Piedmont Piano Company is pleased to present jazz vocalist
Gillian Harwin
with Victoria Theodore, piano, Dayna Stephens, sax,
Geoff Brennan, bass, and Jeff Marrs, drums
Friday, February 19, 2010 at 8:00 PM at our new store:
18th St. & San Pablo Ave. in Oakland's Uptown Arts & Entertainment District
Please join us for a glass of wine at intermission and meet the musicians.
Tickets $20 - please call 510-547-8188 to reserve with your credit card
Californian turned New Yorker Gillian Harwin is a songwriter, producer, arranger, band leader, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist. She sings in multiple languages and otherwise entertains by playing the guitar, bass, ukulele, musical saw, or tel avi and has even been known to do a nose flute or kazoo solo.
She graduated with a degree in classical vocal performance although her true passion is for singing jazz, Latin, soul, R&B and the blues. Her debut album, Whiskey Sandwich, is an eclectic ten song mix of jazz, blues and ballads engineered by producer and musician Troy Dexter.Gillian’s multi-lingual vocal talent helped secure her a place as a front-woman with Latin sensation, Movimiento, with whom she tours. She has also performed and studied with legends such as John Lee Hooker, Benny Green, Ron Carter, Tootie Heath, Elio Villafranca, Francois Rabbath, Rebecca Parris, Nancy Marano, Randy Porter, Harvey Wineappel, Josh Jones, Jovino Santos Neto, John Santos, Carolyn Brandy, Scott Colley, Faye Carroll and Geoff Brennan among others.
Last year Gillian won the prestigious Amateur Night at the World Famous Apollo Theater in New York.
Between performances she offers instruction on playing the ukulele, guitar, musical saw, upright and electric bass.
Victoria Theodore (piano) is a highly sought Bay Area pianist, keyboardist and accompanist, respected for her wide ranging musical versatility. She resides in San Leandro, CA, and teaches students from her home when she’s not performing with various R&B, jazz, gospel, pop and classical artists. Beginning in August, 2007, Victoria was hired to tour with legendary musical genius Stevie Wonder, playing keyboards and singing background vocals in his band. She has traveled around the world with Stevie and looks forward to more touring!
Dayna Stephens (saxophone) attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, and was selected to be in the Thelonious Monk Institute of jazz program located at the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. Since Graduating from the Monk Institute in 2003, he has been performing and teaching actively. He plays regularly in San Francisco & New York City and has performed in recent times with Salvador & Carlos Santana, Kenny Barron, Roy Hargrove, OZOmatli, Patrice Rushen,Tom Harrell, Quincy Jones, Stevie Wonder, Jeff Parker, Freddie Hubbard, and many others.
Geoff Brennan (bass) is one of the most innovative and versatile young bass players on the jazz scene today. Geoff has spent the last several years traversing the globe performing at prestigious festivals including North Sea Jazz, JVC, and Montreal Jazz, and at the opening night of the new Zankel Hall in Carnegie Hall. In addition to his work with Omar Sosa, Geoff records and tours with such notables as Hilton Ruiz, Chico Freeman, and Mary Stallings. He also holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Arizona State University.
Jeff Marrs (drums) has become one of the top call drummers in the San Francisco Bay Area. Since moving back in 2001, Marrs works regularly with the Marcus Shelby Jazz Orchestra (MSJO), The Eaton-Barics Quintet, The Mel Martin Quartet, The Mitch Marcus Quintet, The "Dynamic" Ms. Faye Carol, Sista Kee and IOP, Natasha Miller, The Collective West Jazz Orchestra, as well as many others.