Spring 2012
Just back from Austin (!), where I played a fabulous house concert at Casa Karen. The band was John Mills (sax, flute), Pat Harris (bass), Steve Schwelling (drums), with hostess (and fellow Stern girl) Suzi Stern sitting in to sing a few. She wrote some wonderful lyrics to The Aerie, we put it in a new key, and it was revelatory. The whole program was exciting, brand new tune (The Unfound, New Orleans style crazy piece) – we had a lovely audience, with a nice standing O at the end…Nice intro to Austin. Capital City Voices will be at Blues Alley, on Tuesday June 19th, featuring the Nancy Wilson/Cannonball Adderly songbook, and a bunch of originals. It’s a helluva program, features Jeff Antoniuk on sax, Amy Shook on bass, Frank Russo on drums, and moi.
Capital City Voices at Blues Alley
Blues Alley – December 12, 2012, 8 & 10 pm
Featured Artists: Capital City Voices – Jazz Choir
Guest musicians: Peggy Stern, Jeff Antoniuk, Amy Shook, and Frank Russo
Capital City Voices debuted in a 2011 sellout concert and have been going strong ever since. Scores of well-trained singers provide an eclectic and dramatic listening experience for jazz lovers. Programs feature beloved standards and new works by acclaimed composer Peggy Stern. Top call musicians such as Jeff Antoniuk, bassist Amy Shook and drummer Frank Russo help the choir create a magical and masterful performance.
As a pianist Stern toured much of the world, playing with myriad jazz greats. Her compositions exhibit a deep knowledge of world music. She attended Eastman School of Music and the New England Conservatory, played with many New York jazz masters, then expanded her sound to encompass Brazilian, African, Irish and Cuban influences. “Everything she writes wants to dance,” said Ken Dais of Jazziz.
The Blues Alley show features a version of Paul Desmond’s “Take Five” incorporating several Christmas carols! Holiday favorites such as “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire” are sure to please.
Fall in DC
Well, things are chugging right along here in DC, my second season in the Capitol.Capital City Voices has expanded to two full jazz choruses, and we will be performing (with Amy Shook, Frank Russo, and co-director Jeff Antoniuk) on December 12th at Blues Alley. The Wall Street Jazz Festival was spectacular this year (Sep 1,2), very inspired and inspiring. Nov. 2-6 doing a mini tour with Bassist Rich Syracuse in IOWA (first time there); we’ll see what we can do about that caucus (!).
Capital City Voices at Holy Trinity Bowie
Well, we had our 3rd and final concert on Sunday afternoon, and it was really sweet; the choir seems at ease with the music now (just in time to start a new season/new repertoire), and the venue was stupendous. What a great acoustic! And the audience was large and appreciative, the reception was fun too. Nice gig…This Friday RiverJazz+BlueBelles is at BEAHIVE in Kingston, our annual fundraiser for Wall Street Jazz festival, and we are featuring Jay Clayton and special guests – it should be a lot of fun…then after that, for me – a rest! ( for a minute)
Capital City Voices
Concert at Christ Church
We just held our debut concert at Christ Church on Capitol Hill, DC. What a lovely concert! The singers and audience had such a good time; I am feeling like I’m making a nice contribution to the community, in the only way I know – the music. Anyway, Al Wolcott (from River Jazz, Kingston, NY) came down to join the baritones, and Yeva Avakyan flew in from Bangladesh to make the concert. It’s a very nice beginning for this group.
After the choir sang "Mila"
June 11, 2011
Just Played the Kennedy!
Sue Terry and I played the Kennedy Center (fortress of the Arts!) a couple of days ago, and what fun, and what an honor! Seriously, the venue, and staff were beautiful, gracious, professional, and low-key. No emergencies, pretty mellow. Sue and I were treated like – well, like Artists, imagine that! Musically, it was pretty interesting, because we are a duo, and chose to play acoustically. Everything else in the program had amps and mikes, and I heard the contrast was most interesting! The other thing that stood out, at least on our program, was that we played all original music, with the exception of the combined tune Weaver of Dreams/There Will Never Be Another You, and our tribute to the late great Billy Taylor – his tune, Picture This… other than those, we did what we do, and played outside the box, with our good chemistry and musicianship, we had a ball, if I do say so myself!
Met Michel Legrand
He played at Blues Alley a few weeks ago, and some members of Capital City Voices ( my DC jazz chorus) went with me to hear him. I met him and his lovely wife between sets, and told him we are singing “You Must Believe in Spring”, and his first comment was: Wow! That’s really weird, how do you arrange a tune like that for chorus?! So I promised to send him a copy (hardcopy, he doesn’t do internet online stuff), and then he proceeded to play the tune in the next set, very gracious person, and charming (charmant!)
Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Festival
Peggy Stern with “Sweet” Sue Terry performing at the Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC on Saturday, May 21st.
March 22, 2011 – a new look!
I’m excited about this new website; very modern and tech-y…I will be posting my music for download, and filling in details of my musical life these days. As always, you can buy my CDs at CDBaby for a very reasonable price, and also download individual songs at itunes. I won’t tweet or blog (ah, the english language…), but I will tell stories here. Stay tuned!
This just in! Sue Terry and I (Sweet Sue) will be playing Kennedy Center May 21st, at 7 PM, as part of the venerable Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Festival. I will post more later.