Come Sunday-A Tribute to Duke Ellington
Thursday, 0, , 12:00 am (doors open at 7:00 pm)featuring the Marcus Shelby Orchestra, Faye Carol, Kellye Gray & Ed Reed Black History Month Series $24.50 advance / $26.50 at doorPurchase tickets online
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Marcus Shelby Orchestra, Faye Carol, Kellye Gray & Ed ReedFour legends of Bay Area jazz come together for a swinging Black History Month tribute to the music of the incomparable Duke Ellington. The show, Come Sunday is named for the wonderful Ellington composition popularized by Mahalia Jackson, and features a superb 15-piece orchestra led by bassist Marcus Shelby and brings to the same stage for the first time Faye Carol, Kellye Gray, and Ed Reed. It’s the perfect way to cap off Super Bowl Sunday—four treasured local artists saluting Sir Duke.

Miss Faye Carol has been mesmerizing Bay Area audiences for more than 30 years. Born in Meridian, Mississippi, raised in the East Bay city of Pittsburgh, she was a hit on the Bay Area R&B circuit. She has performed with everyone from Charles Brown to Ray Charles, greats like Ben Vereen and Philly Jo Jones, Pharaoh Sanders and Albert King. She can “croon soul and standards, scat hurtling bebop lines, and deliver torch songs with scorching intensity,” writes Andrew Gilbert in The Monthly. When Miss Faye Carol sings, her energy and love for the music fill every note.

Kellye Gray is a jazz powerhouse. Her twenty-year career has taken her from Sixth Street in Austin to Les Cavaeaux de la Rochette in Paris and the Viva Musica! Festival in Slovakia. JazzTimes Magazine called her “an impressive, indeed frighteningly vast talent.” The Los Angeles Times has praised her “stunning scat singing, instrumental simulations, and dark-toned balladry.”

Ed Reed has been on a roll since recording his first album in 2007 at the age of 78. He appeared with Marian McPartland on NPR’s Piano Jazz, was the subject of a Nat Hentoff profile in the Wall Street Journal, won consistent acclaim in the Downbeat Critics Poll, and released two more gorgeous albums. Born in Cleveland, raised in Watts, schooled in the U.S. Army, and incarcerated in Folsom and San Quentin, Ed has paid his dues in more ways than one. He’s played with Art Pepper, Dexter Gordon, Frank Morgan, Charles Mingus, and Hampton Hawes—and he’s developed a peerless singing style, with exquisite phrasing, a golden tone that is unforgettable.

Marcus Shelby is a band leader, composer, arranger, and educator, and he also plays one whale of a bass. He’s recorded 12 albums and won numerous awards, including the Charles Mingus Scholarship to the California Institute for the Arts, the John Coltrane Young Artists Competition, and the Theater Circle Critics Award for Best Original Music Score for Sonny’s Blues. He currently leads a trio, a seven-piece band, and the 15-piece orchestra you’ll hear tonight, as well as teaching at the Rooftop Alternative School and the Stanford Jazz Workshop, and pursuing numerous commissions.

Come Sunday, come on out to the Freight and celebrate Duke Ellington with four Bay Area greats.

Visit Marcus Shelby's website

Visit Faye Carol's website

Visit Kellye Gray's website

Visit Ed Reed's website

 

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