BROOKLYN ACADD!Y OF ~!USIC Lepercq Space Friday, December 9, 1983 at 8:30pm
J A Z Z N I T E 2
GLORIA LYN E with THE EARL MAY TRIO
WARREN CHIASSON TRIO with CHUCK WAYNE
Jazz vocalist GLORIA LYNNE was born and raised in Harlem, where her career was launched after winning first prize at the Apollo Theater's Wednesday night "Amateur Hour." Since the early sixties, she worked with bassist Earl May, pianist Herman Foster, and percussionist Grassella Oliphant, appearing on the television specials "New York 19" and "The Strolling Twenties" starring Harry Belefonte, and such programs as The Ed Sullivan Show, The Today Show, and Soul Train, among others. Gloria Lynne and The Earl May Trio have performed throughout the United States, including appearances at the Newport Jazz Festival, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Philadelphia Academy of Music, and at Carnegie Hall. Ms. Lynne works with the Foundation for Racial Equality for Entertainment, an organization concerned with rights and development of performing artists. Gloria Lynne appeared at the Blue Note in 1981.
Bassist EARL MAY, a protege of jazz great Charles Mingus, has worked with such musical legends as John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie, and Miles Davis. After a stint in the Merchant Marines, Earl committed himself to a career in music, and began to freelance around New York City. The year was 1949, and New York was the home of beebop and the emerging new sound of progressive jazz. During the following three years, Earl worked with Thelonius Monk, Art Blakey, Miles Davis, and Charles Parker, to name a few, and developed his own style and sound. At that time he studied with the master of all bass players, Charles Mingus. From 1952 to 1959, he was a· member of the Billy Taylor Trio, until he established the Earl May Trio and joined with Gloria Lynne to form a musical marriage that has yet to be matched. From the mid-60's until 1970, the Earl May Trio performed regularly at the New York Playboy Club, when with changing times and tastes, the members of the trio went their separate ways. Earl then joined Dizzy Gillespie and toured throughout Europe, South America, and Asia. In 1981, he joined the Broadway production of SOPHISTICATED LADIES. When the show closed in January 1983, Earl joined the national company and toured throughout the United States, Canada, and Asia. In addition, he works with singers Pearl Baily and Phyllis Hyman. WARREN CHIASSON studied with Lenny Tristano and George Russell, and played with the George Shearing Quintet, the Chet Baker Quintet, the Tal Farlow Trio, Anita O'Day, and Roberta Flack. He has appeared in the Monterey and Newport Festivals, among others, and on Broadway in FOXY, BRAINCHILD, and HAIR, for which he composed the percussion parts. Mr. Chiasson has recorded two albums, QUARTESCENCE and GOOD VIBES FOR KURT WEILL, the latter which was selected by Billboard magazine as a pick of the week.
CHUCK WAYNE began his professional career on 52nd Street, and played with a wide variety of groups before joining the Woody Herman Band in 1946. He was a member of the original George Shearing Quintet from 1949 to 1951, and was music director and accompanist for Tony Bennett from 1952 to 1955. For several years he worked on Broadway, and then joined CBS to perform for the Garry Moore, Carol Burnett, and Ed Sullivan Shows, as well as composing music for CBS documentaries. Mr. Wayne has recorded with many of the jazz greats: Dizzy Gillespie, Lester Young, Sarah Vaughan, Gil Evans, Woody Herman, George Shearing, Slam Stewart, Duke Jordan, and Zoot Sims, among others. He has performed with Warren Chiasson since the mid-70's.