm of Life (2002) and Luna (2004). Acuña has since recorded and toured with artists such as George Benson, Joey Calderazzo, Billy Childs, Roy Hargrove, Christian McBride and Danilo Pérez, and regularly appears with her musical director and frequent collaborator, Jason Lindner.

A New York City resident since 1995, Acuña remains committed to her Chilean heritage, drawing upon the culture of her homeland by fusing Latin rhythms with her instinctive jazz sensibility. Acuña's most recent album, En Este Momento, was released in April 2009 on the Marsalis Music label; it is scheduled for release in Europe in February 2010. The primarily Spanish-language album includes original songs as well as contributions by Chilean poet Victor Jara, Argentine tango master Astor Piazzolla and others. In 2009, Acuña was named co-curator of Providencia Jazz Festival in Santiago, Chile, which included performances by Acuña’s quintet, Yosvany Terry and Ivan Lins. Beyond music, her appointment as a spokesperson for the child-focused relief agency World Vision Chile underscores her commitments to her homeland.

This is the fourth concert in the Jazz Up Close series for the 2009/10 season. The next concert in the series is Back in Your Own Backyard with Philadelphia natives Denise King and Venissa Santi on Saturday, May 1, 2010 at 7:30pm in Perelman Theater.

“…she has mastered the essential elements of jazz with startling effectiveness.” – Los Angeles Times

“The amber glow of her tone, the honesty of her delivery and the lush translucence of the instrumental accompaniments make En Este Momento (At This Moment) a major recording that rewards repeated hearings.” – Chicago Tribune

Claudia Acuña Quintet

Claudia Acuña, vocals
Juancho Herrara, guitar
Carlos Henderson, bass
Jason Lindner, piano
Yayo Serka, drums

Saturday, February 6, 2010 | Intermission
Perelman Theater
Artist Chat
An intermission Artist Chat led by Kimmel Center Vice President of Programming Tom Warner and Jazz Up Close Artistic Advisor Danilo Pérez, along with the evening’s featured performer will explore the music heard in concert as well as their own thoughts, memories and riffs.

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McCoy Tyner Quartet
With Special Guest Joe Lovano
Friday, February 19, 2010 at 8pm
Verizon Hall
Price: $26-64

“…the energy he conveyed at the keyboard, as well as the complexities of his harmonies, reaffirmed the singularity of his art. Generations of jazz pianists have absorbed his innovations, but they’re most persuasive coming from Tyner’s fingers.” – Chicago Tribune

One of the most influential pianists of the 20th Century, McCoy Tyner returns to the Kimmel Center’s Verizon Hall with his Quartet and special guest saxophonist Joe Lovano on Friday, February 19, 2010 at 8pm. A Philadelphia native, Tyner is revered in his hometown with his own star on Philadelphia’s Music Walk of Fame. He has inspired a whole new generation of musicians with his richly percussive, improvisational blues-based piano style that transcends the traditional jazz idiom. Tyner and his quartet are joined by Grammy® Award-winning saxophone giant Joe Lovano in his Kimmel Center debut.

Born in Philadelphia in 1938 and discovered by John Coltrane at age 17, McCoy Tyner became a part of the jazz and R&B scene at an early age. He joined The John Coltrane Quartet for the classic album My Favorite Things (1960), and remained at the core of what became one of the most seminal groups in jazz history. His other major projects include the 1967 album The Real McCoy; his 1972 Grammy® Award-nominated album, Sahara; and What the World Needs Now (1997), a tribute to pianist-composer Burt Bacharach. More recently, Tyner has arranged for big bands, employed string arrangements and even reinterpreted popular music. Beyond his prodigious career as a leader, Tyner has recorded and performed with such artists as Art Blakey, Michael Brecker, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Bobby Hutcherson, Wayne Shorter and many others. His most recent CD/DVD, Guitars (2008), features bassist Ron Carter and drummer Jack DeJohnette, with a bevy of special guests.

Today, Tyner has released nearly 80 albums under his name, earned four Grammy® Awards and was awarded Jazz Master from the National Endowment for the Arts in 2002. In 2008, he received the Presidential Merit Award from the Grammy® Foundation. Engagements in 2010 include performances in Poland, Switzerland, Italy and throughout United States.

For more than two decades, Joe Lovano has been considered one of the world's premiere tenor saxophone players for his fluid tone and progressive performances of new musical concepts. With his most recent album, Folk Art (2009), Lovano debuted Us Five, a dynamic new ensemble, in his first-ever album to be comprised entirely of original compositions. The album was named in Jazz Times Critics’ “Top 50 New Releases” of 2009. Lovano has previously teamed up with Tyner on the critically acclaimed album Quartet (2007), recorded live at Yoshi's in Oakland, Ca., with bassist Christian McBride and drummer Jeff "Tain" Watts.

Accolades for the saxophonist also include a Grammy® Award for 52nd Street Themes (2000); eight Grammy® nominations; and multiple wins for Down Beat magazine’s “Jazz Artist/Musician of the Year,” “Tenor Saxophonist of the Year” and “Album of the Year.”

“…a savior has been slowly materializing… the astonishing tenor saxophonist and composer Joe Lovano.” –The New Yorker

McCoy Tyner Quartet

McCoy Tyner, piano
Gerald Cannon, bass
Eric Kamau Gravatt, drums
Joe Lovano, saxophone

Friday, February 19, 2010 | 5:30pm
Commonwealth Plaza | Friday LIVE
The Joe Baione Quartet
The Joe Baione Quartet consists of some of the best rising stars in jazz. The group has most recently performed at The Clearwater Jazz Holiday, Trinidad and Tobago Jazz Festival and The White House. The quartet’s music consists of many of Baione's original compositions from his first two albums, Superhero and Oh Yeah!!, with Latin and African influences. According to Jazz Times, "A bebopper at heart, the Delaware base vibraphonist Joe Baione plays with conviction and passion."

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Tickets can be purchased by calling 215-893-1999, online at www.kimmelcenter.org, or at the Kimmel Center box office open daily from 10am to 6pm and later on performance evenings. (Additional fees may apply.) For group sales call 215-790-5883.

A limited number of $10 tickets are available for these performances. Tickets go on sale the day of the event and can be purchased at the Kimmel Center box office at 5:30pm prior to evening curtain time and 11:30am for matinees. Limit one ticket per person.

Kimmel Center Presents' 2009/10 Season is sponsored by Citi. American Airlines is the Official Airline of Kimmel Center Presents. The performance by Claudia Acuña has been generously underwritten by PECO.

Free at the Kimmel programming and subsidized tickets offered to the community and social service groups for $10 are made possible through the Wachovia Gateway to the Arts Community Access Program, supported by a generous grant from the Wachovia Foundation.

The Kimmel Center is the recipient of partnership funding through the nationally recognized PNC "Grow Up Great" initiative, a ten-year, $100 million investment in preparing children for success in school and life. Funding gives support to the Kimmel Center's early childhood program "Bop and Swing," an arts program for children 1-5 years old, designed to promote an appreciation for American culture.

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