True Blue series staging smoking schedule for jazz fest weekend

Eddie Sherman and Peggy Raley have completed their calendar for the 2014 True Blue Jazz Series. The True Blue kickoff party will take the stage at The Cellar Door, 20 Baltimore Ave., Rehoboth Beach at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday Oct. 15, and will feature The Fred Hughes Trio with Camille Thurman. Hughes is a Cape Region favorite, having played jazz here for two decades. This master musician brings a special treat with the introduction of talented performer Thurman.

Thurman is a dynamic young musician emerging on the horizon with a list of accomplishments way beyond her years. She is a multi-talented, well-studied saxophonist, flutist, vocalist, composer and educator. Her lush, rich and warm sound on the tenor saxophone draws praise and comparisons to the likeness of tenor greats Gene Ammons and Dexter Gordon. Her four-octave vocal range and ability to perform vocalese - a style or musical genre of jazz singing wherein words are sung to melodies that were originally part of an all-instrumental composition or improvisation - puts her in the company of very few singers. She is a two-time award winning recipient of the ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composers Award.

The Supper Club shows at The Cellar Door continue on Thursday, Oct. 16, with The Unified Jazz Ensemble. The UJE has been performing, recording and educating together for more than 20 years, yet every gig has the excitement and creative energy of a group of intense musicians overjoyed to be in each other’s company. These four jazz masters offer a diverse evening of New Orleans Jazz, Swing and Straight Ahead. Showtime is 7:30 to 10:30 p.m., with dinner seating from 6 to 7:30 p.m.

New this year, True Blue Jazz offers three nights of happy hour entertainment from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 16 to Saturday, Oct.18 at The Avenue Inn and The Back Porch Café. The happy hours will feature a lineup of top Delaware jazz artists, including Dave Zipse, Bernard Sweetney and Ron Cole.

The Chris Simonini Organ Trio make its debut appearance Friday, Oct. 17 in the True Blue Jazz Series Supper Club at The Cellar Door. Simonini, a young pianist and organist, has a wicked left hand and delivers an infectiously creative interpretation of the jazz standards. His passion for the keyboard is evident, having performed with the likes of Javon Jackson, Steve Giordano, Pat Martino, Denis Di Blasio and many more.

Also on Oct. 17, The True Blue Jazz Series will present the legendary Freddy Cole in a showroom concert at Clear Space Theatre.

Cole doesn’t apologize for sounding like his brother, Nat “King” Cole. There are certain unmistakable similarities. He plays piano and sings, and performs live with guitar and upright bass, just like Nat. Yet his voice is raspier, smokier and even jazzier. He emerged from the awesome shadow cast by his elder brother almost 50 years ago by creating his own distinct and well-respected career. At 83, with countless awards and accolades, he is poised for the release of a new CD. This new release will be on sale at the concert.

True Blue Jazz has the privilege to introduce SHADD pianos to the Cape Region as its sponsor. SHADD is providing the instrument for Freddy Cole’s performance.

Warren Shadd is a second generation piano technician and third generation musician, inventor, engineer and patent owner of innovative technologies which have transformed the acoustic piano into a high-tech instrument. He is also the first African-American musical instrument manufacturer in the United States.

SHADD pianos are manufactured in the United States at his factory in the Bronx. SHADDs are the chosen performance pianos for American Idol, National Gallery of Art Symphony Orchestra, Mid-Atlantic Jazz Fest, Monty Alexander Jazz Fest, Trinidad Pan Jazz Fest, Howard Theatre, Lincoln Theatre, United States Navy Commodores Band and countless recording artists.

At noon on Saturday, Oct. 18, True Blue Jazz revives the Young Musicians Concert on the Rehoboth Beach Bandstand. The concert will feature jazz bands from Cape Henlopen and Sussex Central high schools, and will conclude with a performance by The Eddie Sherman Show, Peggy Raley and young trumpet prodigy, Geoff Gallante.

The True Blue Jazz Series wraps up with a closing Party at The Cellar Door on Saturday, Oct.18 with The Eddie Sherman Show, Raley and Gallante. Doors open 5:30 p.m. Dinner seating is from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Showtime is 7:30 to 10:30 p.m.

For more information, including a full schedule go to truebluejazz.org.