Saturday, April 6, 2019 - 7:00pm
5625 Holy Trinity Drive Melbourne, FL 32940
Phoenix Jazz Orchestra
John Mason, conductor
The Phoenix Jazz Orchestra returns to perform A Jazz Tribute to Stan Kenton. Enjoy a stirring tribute to Stan Kenton, whose orchestra, during the late 1940s and early 1950s, was the biggest jazz attraction in the world, embracing in its ranks many soloists and arrangers who went on to have brilliant careers of their own. From the early 1940s through the 1980s Kenton led one of the most dynamic and progressive jazz orchestras of the post-war years. He and his band also gave hundreds of clinics with high school and college age students, building a love for jazz among younger generations. One of the most creative of all bandleaders, Kenton's penchant for complex and highly structured work could run counter to the expectations of critics and audiences alike. Selections will include Eager Beaver, Over the Rainbow, All About Ronnie, Rhapsody in Blue, Opus in Pastels, Zoot, The Thrill is Gone, Body and Soul, La Suerte de los Tontos, and many more! Guest conductor John Mason leads the world-class Phoenix Jazz Orchestra in this powerful tribute.
Artist Information
The name, "Phoenix Jazz Orchestra," is taken from the great bird of myth whose immortality is affirmed as it rises anew from its own ashes (we're not associated with the capitol of Arizona). The name parallels the timelessness of jazz music and, like the mythological bird, jazz as an art is constantly reborn and enduring.
The Phoenix Jazz Orchestra is an 18-piece jazz orchestra – a BIG band. This is the real thing – exciting, dynamic, demanding, requiring extraordinary skills and talent. An orchestra of the future, not a band of the past – looking forward while respecting and honoring the past. Playing music written now with enormous respect to those that came before, PJO is opening up a new synthesis of exciting music.
Members of the PJO range from seasoned professionals with years of experience on the concert stage to expert, highly talented younger musicians at the beginning of their careers. These musicians have performed and recorded with many of the great jazz orchestras, including those of Stan Kenton, Buddy Rich, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, Les and Larry Elgart, Glenn Miller, Bob Florence, Gordon Goodwin, Neal Hefti, Quincy Jones and many others. Additionally, they have performed on tour with such artists as Frank Sinatra, The Temptations, Wayne Newton, Johnny Mathis, Frankie Valli, Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gormé, Celia Cruz, Aretha Franklin. . . . . the list goes on.
The Phoenix Jazz Orchestra is a dedicated group of talented musicians committed to exciting performances guaranteed to delight all jazz fans.