Celebrate Mother’s Day With
Women In Jazz
by Lora Hirschhorn
 Looking for the perfect recipe for a memorable
Mother’s Day?
The Carlisle Regional Performing Arts Center is serving up
A Celebration of Women in Jazz on May 8 at 8pm. Two diverse performances will
delight the senses and warm the soul of Mom and everyone else in the family, too!
Although appealing to a large variety of musical palates,
the recipe for women’s jazz has proven to be a challenging combination of
perseverance and hard work. As you will see, the rich rewards that women’s jazz
offers to purveyors of the art are worth every bit of preparation and effort that are put
forth.
Step one:
Start with the finest ingredients.
Cercie Miller is described by the Boston
Herald as one of the most “ubiquitous and respected saxophonists in New
England.” Nominated as “Outstanding Local Jazz Act” of 1992 by The
Boston Music Awards, The Cercie Miller Quartet is widely respected in local jazz
circles.
Robin Work is an accomplished vocal sensation whose voice
has been described as “fresh and honeyed with a great rhythmic and swinging jazz
style.” Robin has been the featured vocalist for The Bobby Mercer Road Show
for the past 6 years and has a recent CD release in collaboration with The Steve Rudolph
Trio entitled Pure Imagination.
Steve Rudolph, a 20-year veteran, is a pianist-composer
who is the feature performer at the Harrisburg Hilton. His style has been described by Cadence
Magazine as “rhythmic ease” and “what he does well is swing warm and
gently.”
Step Two:
Fold in heaping spoonfuls of musical education and
hard work.
Cercie Miller:
“I started out playing a number of different
instruments, among them the guitar and the flute. The flute did not produce the jazz sound
I liked, so my mother bought me my first horn, a Lamont saxophone. When I started playing
the saxophone, I started playing jazz exclusively and began studies with Mr. Joe Allard,
saxophone guru at the New England Conservatory.”
Robin Work:
“Women in jazz, who have devoted energy in developing
their craft perhaps more so than their image, have gained a great deal of respect in this
field as accomplished professionals.”
Steve Rudolph:
“The most dedicated jazz fans are people who
have tried to play an instrument, they have an appreciation for the talent that it takes
to play jazz. My favorite jazz singers are educated musicians.”
Step Three:
Sprinkle liberally with passion.
Cercie Miller:
“As a child, I listened to the jazz records that my
dad played and I knew jazz was my passion. Jazz enriches your life. It’s about melody
and energy.”
Robin Work:
“I decided to be a singer at a very young age. I
listened to Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, and Sarah Vaughn. I heard these women sing
the songs, and the feeling in their voices made such a connection with me that I knew jazz
was my passion. Jazz is what I love to sing more than anything.”
Steve Rudolph:
“I can take really good musicians and sit
down with people I have never even met before and make beautiful music together in jazz,
because we know and love the music.”
Step Four:
Top with thick, rich diversity.
Cercie Miller:
“The essence of being a jazz musician is about
realizing your potential and creativity. It’s not about following someone else’s
blueprint. It’s about trying something you have never done before, getting out there
and doing it, and then doing more.
In jazz, it’s the music that matters; it’s not
about the fact that you are a woman. Women can break into non-traditional roles in jazz.
It’s about diversity and realizing your dreams.”
Robin Work:
“I find that I can make such an impact in jazz with a
freedom in expressing myself that I can’t do anywhere else. Words can not describe
how jazz makes me feel. It’s about feeling what my ears hear and how my emotions
react to those feelings.”
Steve Rudolph:
“Jazz is very intellectual music, there is
no getting around it. The great thing about jazz is that you can pull in influences from
the church, from blues, from folk music, from Indian music or even classical music. Jazz
can stem from influences from any scope.”
Step Five:
Serve in generous portions to varied audiences in
fine noble settings or in the simplest of venues.
Cercie Miller:
“Jazz is a fun and wide ranging music. The show at
the Carlisle Theatre on May 8 should offer a very lyrical evening in jazz with a vocal set
and instrumental set.”
Robin Work:
“Listen to it. You will be pleasantly surprised. Jazz
offers something for everyone to listen to and enjoy at every level.”
Steve Rudolph:
“Music is very personal. I think the great
thing about jazz is that it is like classical music in a sense, where you might like Bach
but you don’t like Beethoven, or you might like Miles Davis but you might not like
Maynard Ferguson … it’s pretty wide open. It’s a very personal art.”
Step 6:
Store any additional jazz in a treasured place to be
listened to and cherished through the ages … use as a main entree or sprinkle
throughout life as needed in portions that are appropriate to the occasion.
This Mother’s Day, choose jazz …
a celebration of women … a celebration of music! Mothers will be presented with a
carnation to honor this special day.
Bring your friends, bring your neighbors, bring your
sisters and your brothers to the Carlisle Theatre on May 8 at 8pm for what will prove to
be a delightful evening of music for all.
For Tickets, call
717-258-0666.
Adults: $16.00
Students and Seniors: $14.00
Ages 5-16: $6.00 (limit 2 per adult)
Box office hours are Mondays through Saturdays, 11am to 1pm and Fridays, 5pm to 7pm.
The box office is located at 44 West High Street, Carlisle, PA. |
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