Jazz at the Ballroom’s “Swing State” brings the hip sounds of some of the great musicians who defined mid-century swinging jazz.
We all agree: one night can’t do justice to the music and talent that came out of the era, especially since the jazz world was exploding with new voices and styles at that time. But we love how they all managed to co-exist in the larger world of jazz. It’s a meaningful reminder for us, given the political climate in which we currently live!
From the lyrics sung by the most well-known singers to the tunes that brought fame to new instrumentalists on the scene, the result is one night of swinging tunes with “Swing State.”
Vocalists Melissa Morgan and April Varner take the stage with the Konrad Paszkudzki Trio.
LA-based Melissa Morgan “has a voice that is unexpected. While belting a blues or tenderly massaging a ballad, she has come a long way from her appearance at the 2004 Thelonious Monk Competition… Downbeat Magazine included her on their Rising Star List and JazzTimes has named her ‘audacious and decidedly salty.” (LACMA)
New Yorker, April Varner, was the 2023 winner of the International Ella Fitzgerald Jazz Vocal Competition. “As the song lyric goes, ‘She’s got that thing, that certain thing,’ which in April Varner’s case is a profound command of deep scat and vocalese.” (Marilyn Lester, NYC Jazz Record)
Saxophonist Rickey Woodard began his career touring with the Ray Charles Orchestra. In addition to leading his own groups, Woodard is a member of the the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra and Jeannie and Jimmy Cheatham’s Sweet Baby Blues Band. He toured with Horace Silver in the 1990s and has worked with top artists including Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, John Legend and Diana Krall.
“… a pearly touch, a sense of history, a sense of drama, a love of the blues, and an elegance which is borne of high-minded dedication,” Wynton Marsalis said of Konrad Paszkudzki. Called by JazzTimes, “a rising-star pianist,” Australian-Polish Konrad Paszkudzki has played with the likes of the Clayton/Hamilton Jazz Orchestra and the Jeff Hamilton Trio before moving to NY to lead the house trio at 54 Below. In 2013, Konrad joined the John Pizzarelli Quartet. Since then, Konrad’s 1000+ performances with Pizzarelli have taken him on extensive tours of Asia, Brazil, Canada, and Europe and the greatest jazz clubs, concert halls, and venues around the world. While he continues to perform, Konrad is now the Artistic Director of Jazz at the Ballroom.
