Get ready to dance. Get ready to sing. Get ready to jazz.
On February 27, the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts welcomes Dee Dee Bridgewater, Irvin Mayfield and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra. This era’s world-renowned jazz vocalist (Bridgewater) and bandleader/trumpeter (Mayfield) will take us back to the musical history of New Orleans, the birthplace of jazz, giving us the party of another era.
“We try to bring in some of the best artists in the world and reflect a lot of the values of UBC through performing arts and music,” said Joyce Hinton, the co-managing director of the Chan Centre, who is excited to present this concert as part of their series. “I’ve always wanted to present Dee Dee Bridgewater, who’s played with so many great jazz artists. When I heard that she’s going to be with Irvin Mayfield and the New Orleans’s Jazz Orchestra, I just jumped on it right away.”
As a Tony award and multi-Grammy award winning singer, Dee Dee Bridgewater has performed with the big jazz greats such as Sonny Rollins, Dizzy Gillespie, Dexter Gordon and Max Roach, to name a few. Born in Memphis and raised in Michigan, this performer has re-envisioned jazz classics for over four decades.
“She uses her voice in such different ways. She’s very playful on stage and has this incredible connection with Irvin,” said Hinton.
Hailing from New Orleans, Mayfield, a Grammy and Billboard music award winner, is a brilliant trumpeter, composer and bandleader is credited with 15 albums. After he founded the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra in 2003, Mayfield wanted to lift people’s spirits post-Katrina and celebrate the origins and futures of jazz. After opening a venue in New Orleans that focused on jazz and jazz education, he invited Bridgewater to the opening. It was there that they put together the album, Dee Dee’s Feathers.
“The album is so well done, so joyful,” said Hinton. “This music is going to be accompanied by all these great instrumentalists and to have this fabulous singer and, of course, the phenomenal trumpeter is such a great opportunity for a memorable Saturday night.”
The New Orleans Jazz Orchestra’s includes five trumpets, five saxophones (alto, tenor and baritone), three trombones and the powerful play of the piano, banjo, guitar and the bass drum. Led by the musical styling of Mayfield and Bridgewater will surely be a soul-reaching jazz experience.
“They take the well-loved songs of New Orleans and put their own spin on it,” adds Hinton. “The album just grabs you.”
First-time jazz listeners as well as jazz veterans can be excited for this concert. There is no doubt that this performance is a great opportunity for people in the UBC community to be introduced to jazz. A Night in New Orleans captures the playful vocals of Bridgewater in collaboration with Mayfield’s jazz orchestra and connects traditions of the old and modern musings of the new.
“They really wanted to lift up people’s spirits and bring a lot of joy — that’s what this music is.”
The Chan Centre also offers pre-concert talks that are free to anyone who purchases a ticket., Nou Dadoun, the host of CFRO's A-Trane Radio Program, will give a talk this year about jazz and its unique sound, walking us through the history of jazz all the way towards the New Orleans performance later in the evening by Bridgewater and Mayfield.
A limited amount of student rush tickets are available on February 20 for $15 with ID. This discounted offer is also open to students throughout the Lower Mainland and those who are 25 and under.
Hinton said, “I know on February 27, people will stand because it is going to be impossible to sit down.”
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