Saturday, January 21, 2023 | 7:30pm
Kuumbwa Jazz Center

Tammi Brown Sings
THE LOST AMERICAN JAZZBOOK

Accompanied by Dan Zemelman, pianist
and co-composer of TLAJ and violinist Mads Tolling

A Benefit Performance for NewMusicWorks !

Mads Tolling’s violin brings sweet radiance and weaving countermelodies to Tammi Browns and Dan Zemelman’s spontaneous explorations of  The Lost American JazzBook. Tolling is a two-time Grammy winner and recipient of the 2016 Downbeat “Award for Rising Talent.”

The Lost American JazzBook is an amazingly adventurous collection of contemporary song arrangements, ranging from music by Thelonious Monk to Bob Dylan, Billy Strayhorn to Antonio Carlos Jobim.

Multi Grammy-winning producer Kabir Sehgal writes about The Lost American JazzBook, “the tradition of jazz became the soundtrack of the 20th century – an era beset by world wars and the systemic scourge of Jim Crow.  Not unlike our troubled time.”

Albert Greenberg — Originator and co-composer of The Lost American JazzBook — describes it as “a revisioning of the “American art song tradition.” Greenberg believes that the music of The Lost American JazzBook can be both a communal force and a prophetic voice—bringing people together from many traditions to form a more “improvisational union”.

Tammi Brown has performed with Quincy Jones, Alan Parsons, Bobby McFerrin, Stanley Jordan, Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir and Tom Schuman of Spyro Gyra. She is the new voice of The Lost American JazzBook, a concert of original songs written in the style of the American art song tradition—the jazz standard.  JazzBook was winner of Jazz Vocal Album of the Year from the Independent Music Awards in 2018.

About Ms. Tammi Brown, Kabir Sehgal wrote, “Tammi Brown has a storied career as a performer, equally comfortable with soulful gospel as with modern, forward-pushing jazz. Her refined phrasing and powerful voice have an almost hypnotic effect as she inhabits each song and mesmerizes with fresh renderings.”

Mads Tolling is a two-time Grammy-winning violinist, and is considered to be one of the finest jazz violinists in the world today. Mads was part of the JazzBook vol 1 ensemble and returns to bring his singular expressive vision to the music.

Dan Zemelman, pianist, co-writer, musical director and arranger, collaborated closely with JazzBook’s producer and originator, Albert Greenberg, to create The Lost American JazzBook. Their second CD, Taxonomy of Pleasure, features seven songs with original lyrics, along with one jazz standard, and one Bob Dylan tune.

Proceeds from the concert will go to support of NewMusicWorks, a Santa Cruz-based contemporary music series, in its 43 year as a non-profit organization, California 501c3.

We request that attendees bring a face mask and observe Covid-19 guidelines for indoor gatherings as required by State and County protocols.

DAN ZEMELMAN