One of the great voices in jazz history, vocalist Mary Stallings is returning to Madison to headline the Greater Madison Jazz Consortium’s annual “Jazz Junction” fundraiser in the intimate setting of Studio 1 at Full Compass on Sunday afternoon, August 20th, from 2:00 – 5:00 PM. Called by the New York Times “perhaps the best jazz singer singing today,” Mary Stallings sets the standard when it comes to carrying on the vocal legacy of Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Carmen McRae, and Dinah Washington, and her Jazz Junction concert will be the closest thing possible to being at a live performance by one of those dearly-departed jazz icons.
A world-renowned artist whose career dates back to the early 1960s, Mary Stallings was the first jazz musician to perform at the iconic Prague National Theater, in a memorial concert for the late Czech Republic President Vaclav Havel. Ms. Stallings has been a headliner at many of the world’s highest-profile jazz venues and festivals, and gave a stunning headline performance at the 2012 Isthmus Jazz Festival at the Wisconsin Union Theater. Ms. Stallings recently conducted a 4-day series of showcase performances at San Francisco’s SFJazz, the West Coast equivalent of New York’s Jazz at Lincoln Center where she serves as one of four Artistic Directors, https://www.sfjazz.org/events/2016-17/resident-artistic-directors.
Not familiar with Mary’s music? Check out samples at http://marystallingsjazz.com/audio/. We suggest you start with “Close Enough for Love,” “That Old Black Magic,” “Love Me or Leave Me,” and “Key Largo.” For her Jazz Junction performance, Mary will be accompanied by acclaimed New York-based pianist Mike LeDonne, http://mikeledonne.net/, who the late Oscar Peterson called “one of the most talented pianists of this particular era” and of whom the late Milt Jackson said “Hearing Mike LeDonne was a startling revelation. I was knocked out.”
In addition to the headline performance by Ms. Stallings and an opening act soon to be announced, Jazz Junction will include a raffle, wine pull, and live auction. Net proceeds from these activities and from ticket sales will support the vital performance and education programs of the Greater Madison Jazz Consortium, http://www.jazzinmadison.org/about/#Mission-Goals-and-Core-Partners.
Tickets are now on sale, and only 250 will be sold. You won’t want to be left out!
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