Ella Fitzgerald, Betty Carter, Billy Holiday, Anita O'day, Shirley Horn,
Blossom Dearie, Bob Dorough,Sheila Jordan, Jay Clayton, Karrin Allyson, Deanna De Rose, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Chet Baker, Dexter Gordon, Ron Carter, Pat Metheny,
Sharon LaMotte
"This woman is into the song. All that exists for her is the raw emotion captured in lyrics and melody. Experiencing one of LaMotte's live performances close up is like diving into a dose of honesty. Low-key, almost shy, LaMotte sings with a guileless disdain for embellishment. And with her softly swaying brunette hair, she resembles an earth goddess holding reverence for the natural simplicity of the song." Toni Monetta- Rapid River
LaMotte’s love affair with music and art has been a feature of her life from the beginning. Her total emersion in the world of jazz happened relatively late in life. She began to sing several years before meeting Bill Gerhardt and at his urging, started working professionally. She has continued to study with the great Sheila Jordan and Jay Clayton in New York City. Her knack for choosing material that is perfectly suited to her is uncanny. Her set list includes unfamiliar, modern compositions, as well as standards ranging back to the 1920’s. Sharon’s delivery is highly personal and direct. Her trademark is a pure, unembellished interpretation that relies on tone and phrasing to communicate the lyric and melody. Another aspect of her style that sets her apart is the unique arrangements which are conceived with Gerhardt. Often compared to Blossom Deary and Astrud Gilberto, LaMotte performs with sincere, sexy honesty.
Bill Gerhardt, piano
Performing professionally from the age of fifteen, Gerhardt was always passionate about playing and composing jazz. After five years of working on the road in commercial bands, he formed his first serious group with bassist Ron Brendle, allowing him to hone his writing and arranging skills. They won the 1988 down beat Musicfest in Orlando and Bill was recognized for his arranging talent. In 1989, he moved to Amsterdam, the Netherlands and used that as a base for the next ten years. During that time, he traveled throughout Europe and had engagements in Africa and Dubai. In 1999, Bill returned to the United States and began living and working in New York. He reconnected with old musical partners in the Carolinas as well and upon meeting Sharon, began working with young players in Asheville to form a non-profit organization called the Jazz Composers Forum. www.jazzcomposersforum.org This group presents and documents new original instrumental jazz as well as teaching workshops throughout the region.
Together, they create beautiful music. Sometimes sweet and sentimental, sometimes adventurous and edgy, sometimes dark and moody but always swinging!
For more Information visit callthatjazz.com
BLueSy GrEeTiNgS FrOm RiYeN RoOtS!!
<br />HoPe To SeE YoU DoWN ThAT RoAD.
<br />TiLL ThEn..
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<br />If YoU ArE GoInG To TrY..
<br />Go aLL ThE WaY..
<br />Do It...ALL ThE WaY..
<br />DoN'T LeT AnYoNe StEaL YoUr ShIne..
<br />2009 BeLoNgS To YoU..
<br />MaKe It Do WhAt It Do!!
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<br />MaY ThErE Be FeW StOnEs In YoUr PaSsWaY ShArON,
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<br />RiYeN RoOtS
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<br />MaNy BLEsSiNgS To YoU On YoUr PaTh!
VERTIGO JAZZ PROJECT –
<br />CD RELEASE PARTY and
<br />LIVE FILMING FOR FUTURE MOVIE
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<br />Friday, March 13, 2009
<br />Emerald Lounge – doors open @ 9:00 pm
<br />with special guests The Mantras and Selectah Cleofus
<br />Video production on site by Gauche Productions
<br />www.myspace.com/vertigojazzproject
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<br />Vertigo Jazz Project will be presenting the release of their first CD on Friday, March 13 at the Emerald Lounge. Doors open at 9:00 pm. Selectah Cleofus will be the DJ for the evening. He will be performing before and after Vertigo Jazz Project. The Mantras (www.themantras.net) will be performing immediately after Vertigo Jazz Project. The evening will be filmed by Gauche Productions. The DVD will be released later this year.
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Thanks for the request and is good to meet you (and see Bill) in NYC last November! I hope things are good with you both........All the best to you and for 2009!
Well, '09 is here babies, and man are we ready! Vertigo Jazz Project is shooting out the gate with a tremendous night of live music w/ fusion masters Gongzilla at Stella Blue on SATURDAY 1/24/09!!! We will be joined by a full horn section of Asheville allstars for this show featuring Derrick Johnson (trombone) of Yo Mama's Big Fat Booty Band, Ryan Knowles (sax) of The Afromotive, and Justin Ray (trumpet) of The Michael Buble' Band (yes ladies; that Michael Buble Band).
Plan on many suprises from this conglomerate of established and rising stars of Asheville and beyond. This will be a big one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GONGZILLA: Journalist Bill Milkowski called GZ "simply mind-boggling". Gongzilla first released a series of mostly instrumental albums featuring guest guitarists on each one, including jazz fusion legends Allan Holdsworth, David Torn and David Fiuczynski. More recently, Gongzilla has included some U.S. jamband heroes, like guitarist Chuck Garvey of moe., and has emphasized vocals, crafting songs which fuse with improvisational rock. Contradictions and balance; Rowe and Lozaga sing cool songs that will singe your soul while balancing both the hyper precision and the rockin' mayhem this band is capable of live. The new studio record "Five Even" includes the aforementioned Garvey as well as Jake Cinninger of Umphrey's McGee plus guitarist David "Fuze" Fiuczynski (Screaming Headless Torsos) with bassist Kai Eckhardt of Garaj Mahal sitting-in too!
I'll be entertainin' the crowd @ Taste Of Black Mountain (in the tent next to the train tracks) tonight @ 5:30... & will be appearing on Nightline on WGGS-TV/Channel 16 on Friday evening @ 8:00...
I've been recently informed from an inside source that they are planning on holdin a LARGE SCALE LOCAL JAZZ SHOWCASE!! They asked me to acquire all of the local jazz artists e-mail(s) and address(es).
SO IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE LEFT OUT OF THE LARGEST JAZZ EVENT IN THE AREA, YOU WILL NEED TO ACT QUICKLY.
send info as a private message, not a comment(for your privacy)
THANKS, AND THIS IS GOING TO BE EXCITING!!!!
ps. spread the word to anyone else that needs to be involved
To celebrate the season, I have written and recorded a little present for you. Go to the web address below to download the song, entitled, "Christmas Can Heal!"
Cheers,
-Dave
DOWNLOAD THE SONG HERE: http://daveturnermusic.com/merrychristmas.cfm
My dear, sweet Sharon! I'm so blessed to know you -- a ray of sunshine in my life. I love the simple beauty and honesty of your music. Keep on shining... much love always, Kendra
Sharon! Your rendition of You Don't Know What Love Is is superb! Absence makes the heart grow fonder! I miss you and hopefully we'll see each other soon! Peggy
not to beat a dead horse, but i sincerly enjoy your recordings and really want them to be heard. if your interested, let me know, so i can acquire mp3's
We'd love to have a recording of yours in our play list rotation. If your interested, send a mp3 (or as many as you'd like) to ashevillejazzmp3@excite.com
Also ashevillejazz will not under any circumstances profit from your music. We simply want to assist in connecting local jazz musicans, venues, and fans. And above all, let the people know just how much good jazz is avaible in this area.
