And the Angels Swing: From Berlin to Bacharach
June 22 @ 7:30 | First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Diego
And the Angels Swing: From Berlin to Bacharach features three of Southern California's most celebrated vocalists, Mara Kaye, Elizabeth Schwartz and Whitney Shay - all of whom tour internationally - in a program celebrating the most influential Jewish composers of jazz and swing tunes in American history. Expect sultry ballads, rousing anthems and spectacular voices lifted in harmony.
The band: Irving Flores (keyboards), Joe McNalley (contrabass), Duncan Moore (percussion) and Tripp Sprague (saxes and flute).
Opening act: Yale Strom and Hot Pstromi
Violinist and ethnographer Yale Strom, joined by Fred Benedetti (guitar), Tripp Sprague (tenor saxophone), Luke Little (contrabass), and Elizabeth Schwartz (vocals), will present a concert of klezmer music including original compositions by Strom as well as melodies he documented during extensive ethnographic fieldwork in Eastern Europe. Several selections originate from Roma musicians who historically performed with Jewish instrumentalists before and after World War II, reflecting the shared musical exchanges of the region.
Strom’s ensemble, Hot Pstromi, has maintained an active performance history for over four decades. The group’s repertoire encompasses transcribed field recordings, traditional klezmer repertoire, classic Yiddish song, and new compositions.
And the Angels Swing: From Berlin to Bacharach is generously sponsored by
Suzanne and Lawrence Hess and Sachiko Kohatsu
The History of Jewish Jazz by Elizabeth Schwartz
“The Great American Songbook is an indelible collection of the most popular jazz, pop and swing songs ever written. Words and music that were written in the earliest days of the 20th Century remain vibrant and contemporary all over the world as vocalists continue to mine this richly universal material. Not only were many of these composers Jewish, they were immersed in the culture and traditions of early waves of Jewish immigration to the United States; their material resonates with people from every walk of life. Four of the most beloved and prolific composers from this group – Irving Berlin, born as Isidore Beilin, Harold Arlen, born as Hyman Arluck (both the sons of cantors), George & Ira Gershwin and Burt Bacharach wrote a breadth of musical styles that are explored in this singular music event. “
Bios:
Bred-and-buttered in Brooklyn, Mara Kaye is “one of New York’s great gifts to the world…” Imagine a new artist with deep roots. One with the emotional power and swing of Billie Holiday, the deep blue joys and sorrows of Bessie Smith and always leavened with Brooklyn spice. Her heart is in her music and there is no pretense, no distance, as audiences from here to NYC’s Jazz at Lincoln Center have found out.” (Jazz Lives)
Mara is honored to be playing a young Barbra Streisand in the Off-Broadway show “A Brooklyn Dream” once a month in NY and in LA, she fronts an 18-piece big band: The Marlonius Jazz Orchestra honoring the works of Billie Holiday & Billy Strayhorn. She is a proud faculty member of Centrum Foundation’s VoiceWorks and Acoustic Blues programs.
Mara’s voice has been compared to “Louis Armstrong’s trumpet at a rent party” by blues legend Jimmy Vivino and praised by The Wall Street Journal as “proof that things are getting better”.
JFest favorite Elizabeth Schwartz has been called “The Edith Piaf of Yiddish” and “a revelation” with a superb mastery of klezmer ornamentations. As the vocalist for Yale Strom & Hot Pstromi and as a soloist, she has performed at festivals, synagogues and concert halls on every continent except Antarctica. Her myriad acclaimed recordings of Yiddish, Ladino, Hebrew and English have been released on the Naxos World, Arc Music UK, Global Village and Transcontinental Music record labels. On March 18, 2012, Schwartz was invited to become the first woman in history to sing at the 125-year-old Eldridge Street Synagogue in Manhattan, effectively breaking the ban of kol isha in this landmark cultural venue.
Whether in studio, on screen, or stage, Whitney Shay’s electric energy, soulful style, and powerhouse pipes keep listeners connected and coming back for more. In her hometown of San Diego Whitney Shay has been honored to win 5 San Diego Music Awards (including “Artist of The Year”), and a San Diego CityBeat Magazine "Best Of" Award. Abroad Shay has toured extensively throughout Europe and South America, and was nominated for a national Blues Music Award in 2019. In 2020 Shay’s album Stand Up! debuted at #1 on the Billboard Blues charts. Shay has received high praise from music critics calling the singer “a future blues icon” (Blues Matters!), “one of the next best things in soul music” (Blues and Rhythm Magazine), and “the epitome of a rising star” (Elmore Magazine). Shay’s tracks have been placed in TV/film, including shows on NBC, HBO, Bravo, BET, TNT, Hulu, Paramount+, AppleTV, and Disney+.
Yale Strom (violin) is one of the world’s leading ethnographer-artists of klezmer and Romani music and history. He has done extensive ethnographic research in Eastern Europe. His findings were instrumental in forming the repertoire of his klezmer band, Hot Pstromi, based in New York and San Diego. Since organizing his band in 1982, he has composed original New Jewish music that combines klezmer with Khasidic melodies, as well as Romani, jazz, classical, Bluegrass, Balkan, Arabic and Sephardic motifs. Strom’s compositions range from several quartets to a full symphony. Yale’s sixteen CDs run the gamut from traditional klezmer to Jewish jazz. His latest CD is The Wolf and The Lamb: Live at the Shakh” which includes Norbert Stachel, Elizabeth Schwartz, Petr Dvorsky, Sasha Yasinsky and Yale Strom. Strom has also directed 10 award-winning documentary films, written 18 books (including his first historical novel “The Autobiography of the Offenbacher to be published May 5) and 2 award winning audio dramas. The latest audio drama is Debs in Canton starring Phil Proctor. Strom latest doc. film (2023) Recordially Yours: Lou Curtiss is about the audiophile/ethnomusicologist Lou Curtiss who lived and worked in San Diego. Currently, Strom is developing a musical about the lives of Marc and Bella Chagall with Todd Salovey and director Jesca Prudencio, head of the Music Theatre Program at San Diego State University.
Strom was artist-in-residence in the Jewish Studies Program at San Diego State University; a position created for him 2006 – 2020. Currently he teaches in the Music Dept. Prior to this, he taught at New York University.
Irving Flores From his early beginnings as a child prodigy leading Orchestra Tamalipas to victory at the tender age of ten, to becoming a nationally treasured artist in Mexico, Irving’s journey has been nothing short of legendary. Now based in San Diego, California, Irving continues to push musical boundaries and innovate within the jazz genre, contributing richly to its evolution and reaching new audiences through his performances and recordings.
Joe McNalley began bass violin studies at the age of eleven, and started writing orchestral music in his early teens. Formal training with Edwin Barker, Ran Blake, Miroslav Vitous and Hankus Netsky at the New England Conservatory of Music was followed by advanced studies with Bertram Turezky at U.C. San Diego. Mr. McNalley has played with a number of notable musicians in the classical, jazz, and world music realms and has been honored several times for his solo and ensemble playing. He has performed with George Russell, Vinnie Golia, Jimmy and Jeanie Cheatham’s Sweet Baby Blues Band, Jay McShann, Eddie “Mr. Cleanhead” Vinson, Thad Jones, and other notables of Jazz and Blues. As the founder of the Hutchins Consort, he has written over 220 arrangements and original compositions for the Hutchins Violins.
Tripp Sprague is a jazz saxophonist based out of the San Diego area. Tripp also plays flute, chromatic harmonica, and EWI. He has performed extensively with the areas top jazz musicians including singer Kevyn Lettau, bassist Bob Magnusson, as well as Tripp’s brother guitar player Peter Sprague. Tripp‘s musical versatility has lead to invitations to perform from international acts such as jazz singer Mose Allison, Kenny Loggins, Motown legends Smokey Robinson, The Four Tops, and The Temptations. Tripp has recorded on numerous C.D.s with such artists as Kim Carnes and Todd Rundgren. Tripp also co-produced and performed on the self titled CD from the group “Blurring the Edges” which won the “best pop-jazz ” album at the San Diego Music Awards. In 2006 Tripp released a straight ahead jazz CD featuring all his original compositions entitled “Wall to Wall”. Tripp also runs a recording studio from his home where he has produced and recorded CDs for numerouslocal artists.
Duncan Moore – Percussionist
I grew up in Des Moines, Iowa and began my drum studies at the age of 8. After years of school bands and orchestras, as well as weekend gigs with various rock bands, I moved to Iowa City, majoring in music at the University of Iowa. Studying percussion with Tom Davis, and playing with local jazz groups kept me busy until 1977, when I moved to San Diego, Ca.
Besides teaching privately, I am the drum set instructor at Mira Costa College in Oceanside
California, as well as the University of California San Diego, in La Jolla. I have been on the faculty at various jazz camps, and have given numerous drum clinics.