Photos: Songbook Sundays Celebrates Harold Arlen at Dizzy’s Club

I was "courtside" and got to hear and see these great performers up close in “Gotta Right to Sing Harold Arlen” and here are some photos of the action.

The show featured music director Richard Cummings on piano, Gene Torres on bass, Damon DueWhite on drums, and Ed Jackson on alto sax.

Songbook Sundays returns to Dizzy's Club on August 9 celebrating Tony Bennett's centennial. Find tickets to that and more upcoming shows at Jazz at Lincoln Center and Dizzy's on their website here.

Below, read bios of the performers from the June 14 show and see photos from the night.

Deborah Grace Winer (Curator, Host) is a leading expert on the classic American Songbook, and writer and creator of theatrical revues and concerts.  Along with multiple projects with Jazz at Lincoln Center, collaborations include Feinstein’s/54 Below, Birdland, and a decade as Artistic Director of the 92Y’s Lyrics & Lyricists™ concert series, presiding over 50 original shows and steering the venerable series back to audience and critical acclaim.  She collaborates with top-tier artists from Broadway and the music world, and works with leading institutions.  Author and dramatist, among her four books is On the Sunny Side of the Street: The Life and Lyrics of Dorothy Fields (Macmillan), named by the Wall Street Journal one of the Five Best books on American Songwriters. Her articles have appeared in The New York Times, and her plays, off-Broadway and regionally.  She has been featured on PBS American Masters, and NPR’s “Fresh Air” and “Morning Edition.”  She wrote and created the new comedy-adventure podcast, Flash Force! Middle-Aged Women Superheroes Save Democracy, featuring an all-star Broadway cast; available on all podcast platforms.

Christine Andreas (vocalist) is a two-time Tony award nominee. Broadway performances include My Fair Lady, Oklahoma!, On Your Toes, The Scarlet Pimpernel, La Cage Aux Folles and national tour of The Light in the Piazza.   She has appeared in clubs and concerts from New York to Australia, including the Cafe Carlyle, Carnegie Hall and the White House, most recently, touring her critically acclaimed show, Piaf—No Regrets.

Nikki Renée Daniels (vocalist) is an acclaimed Broadway and concert artist.  Broadway appearances include Once Upon a Mattress, Company, Hamilton (Chicago), The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess, The Book of Mormon, Les Misérables, Anything Goes, Promises, Promises, and Lestat; regional theatre includes Caroline or Change, Ragtime, Beauty and the Beast.  She has appeared as a soloist at Carnegie Hall, and with symphony orchestras in Atlanta, San Francisco, Boston, Houston, Detroit, Pittsburgh and more.  TV includes Billions, Madame Secretary, The Equalizer, The Sound of Music: Live.

Benny Benack III (vocalist, trumpet) headlines clubs and festivals around the world.  His recently released album, This is the Life, is topping the JazzWeek Radio Charts.  As a vocalist, his collaborations with the Grammy-winning 8-Bit Big Band and YouTube sensation, Postmodern Jukebox, has earned him millions of followers. He just returned from leading a ten day tour to China which included a multi-night residency at Dizzy’s sister club, Jazz at Lincoln Center Shanghai.

Richard Cummings (Music Director, Piano) was, for nearly two decades, Music Director for Harry Belafonte.  Composer, arranger and educator, he has recorded with Mr. Belafonte as well as Diane Reeves, Letta Mbulu. Hugh Masakela, Wayne Shorter, Zubin Mehta and Jon Lucien, among others.  He’s a graduate of Manhattan School of Music with an Artist Diploma Degree from Juilliard