FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Karen Alexander
(803) 748-7124
The Auntie Karen Foundation presents the Sixth Annual Legends of...Concert Series.
Columbia, SC-(January 9, 2009) – The Auntie Karen Foundation will present the 6th annual Legends of Concert at the Koger Center in Columbia, S.C. on Friday, February 27, 2009 at 8 p.m.. The concert will feature jazz artist George Duke and Rachelle Ferrell.
Proceeds from the concert will benefit the program of the foundation. Tickets are: $85 for Orchestra and VIP Reception; $55 for Orchestra level seating; $ 45 for Grand Tier seating; and $ 35 for Balcony seating. There are a limited number of student and AARP tickets for $ 30 (Grand Tier & Balcony seating only). Tickets are available by calling (803) 251-2222; in person at the Carolina Coliseum Box Office; or online at www.CapitolTickets.com.
Other related events:
Celebrate African American History with the Auntie Karen Foundation, the Columbia Museum of Art & the Center for Southern African-American Music
Saturday, January 31, 2009 - Columbia Museum of Art, corner of Main and Hampton streets
The Auntie Karen Foundation will display information and the work of select artist directly affiliated with the organization.
11:30 AM -3:00 PM - Dance, Music & Spoken Word
· Eau Claire High School Jazz Band
· Negro Spirituals
· Frankie Goodman, with CSAM (The Center for Southern African American Music at The University of South Carolina) will discuss the history of African American Spirituals.
· Jazz and Jazzy Poetry sponsored by the South Carolina Poetry Initiative and Columbia Museum of Art Poet-in Residence, Charlene Spearen.
Legends of . . . . Master Class
2 p.m. Thursday, February 26, 2009
USC School of Music
Rachelle Ferrell will share her talents and lessons learned in a master class at the University of SC. The class is designed for students from Elementary School to College.
Second Annual Auntie Karen Auction:
5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Friday, February 27 in the lobby of the Koger Center
prior to the concert. Features artworks, weekend getaways, golf outing, massages
and more! Contact Lance Jones at (803) 800-7983 to donate items.
About the Foundation
The Auntie Karen Foundation is a global, non-profit 501(c)3 charitable corporation in the state of South Carolina. The foundation’s mission is to create and implement a series of reproducible community outreach programs designed to empower, enlighten and educate through the arts. These programs include: Artpreneur/Technopreneur classes, an annual Young Entrepreneur’s Conference, and Hugs from Carolina, a partnership with City Light featuring Auntie Karen’s International Character, Olivia The Octopus. To learn more about the Auntie Karen Foundation, visit www.auntiekaren.org
About the Artists
George Duke
was born in San Rafael, California, and reared in Marin City, a working class
section of Marin County. When he was just four years old, his mother took him to
see Duke Ellington in concert. "I don't remember it too well," says George, "but
my mother told me I went crazy. I ran around saying 'Get me a piano, get me a
piano!'" He began his piano studies at age seven, absorbing the roots of Black
music in his local Baptist church. "That's where I first began to play funky. I
really learned a lot about music from the church. I saw how music could trigger
emotions in a cause-and-effect relationship."
George Duke is a jazz pianist who played with everyone from Cannonball Adderley
to Frank Zappa before finding success as a smooth jazz keyboardist and session
producer. In an interesting twist, many of the numbers Duke cuts with vocalists
have stronger jazz charts and keyboard solos than his instrumental cuts. While
Duke's pop recordings often find him on electric keyboards, he's featured
extensively on the acoustic piano on Muir Woods Suite. This lovely
classical-meets-acoustic-jazz suite is a nice change of pace -- even for a man
who constantly changes pace. He has worked with many music greats including: Al
Jarreau, Dianne Reeves and Rachelle Ferrell.
Rachelle Ferrell was born and raised in Philadelphia, PA. Ferrell got started singing in the second grade at age six. This no doubt contributed to the eventual development of her startling six-and-change octave range. She decided early on, after classical training on violin, that she wanted to try to make her mark musically as an instrumentalist and songwriter. In her mid-teens, her father bought her a piano with the provision that she learn to play to a professional level. Within six months, Ferrell had secured her first professional gig as a pianist / singer. She began performing at 13 as a violinist, and in her mid-teens as a pianist and vocalist. At 18, she enrolled in the Berklee College of Music in Boston to study composition and arranging, where her classmates included Branford Marsalis, Kevin Eubanks, Donald Harrison and Jeff Watts.
She graduated in a year and taught music for awhile with the Dizzy Gillespie for the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. Through the 1980’s and into the early ‘90’s, she’d worked with some of the top names in jazz, including Quincy Jones, George Benson and George Duke. Ferrell’s debut, ‘First Instrument’, was released in 1990 in Japan only. In 1995, Blue Note / Capitol released her Japanese debut for U.S. audiences, and the response was similarly positive. Her 1992 self-titled U.S. debut, a more urban pop/contemporary album, was released on Capitol Records. Ferrell was signed to a unique two-label contract, recording pop and urban contemporary for Capitol Records and jazz music for Blue Note Records. For four consecutive years in the early ‘90’s, Ferrell put in festival stopping performances at the Montreaux Jazz Festival. Although Ferrell has captured the jazz public’s attention as a vocalist, she continues to compose and write songs on piano and violin. Ferrell’s work ethic has paid off, and Gillespie’s predictions about her becoming a ‘major force’ in the jazz industry came true. Her prolific songwriting abilities and ability to accompany herself on piano seem only to further her natural talent as a vocalist. ‘Some people sing songs like they wear clothing, they put it on and take it off,’ she explains in the biographical notes accompanying ‘First Instrument’.
Rachelle Ferrell has made her mark not as a straight-ahead jazz singer and pianist, but as a crossover artist who’s equally at home with urban contemporary pop, gospel, classical music and jazz. In the year 2000, Rachelle returned with the excellent, ‘more street’ orientated, ‘Individuality (Can I Be Me?)
Media Inquiries Only: To attend the event or to interview involved parties, contact Karen Alexander, Auntie Karen Foundation at (803) 748-7124 or akfoundation@aol.com or Donald Wood at 803) 414-8295 or dwood@capconsc.com.