Billie Holiday: A Concert Celebration / Catherine Russell, Veronica Swift, Emmet Cohen, Yasushi Nakamura, Kyle Poole, and Tivon Pennicott - The 92nd Street Y, New York
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Billie Holiday: Reaching for the Moon—An Exploration and Celebration

Billie Holiday: A Concert Celebration

Catherine Russell, Veronica Swift, Emmet Cohen, Yasushi Nakamura, Kyle Poole, and Tivon Pennicott
Catherine Russell, Veronica Swift, Emmet Cohen, Yasushi Nakamura, Kyle Pool, and Tivon Pennicott

From the stage of 92Y’s concert hall, a celebration of one of the most distinctive and influential artists of all time.

Two captivating vocalists, Grammy Award-winning jazz veteran Catherine Russell and sensational 26-year-old rising star Veronica Swift join the Emmet Cohen Trio for a concert paying tribute to Billie Holiday’s artistry with the songs indelibly associated with her. Three-time Grammy Award winner Tivon Pennicott joins on tenor sax for numbers including several spotlighting the Billie Holiday/Lester Young partnership that resulted in some of the most unforgettable recordings of Billie’s career. “Lover Man,” “Easy Living,” “Travelin’ Light,” “God Bless the Child,” “Fine and Mellow”—join us for these and others, as we celebrate a jazz icon.

Catherine Russell, vocals
Veronica Swift, vocals
The Emmet Cohen Trio
     Emmet Cohen, piano
     Yasushi Nakamura, bass
     Kyle Poole, drums
Tivon Pennicott, tenor sax

This concert was recorded on Saturday, November 21, 2020 and will be available to view through December 9.

This event is part of Billie Holiday: Reaching for the Moon—An Exploration and Celebration

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This program is part of the Gilda and Henry Block School of Music.
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Catherine Russell

Catherine Russell

Vocalist Catherine Russell is a native New Yorker, born into musical royalty …

Catherine Russell

Catherine Russell

Vocalist Catherine Russell is a native New Yorker, born into musical royalty. Her father, the late Luis Russell, was a legendary pianist/composer/bandleader, and Louis Armstrong’s long-time musical director. Her mother, the late Carline Ray, was a pioneering vocalist/guitarist/bassist who performed with International Sweethearts of Rhythm, Mary Lou Williams, and Sy Oliver. Catherine’s professional life began early. After graduating with honors from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, she toured and recorded with Carrie Smith, Steely Dan, David Bowie, Cyndi Lauper, Paul Simon, Jackson Browne, Michael Feinstein, Levon Helm, Toshi Reagon and Rosanne Cash, among others, appearing on over 200 albums.

Her 2006 debut album Cat, (World Village/Harmonia Mundi), garnered rave reviews, paving the way for her 2008 sophomore release, Sentimental Streak. Catherine was a guest on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, PBS-TV’s Tavis Smiley Show, and NPR’s Fresh Air, Piano Jazz, Mountain Stage, World Café, and Jazz Night in America. She has won a prestigious German Record Critics’ Award and a Living Blues magazine critics’ poll. Catherine Russell’s third album, Inside This Heart of Mine, reached #1 on JazzWeek and Roots Music Report radio charts, while also charting on Billboard and reaching #1 on ITunes jazz charts. A fourth album, Strictly Romancin’ was released in February 2012, and was awarded Prix du Jazz Vocal (Vocal Album of The Year) by the French Jazz Academy, Grand Prix du Hot Club de France, and a Bistro Award for Outstanding Recording. Also in 2012, Catherine Russell received a Grammy® Award as a featured artist on the soundtrack album for the HBO-TV series, Boardwalk Empire.

In 2013, Catherine contributed 3 songs to the soundtrack of the film, Kill Your Darlings. Her 5th solo album, Bring It Back, was released worldwide in February of 2014 on the Jazz Village label, receiving a *****5 Star Review in Downbeat Magazine. In September 2016, Catherine Russell released her 6th solo album, titled Harlem On My Mind, featuring songs from the Great African American Songbook, receiving a Grammy® Nomination for Best Jazz Vocal Album. Her 7th album as a leader, Alone Together, was released in March 2019 on Dot Time Records, held the #1 position on the JazzWeek 2019 Year End chart for national airplay and received her second Grammy® Nomination for Best Jazz Vocal Album . Also in 2019, Catherine appeared in the feature film Bolden, and contributed vocals to the soundtrack album by Wynton Marsalis. She appears as featured vocalist on three tracks on Big Band Holidays II, accompanied by Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis.

With universal acclaim, Catherine Russell has performed on four continents. She’s been a hit at major Jazz Festivals including Monterey, Newport, North Sea, JazzAscona, Montreal, Bern, Rochester International, Panama, Tanglewood, and at sold out venues like The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., Scullers in Boston, The Dakota in Minneapolis, Jazz at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall in NYC, SFJazz in San Francisco, and Pasadena Pops in Los Angeles. All Music Guide says, “Russell emerged as a retro old school vocalist for the ages.”

Her repertoire features a selection of gems from the 1920s through the Present; vital interpretations, bursting with soul and humor. With an off-the-beaten-path song selection, sparkling acoustic swing, and a stunning vocal approach, Catherine Russell has joined the ranks of the greatest interpreters and performers of American Popular Song.

Veronica Swift

Veronica Swift

At age 26, Veronica Swift has become one of the world’s most sought-after jazz talents …

Veronica Swift

Veronica Swift

At age 26, Veronica Swift has become one of the world’s most sought-after jazz talents. Having grown up on the road with her parents—jazz pianist Hod O’Brien and jazz vocalist Stephanie Nakasian—she was exposed to some of the greatest musicians of the time; Annie Ross, Jon Hendricks, Bob Dorough, Paquito d’Rivera, and Marilyn Maye.

At age nine, Swift recorded her first album Veronica’s House of Jazz, and began professionally touring with her parents as well as singing and playing trumpet in the youth jazz group “The Young Razzcals Jazz Project.” It was with the Young Razzcals she had her first opportunity to perform on festival stages like the Telluride Jazz Festival and would for the next ten years. At age 11, after recording her second album It's Great to be Alive, she headlined her first show at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City. Swift continued touring throughout her years in College, obtaining a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Miami in 2016.

Just before graduating, and the passing of her father, Swift was awarded second place at the Thelonious Monk 2015 Jazz Vocal Competition landing her a showcase at the esteemed Birdland Jazz Club in New York City. She then moved to New York in 2017 to continue pursuing her growing career. Maintaining a weekly residency at Birdland, Veronica toured internationally and joined the lineup on the show of Trumpeter Chris Botti.

The past few years, she has toured and performed on numerous occasions with Michael Feinstein, Benny Green, Wynton Marsalis, and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, appearing at legendary festivals (Montreal, Monterey, Umbria, Detroit, Marciac, ...) and jazz clubs (Birdland, Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola, Jazz Showcase, Jazz Standard, SF Jazz, JALC Shanghai, Blue Note, ...).

In 2018, Veronica signed a deal with Mack Avenue Recordings and released her 2019 album Confessions with them. In addition to singing bebop and Great American Songbook classics, Veronica is also a passionate devotee of the 20s and 30s repertoire and opera as well as rock and roll and metal. Swift also writes and acts in her films she makes with Darkstone Entertainment.

In 2021, Swift will release her next album on Mack Avenue with her regular touring trio: The Emmet Cohen Trio.

Emmet Cohen

Emmet Cohen

Multifaceted American jazz pianist and composer Emmet Cohen is one of his generation’s pivotal figures in music and the related arts …

Emmet Cohen

Emmet Cohen

Multifaceted American jazz pianist and composer Emmet Cohen is one of his generation’s pivotal figures in music and the related arts. Downbeat praised the “nimble touch, measured stride and warm harmonic vocabulary” he employs to communicate with other musicians and audiences at what he terms “the deepest level of humanity and individuality.” Leader of the "Emmet Cohen Trio" and creator of the “Masters Legacy Series,” Cohen is an internationally acclaimed jazz artist and dedicated music educator.

Emmet Cohen is the winner of the 2019 American Pianists Awards and the Cole Porter Fellow of the American Pianists Association, and Artist-in-Residence at the University of Indianapolis. Cohen was a finalist in the 2011 Thelonious Monk International Piano Competition. He has appeared in the Newport, Monterey, Jerusalem, and North Sea jazz festivals, among others, and at Lincoln Center’s Rose Hall and Washington’s Kennedy Center. Cohen has headlined at the Village Vanguard, the Blue Note, Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, Birdland, Jazz Standard, and Jazzhaus Montmartre. He is Hammond B-3 organist-in-residence at Harlem’s SMOKE jazz club.

A Suzuki piano student at age three, Cohen holds jazz piano degrees from the Manhattan School of Music (M.M.) and the University of Miami (B.M.). Emmet Cohen has performed, recorded, or collaborated with Ron Carter, Benny Golson, Jimmy Cobb, George Coleman, Jimmy Heath, Tootie Heath, Houston Person, Christian McBride, Kurt Elling, Billy Hart, Herlin Riley, Lea DeLaria, and Bill T. Jones.

Yasushi Nakamura

Yasushi Nakamura

Yasushi Nakamura is praised for imaginative, quicksilver bass lines that deepen the groove …

Yasushi Nakamura

Yasushi Nakamura

Yasushi Nakamura is praised for imaginative, quicksilver bass lines that deepen the groove. His blend of guitar-like precision and gut-level blues has sparked collaborations with artists such as Wynton Marsalis, Wycliffe Gordon, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Hank Jones, Dave Douglas, Steve Miller, etc. With his charismatic stage presence and artful, hard swinging melodic touch, Nakamura is a first-call performer capturing new audiences and fans around the world.

Born in Tokyo, Nakamura moved to the United States at age 9, and considers both places home. He began with clarinet and tenor saxophone, but his older brother’s study of guitar and drums drove him to pick up the bass. His love of rock and funk aside, the music of Charlie Parker, Ray Brown, Miles Davis were a potent influence on him. Nakamura received a BA in Jazz Performance from Berklee School of Music in 2000, and was awarded a full scholarship to The Juilliard School for his Artist Diploma in 2006. He credits Myron Walden as an early champion, and keeps close ties to Juilliard mentors Victor Goines, Wycliffe Gordon, and Carl Allen, Ben Wolfe all of whom maintain him in their bands.

Nakamura’s career is flourishing, with consistent engagements at premier jazz festivals including Tokyo, North Sea, Monterey, Ravinia, and venues such as Birdland, Village Vanguard, the Blue Note, the Kennedy Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and Carnegie Hall. In 2014, he was honored to play the “NEA Jazz Masters Concert: Celebrating Jamey Abersold, Anthony Braxton, Richard Davis, and Keith Jarrett,” sharing the stage with Joe Lovano and Dave Liebman. A wide array of projects permits him to explore musical styles and collaborations. In 2016, he recorded with one of his long-time inspirations, Toshiko Akiyoshi, for her recent release, Porgy and Bess. His performance with Akiyoshi’s Jazz Orchestra was also broadcast as a documentary film. Recent works include For the Love of Duke with New York City Ballet choreographed by Susan Stroman, and Ellington at Christmas: Nutcracker Suite with Savion Glover, Lizz Wright, the Abyssinian Baptist Choir, and David Berger conducting. In 2010, he toured the Middle East with Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Kings of the Crescent City project, and he toured Asia in 2008 with the Juilliard All-Stars. As an educator, Nakamura has led master classes and summer intensive courses at the The Juilliard School, New School, Koyo Conservatory, Osaka Geidai, and Savannah Swing Central.

In 2016, Nakamura release his first album A Lifetime Treasure and in 2017 he also released 2nd album Hometown from Atelier Sawano featuring Lawrence Fields, Bigyuki, and Clarence Penn which received album of the year 2017 in JazzLife magazine. In 2018, he’ll touring and performing with Donald Vega, Ulysses Owens Jr, Joe Lovano/Dave Douglas Soundprints, Aaron Goldberg, Mark Whitfield, Monterey Allstars, Christian Sands, Wycliffe Gordon, Vincent Herring, and many more.

Kyle Poole

Kyle Poole

Hailed by Jazz Speaks as a “young prodigious drummer,” Los Angeles native Kyle Poole has been residing in New York City since 2011 …

Kyle Poole

Kyle Poole

Hailed by Jazz Speaks as a “young prodigious drummer,” Los Angeles native Kyle Poole has been residing in New York City since 2011 and continues to impress wherever his drums take him next. Along with his band of fellow NY jazz upstarts aptly titled “Poole & the Gang”, Kyle has performed in New York’s most esteemed jazz clubs, notably Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola & SMOKE Jazz, culminating in a weekly residency at Small’s Jazz Club lasting nearly 3 years. One of Poole’s chief missions, is to expand jazz’s audience by incorporating all dance styles of music, reaching back to ragtime & bebop, while forging ahead all the way to funk, hip-hop & beyond. With the constant fluctuation of genre, rhythm & harmony, “Poole & the Gang” connects these musical dots in a uniquely improvised fashion, while audiences worldwide are delighted to simply, “go with the flow.”

Tivon Pennicott

Tivon Pennicott

For years, Tivon Pennicott has been transporting audiences to a higher level of consciousness …

Tivon Pennicott

Tivon Pennicott

For years, Tivon Pennicott has been transporting audiences to a higher level of consciousness. His latest release Spirit Garden greets his listeners like a warm hug, granting access to experience the gravity of his artistry. The highly sought saxophone player, composer, orchestrator and multi-instrumentalist is a three-time GRAMMY Award winner, appearing on Esperanza Spalding’s Radio Music Society (Heads Up International, 2012), and Gregory Porter’s Be Good (Motéma, 2012) and Liquid Spirit (Blue Note, 2013). He has collaborated extensively with such visionaries as Roy Hargrove and Ari Hoenig, and performed at The Royal Albert Hall, the Berliner Philharmonie and Carnegie Hall. On screen, Pennicott appears regularly on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert as a member of the Stay Human Band with Jon Batiste. His evolving sound is the result of a soulful, sophisticated foundation for groove he honed in the church, and a penchant for unbound harmonic exploration.

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