Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center Presents A Tribute To Billie Holiday

The Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center will present "A Tribute To Billie Holiday," in celebration of Black History Month, starring renowned jazz pianist and vocalist, Corky Hale, Billie Holiday's pianist, as well as performances by celebrated jazz vocalists Barbara Morrison and Tricia Tahara. Karl Vincent will be featured on Bass. The One Night Only event will be given on Sunday, February 20, 2011 at 5:00 p.m. at the Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center; 4305 Degnan Boulevard, Suite 101; Leimert Park, Los Angeles, CA 90008. Tickets are $25 each and may be purchased by calling the Box Office at 310-330-0178 or online at www.barbaramorrison.com.

Barbara Morrison said: "I am thrilled to be presenting 'A Tribute To Billie Holiday,' one of my favorite artists of all time, in my new Performing Arts Center. The concert will be a night to remember, as I will have Billie Holiday's pianist, Corky Hale, joining me on stage, along with Corky Hale's equally talented daughter-in-law, Tricia Tahara. The event will include some video footage of Corky Hale being interviewed by a television crew about working with Billie Holiday from the DVD 'The Ultimate Billie Holiday.' We will raise the roof in memory of Billie Holiday that night performing songs she was known for!"

About The Artists:
Corky Hale (Pianist, Harpist and Vocalist) was born in a small mid-western farm town and started piano lessons at age three. At age seven, while vacationing with her family in Florida, Hale was heard in the lobby of her hotel picking out tunes on the piano by House bandleader, Horace Heidt. Heidt had a little band jacket made for her and featured her for the next few weeks in the evening show.

She has performed at The White House with Tony Bennett, soloed with Barbra Streisand in Central Park and at the Hollywood Bowl, and performed with Björk on her MTV Special in London. Hale has also appeared with George Michael at London's Royal Albert Hall and Washington, D.C.'s RFK Stadium. She has played harp for Liberace, piano for Billie Holiday and Mel Tormé, and has sung with the bands of Harry James, Ray Anthony and Jerry Gray.

Hale's harp, piano and vocals can be heard on her three albums "CORKY!;" "Have Yourself A Jazzy Little Christmas;" and her current CD "Corky Hale and Friends...I'm Glad There Is You." Corky Hale's CDs are available at www.cdbaby.com and www.amazon.com. Her sold-out performances at the Oak Room at the Algonquin in New York, Davenport's in Chicago, the Cinegrill and Herb Albert's Vibrato Grill Jazz...etc. in Los Angeles, the Plush Room in San Francisco, and Pizza On The Park in London have led Los Angeles Times' jazz reviewer Don Heckman to observe that Hale is "more than a triple threat," and the San Francisco Examiner's Philip Ellwood noted her performances are "of cyclonic proportions."

On November 22, 2007, Corky Hale made her debut at Carnegie Hall as a Piano Soloist with the New York Pops Orchestra, under the baton of Guest Conductor, Barry Levitt. In 2008 she appeared at the Metropolitan Room in New York and produced a Tribute to Sammy Cahn at the Wilshire Theatre Beverly Hills. In 2009 she appeared at Herb Alpert's Vibrato Grill Jazz...etc. in Los Angeles, selling it out for the third time. Also in 2009, she also appeared as a performer on the Inaugural Playboy Jazz Cruise of the Caribbean. She has also appeared at The White House and on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.

Other upcoming 2011 appearances include: The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in the 16th Annual Mary Lou Williams Women In Jazz Festival in Washington, D.C.; Knickerbocker Bar & Grill in New York; Midtown Jazz at Midday at St. Peter's Lutheran Church in New York and Catalina Bar & Grill in Los Angeles, CA, among others. To learn more about Corky Hale, please visit www.corkyhale.com.

Barbara Morrison (Vocalist and Founder of The Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center) was born in Ypsilanti, MI and raised in Romulus, MI. She recorded her first appearance for radio in Detroit at the age of 10. Well known in the Los Angeles area for her duo and trio dates Morrison also tours extensively, blazing a trail as a Jazz and Blues legend in her own right across the Continental United States, Western Europe the Far East and "Down Under," wowing audiences with her band.

Fresh off a 33-city tour of the United States, co-headlining in an all-star tribute to legendary composer Harold Arlen (most recognizable for his genius behind the music for the classic film, The Wizard of Oz). Morrison is now celebrateing her 30th year in the music industry. Over the years she has performed with a virtual "Who's Who" of the Jazz and the Blues worlds. That list includes legends like: Dizzy Gillespie, Ray Charles, James Moody, Ron Carter, Etta James, Esther Phillips, David T. Walker, Jimmy Smith, Johnny Otis, Dr. John, Kenny Burrell, Terence Blanchard, Joe Sample, Cedar Walton, Nancy Wilson, Mel Tormé, Joe Williams, Tony Bennett and Keb' Mo. Additionally, Morrison has guest starred with the Count Basie Orchestra, the Clayton-Hamilton Orchestra and Doc Severinsen's Big Band.

Morrison has been featured on over 20 recordings. She performs in a wide array of genres from traditional Jazz and Blues, to Gospel and Pop. Her melodic voice, with its two-and-a-half-octave range, is known worldwide, as are her rich, unique, soulful and highly spirited interpretations of both, familiar Jazz and Blues classics and original contemporary tunes. Equally as striking is Morrison's ability to belt out down-home, soul-stirring Blues. She is an Associate Professor of Jazz Studies in the Ethnomusicology Department at UCLA.

In addition to her multiple solo recordings, fans have experienced the pleasure of Morrison's rich and vibrant tones on such notable film and television appearances as: The Hurricane (starring Denzel Washington), Goin' Home: A Tribute to Duke Ellington and Johnny Otis's CD "Ooo Shoo Be Dooo." She has also appeared on the hit NBC-TV comedy, The Naked Truth, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Dennis Miller Show.

Morrison also performs at renowned Blues and Jazz Festivals around the world, including appearance at Montreaux, Nice, Pori, Carnegie Hall, North Sea, Monterey and Long Beach. She also frequently performs her Salute to Dizzy Gillespie and Tribute to Benny Golson. To learn more about Barbara Morrison and The Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center, please visit the website, www.barbaramorrison.com.

Tricia Tahara (Vocalist) is a Los Angeles resident and Savant Records recording artist. She was raised in Detroit, MI on an eclectic mixture of rock, pop, opera, and Broadway show tunes. She honed her classical technique at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, developed her jazz chops at the Berklee College of Music, and hit the road with rock and funk bands that took her literally around the world. All About Jazz's Stanley Péan proclaimed Tahara, "one of the jazz scene's best kept secrets," calling her album Secrets, "well worth hearing, notably for 'L'Altra Notte In Fondo Al Mare' (an aria from Boito's Mephistopheles), where freebop meets opera with astonishing results." And the publication Bird Lives declared, "Secrets is anything but a typical jazz vocalist's debut recording. Tricia uses her voice like an instrument, becoming part of the band, and her distinctive, assured musicality is evident on every track." In 2007 she made her Carnegie Hall debut in a program dedicated to Rock 'n Roll legends, Leiber & Stoller.

Music Calendar Listing:
The Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center Presents
"A Tribute To Billie Holiday"
In Celebration of Black History Month
Starring Pianist and Vocalist, Corky Hale, Billie Holiday's Pianist,
Vocalist Barbara Morrison and Vocalist Tricia Tahara
One Night Only!!!
Sunday, February 20, 2011 at 5:00 p.m.
Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center
4305 Degnan Boulevard, Suite 101
Los Angeles, CA 90008

WHO: The Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center will present "A Tribute To Billie Holiday," in celebration of Black History Month, starring renowned jazz pianist and vocalist, Corky Hale, Billie Holiday's pianist, as well as performances by celebrated jazz vocalists Barbara Morrison and Tricia Tahara. Karl Vincent will be featured on Bass.

WHAT: "A Tribute To Billie Holiday" In Celebration of Black History Month, starring Pianist and Vocalist, Corky Hale, Billie Holiday's Pianist, along with Vocalist Barbara Morrison and Vocalist Tricia Tahara performing songs Billie Holiday was known for. The event will include some video footage of Corky Hale being interviewed by a television crew about working with Billie Holiday from the DVD, "The Ultimate Billie Holiday."

WHERE: Barbara Morrison Performing Arts Center; 4305 Degnan Boulevard, Suite 101; Leimert Park, Los Angeles, CA 90008.

WHEN: One Night Only!!! Sunday, February 20, 2011 at 5:00 p.m.

HOW: Tickets are $25 each and may be purchased by calling the Box Office at 310-330-0178 or online at www.barbaramorrison.com.