Jazz Session Launches 'BRICKTOP, QUEEN OF THE NIGHT'

An invitation-only, closed-door jazz session officially launches the Broadway musical "Bricktop, Queen of the Night," (original music and lyrics by Ron Abel and Chuck Steffan) based on the life of Ada "Bricktop" Smith. The musical is being produced by Paul Lambert, Jonas Neilson and Whoopi Goldberg.

Today's new generation of Jazz royalty including Wallace Roney and his Quintet along with Mickey Bass, Don McKenzie, Katie Bull, Iqua Colson, Onaje Allan Gumbs, Winard Harper, the Dom Minasi Trio, Maurice chestnut, the Avery Sharpe Trio and just added Jazz greats will be the featured entertainment during this tribute to Ada "Bricktop" Smith, her legacy and the indelible mark she left in Jazz history.

Guests present at the Apollo will be transported back to the 20s and 30s when Bricktop's famous nightclub in Paris was the rage. There will be no more than 60 people total attending this afternoon of great Jazz in the Temple of American Music. Come be a part of this unforgettable day and official launch of the Bricktop musical that celebrates an unforgettable woman.

The Apollo Theater
253 West 125th Street
Between Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Blvd & Frederick Douglass Blvd.
(also known as 7th Avenue & 8th Avenue )
New York City

Thursday, December 11th
2 - 6 PM
Special performance ---3:30 to 5PM

Featuring:

· Wallace Roney Quintet - Grammy Award Winner, Wallace Roney is heralded as an "improviser who loves complicated almost mathematical lines and who performs with catlike grace" by the New York Times, trumpeter, composer and bandleader Wallace Roney is one of the most exciting and innovative musicians on the creative music scene. He also composed music for Jordan Walker-Pearlman's film The Visit.

· James Spaulding - Alto saxophonists/flutist who recorded as a sideman for Blue Note on dates with Hubbard, Duke Pearson, Wayne Shorter, Bobby Hutcherson and others on the inside-outside end of the spectrum.

· Mickey Bass - A creative consultant to numerous Jazz clubs and organizations. Mickey has recorded with Bennie Green, Sonny Rollins, Charles Mingus, Kenny Dorham, and Gloria Lynne, for whom he also served as Musical Director for seventeen years.

· Don McKenzie - A drummer known through his tenure with Living Colour and with guitarist Vernon Reid in the band Masque.

· Katie Bull - Jazz vocalist and multi-media writer/performer living in New York City since birth. LOVE SPOOK is Bull's second CD to date. Her premiere CD Conversations with the Jokers (with Michael Jefry Stevens, Lou Grassi, Joe Fonda) was released in March 2003 and received excellent critical notices.

· Iqua Colson - Vocalist named a Vocal Talent Deserving Wider Recognition by Downbeat Magazine and has been recognized by Billboard Magazine for distinguished achievement as a lyricist.

· Onaje Allan Grumbs - One of the industry's most respected and talented musical collaborators. He has worked for more than 30 years with an illustrious list of jazz, R&B and pop artists.

· Winard Harper - Piadrum recording artist Winard Harper is one of the hardest working drummers in jazz today, not only leading his very exciting and hard-swinging sextet, but also continuing as an in-demand sideman. When not touring with his band, Harper continues to work and record with such artists such as Joe Lovano, Avery Sharpe, Steve Turre, Wycliffe Gordon, Frank Wess, Ray Bryant, and Jimmy Heath.

· Dom Minasi Trio - "Extends the harmonic implication of some of jazz's most original performers...he reassures his fast-growing base of enthusiasts that this is a guitar trio like no other recording today."

· Maurice chestnut - An original member of the New Jersey Tap Dance Ensemble who has played Carnegie Hall and throughout Europe with the Geri Allen trio as a featured soloist, and with Savion Glover in as Bring In 'Da Noise, Bring In 'Da Funk, Improvography, Classical Savion, Tappin' Into Monk. Maurice appeared on "ABC-TV's Dancing With The Stars." At the turn of the 21st century, the Newark Star Ledger's arts reviewers named Maurice "one of the twenty New Jersey faces to watch for in the new century.

· Avery Sharpe Trio - All of Sharpe's recordings feature his distinctive original compositions, which draw from the full range of his musical background. He most recently was commissioned by the Springfield Symphony Orchestra (Springfield,MA) to write a Jazz Concerto for Jazz Trio and Orchestra. The trio featured Kevin Eubanks-acoustic guitar (The Tonight Show's musical director), Marvin "Smitty" Smith-drums (also of the Tonight Show's Band) and Avery on Acoustic Bass.

· Strafe - For over two decades the name Strafe has rocked the underground club world with his signature masterpiece "Set It Off," hailed as "the most sampled song of all time," by Billboard Magazine.

· Candace Michelle Franklin - Producer and Choreographer of the hit traveling show "Jazz Aint Dead," which mixes Jazz and Dance, modern and American Standards.

· Tulivu Donna Cumberbatch - Native of Brooklyn, NY, Tuliva is a vocalist whose smooth, sultry, soulful sound has captivated thousands.

· Teodross Avery - Tenor saxophonist who launched his first album in 1994, In Other Words to critical acclaim. He is a composer and producer with credits including: Beauty Shop, Brown Sugar, Love Jones, as well as the documentary The N Word(Tivo). He has also written music for Amy Winehouse's debut album, ‘Frank' (Island Records).