BrownstoneJAZZ presents Vocalist KAREN FRANCIS

  BrownstoneJAZZ

                                              acoustic sound, ROOM

                     Presents       

                                Holiday Favorite

                                                   Vocalists

         KAREN FRANCIS

One of the many straight-ahead jazz vocalists who emerged in the '90s, Karen Francis got a lucky break when she met veteran hard bop/post-bop pianist Stanley Cowell during the summer of 1994. The two of them met at a party in the Washington, DC suburb of Silver Springs, MD, where they were introduced by one of Cowell's students. After hearing Francis sing, Cowell (who was 53 at the time) felt that she had a great deal of potential -- and he was surprised to learn that she had only been singing jazz for two years. Francis had been studying jazz singing since 1992, although she had been playing several instruments since high school. Cowell had enough faith in Francis to feature her extensively on his 1995 release Mandara Blossoms, which came out on the independent SteeleChase Records (a well-known Danish jazz label that is based in Copenhagen, and was named after a famous Charlie Parker standard). In fact, the acoustic pianist featured Francis on six of his own compositions, as well as on the classic Duke Ellington/Billy Strayhorn standard "Daydream." And Mandara Blossoms wasn't the end of Francis' relationship with SteeleChase, which released her first album as a leader, Where Is Love?, in 1996, and her sophomore disc, Little Sunflower, in 1998. The latter includes some arrangements by pianist Larry Willis, who Francis studied with extensively in the late '90s. Francis' influences have included, among others, Sarah Vaughan, Dianne Reeves, Carmen Lundy, Dinah Washington, and Billie Holiday -- and even though she is jazz-oriented, Francis doesn't consider herself a jazz snob. In fact, she has cited Oleta Adams and Barbra Streisand as two of her favorite singers; Francis has also expressed admiration for R&B singers Chaka Khan and Jill Scott.

                              -Also-

           ERIC LEMONS OPEN MIC NIGHT

                               -And-

                        MUSICAL TRIO

Fish Fry Intermission Buffet           Refreshments Available

           rsvp 917 704 9237          $20.00 Donations

  Doors open @ 8:00, 107 Macon St bet Marcy and Nostrand Ave

                                 12/2/2011

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