DIANNE TIME IS HERE
She was the first singer to ever perform at Walt Disney Concert Hall, and she returns this Friday, Dec 2, 2019, to get your jazz going with a holiday confection of yuletide treats. Songbird Dianne Reeves is easily one of my favorite voices, and I’m astounded how many folks are not familiar with the reigning diva of jazz, designated as a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts. Christmas Time Is Here is in the tradition of Ella Fitzgerald and Mel Tormé, whose standard “The Christmas Song” is part of her repertoire, Reeves imbues traditional songs (“Carol of the Bells”), jazz ballads (“A Child Is Born”), and pop hits (“I’ll Be Home for Christmas”) with an irresistible sense of swing. Joining her will be the great great Peter Martin on piano, Romero Lubambo on guitar, Reginald Veal on bass and Terreon Gully on drums.
Reeves recalls Christmas as a musical outpouring with “people playing instruments, and playing great records. But more than anything, the thing that inspires me about the holidays was all of us being together and hearing the stories from my elders about their childhood.”
She is often compared to Sarah Vaughan, a remarkable jazz singer who had the ability to fully utilize all the resources of her vocals. And like Sarah Vaughan, Ms. Reeves has limitless vocal range and impressive scatting prowess. A five-time Grammy winner, she has recorded and extensively performed with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and Wynton Marsalis, who said of Reeves, “She has one of the most powerful, purposeful and accurate voices of this or any time.”
Reeves appeared throughout George Clooney’s film Good Night and Good Luck and performed every song on the Grammy-winning soundtrack. Featured prominently on screen performing in a smoky 1950s nightclub where Edward Murrow and his fellow journalists unwind, she played a key role in establishing the film’s period feel. More recently, Reeves has toured the world in a variety of contexts including a program entitled Sing the Truth, a musical celebration of Nina Simone in which Lizz Wright and Angélique Kidjo were also featured.
photos courtesy of LA Phil
Dianne Reeves
Christmas Time Is Here
presented by LA Phil
Walt Disney Concert Hall
Friday, December 20, 2019, at 8 PM
for tickets, call 323.850.2000 or visit LA Phil