Grammy-Nominated Warren Vocalist Sets WAC Date

The Watchung Arts Center is proud to present the jazz vocal talents of Roseanna Vitro at 8 p.m. April 27.

Vitro will be appearing with her RNP band that will feature songs from their 2012 Grammy-nominated album “The Music of Randy Newman.” The group was recognized by the Academy for their arrangements and renditions of Newman’s compositions through a confluent blend that mixes elements of jazz, blues, folk and country.

Serving as backup for Vitro will be arranger and pianist Mark Soskin, bassist Dean Johnson, violinist Sara Caswell, and drummer Tim Horner. Songwriter Randy Newman has been writing popular music since 1968 during which time he won an Oscar for the best original song for the movie “Monster, Inc,” along with 5 Grammys and 2 Emmys. He will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this April.

Vitro and her RNP group will also highlight material from their upcoming CD: “Bill Evans to Clare Fischer.”

While this will be Vitro’s premiere concert at the Watchung Arts Center, she has spontaneously appeared there with former Watchung resident and internationally recognized jazz pianist Kenny Werner. Their former collaboration on Half Note Records marked a study in improvisational genius described by company manager Jeff Levenson as being artistically strong enough to “change the planet one song at a time.”

In addition to her 12 critically acclaimed prior recordings, Vitro has held the Vocal Jazz Chair at New Jersey City University since 1998 as well as that of Vocal Jazz Teacher at NJPAC. Nationally, she has appeared at famous jazz clubs including New York City’s Blue Note, Lincoln Center, and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Internationally, she has toured as our US Jazz Ambassador in 2004 and again in 2009.

In commenting on one of Vitro’s appearances at Zebs in Chelsea in a recent edition of Downbeat Magazine, music critic Phillip Lutz described her performance there as “a kinetic pressure, every bit the whirlwind she must have been 30 years ago when, nicknamed the Texas Tornado, she first blew into New York.”

At the suggestion of TV personality and jazz buff Steve Allen, Vitro spent a short period of time seeing what Hollywood had to offer before leaving from Texarkana and Houston to The Manhattan School of Music.

Currently a resident of Warren, Ms. Vitro continues to travel widely and to expand on her unique approach to vocal musical expression, predisposing one critic to describe her style as one of  “a story teller with a penchant for touching an audience. She is a soulful communicator – expressive, melodically inventive and hard-swinging.” This is a concert not to be missed.

Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 at the door. Advanced price tickets can be purchased though the website at wathungartscenter.eventbrite.com using a credit card or by check made payable to the Watchung Arts Center, 18 Stirling Road, Watchung, NJ  07069.  Advanced sale price will be given prior to the event only.  To obtain more information about upcoming performances, classes and workshops or monthly art exhibitions please visit WatchungArts.org,