Diablo Regional Arts Association has announced a third season for its
popular Jazz at the Lesher Center series, unveiling a line-up of stellar jazz
performers to be presented in concerts on Saturday nights this summer at the
Margaret Lesher Theatre, at the Lesher Center for the Arts, Walnut Creek.
Kicking off the four-concert series on Saturday, July 12, at 5pm and 8pm is
Grammy-nominated singer and pianist Karrin Allyson.
Ms. Allyson moves with ease and authority from the Great American
Songbook of Gershwin and Porter to the Great American Jazz Songbook of Duke,
Thelonius, Davis, and Dizzy, with infusions of the musical essences of Rio and Paris.
Legendary jazz critic Gary Giddins said in the Village Voice: "Allyson coolly stakes her claim. She brings a timbre that is part ice and part grain — incisive, original, and emotionally convincing."
Born in the Midwest, Allyson studied music in the Bay Area, receiving
a degree in classical piano performance. She began her recording career with
Concord Jazz in 1992, also performing in Minneapolis and Kansas City.
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In 2011, Allyson released “Round Midnight,” her thirteenth album, which
earned her fourth Grammy nomination, for best jazz vocal album. She has
been proclaimed by The New York Times, "Utter musical fearlessness - a complete artist, and one of the jazz world's finest." And by The Washington Post, "The stuff that shivers are made of: innocent, sexy and world-weary.
For ticket information or subscriptions, visit www.LesherJazz.org or call
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925.943.7469.
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