Kevin Mahogany and the Johannes Wallmann Quartet
Full Compass Presents
Jazz Junction: A Benefit Concert for the Greater Madison Jazz Consortium starring
Internationally-Acclaimed Jazz Vocalist
KEVIN MAHOGANY
performing with the Johannes Wallmann Quartet
Opening Act: University of Wisconsin-Madison Latin Jazz Ensemble, with special guests
ABOUT KEVIN MAHOGANY
Of Kevin Mahogany, noted jazz writer Whitney Balliett says There is little Mahogany cannot do. He has absorbed Billy Eckstine, (Joe) Williams, (Ray) Charles, Al Hibbler, Betty Carter, and Leo Watson. He can sing the blues and he can sing ballads. He can scat. He can sing Monk and Gillespie and John Lewis and Miles Davis, and he can sing soul songs and novelty songs. And he is a startling gospel singer who shouts, hums, bends notes in two, growls, and locks every syllable to five or six notes.
With a sound that was both traditionally grounded and boldly innovative, and reminiscent of the legendary Joe Williams and Johnny Hartman, Kevin Mahoganys arrival in the early 90s on the jazz scene created an unprecedented stir and resurgence of vocal jazz. As Balliett had observed, New female jazz singers seem to appear regularly, but for a long time the space behind Joe Williams, Mel Tormé, and Ray Charles has been empty.
Since then, Mahogany has been a perennial top finisher in DownBeat magazines Critics and Readers Polls as Best Male Jazz Vocalist, winning the Readers Poll in 1998 and 1999 and the Critics Poll in 1999. He has been lauded in Newsweek magazine, which described him as “the standout jazz vocalist of his generation, the Los Angeles Times which called him “one of the first truly gifted male vocalists to emerge in years, and Billboard magazine which declared him to be unquestionably one of todays most exciting and musically adept jazz vocalists.
Mahoganys broad baritone was forged in his hometown, the legendary jazz metropolis Kansas City, where he learned to swing like Charlie Parker, shout the blues like Big Joe Turner, and cry a ballad like Lester Young, while, extending, elaborating and refining the jazz vocal legacies of Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, Eddie Jefferson and Al Jarreau into the myriad, interwoven dimensions of music: from gutbucket, the Great American Songbook, and gospel, to Mingus to Motown.
In addition to 13 CDs as a leader, Mahogany toured extensively with Kurt Elling, Jon Hendricks and Mark Murphy as The Four Brothers, representing four generations of the best in jazz singing. He also brought his big band program to South Africa, Russia (two tours with The Igor Butman Big Band), the Caribbean, as well as selected US venues. Mahogany performed at the Kennedy Center and toured his Johnny Hartman Show extensively throughout North America. He also conducted two international tours based on pivotal points of jazz history: Kevin Mahoganys Kansas City Revue, Featuring the Music of Big Joe Turner and The Coltrane/Hartman Fantasy (co-starring saxophonist David Liebman).
Mahogany is also an exceptional teacher, as evidenced by his well-received work on the faculty of the Berklee College of Music in Boston and the University of Miamis renowned Frost School of Music, which has arguably one of the worlds best college jazz programs.
ABOUT JOHANNES WALLMANN
Dr. Johannes Wallmann is the Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s School of Music. Dr. Wallman is a pianist, band leader and composer who has toured extensively throughout North America, Europe and Asia.
ABOUT THE UW-MADISON LATIN JAZZ ENSEMBLE
Led by trumpeter Eric Siereveld, the Latin Jazz Ensemble focuses on music of the Latin American jazz diaspora, with an emphasis on the rhythmic traditions of Cuba.