Artists
Enjoy great jazz in the great outdoors every Tuesday in June at 7 p.m. on the plaza west of Sheldon Museum of Art at 12th & R Streets on the University of Nebraska–Lincoln campus.
Every Tuesday in June
Nebraska Jazz Orchestra
With special guest, Greg Abate. The Nebraska Jazz Orchestra (NJO) was founded in 1975 and is one of the Midwest’s premier big bands, celebrating more than 25 years of great performances. The ensemble’s concerts feature a variety of traditional big band compositions by jazz masters such as Woody Herman, Duke Ellington, and Count Basie, reflecting the rich legacies of the Mississippi Basin territory bands. The ensemble also adds to this legacy by performing new compositions and arrangements regularly.
NJO has produced seven volumes of recordings featuring more than 60 original compositions and arrangements written by the ensemble’s members, alumni and friends. The ensemble released its most recent CD, LIVE! Volume VII, in October 2001. NJO regularly features locally and nationally renowned jazz artists. Clark Terry, Karrin Allyson, Marvin Stamm, Freddie Hubbard, Laurie Frink, Marilyn Maye, Kahil El’Zabar, Victor Lewis, Jay McShann, Dave Brown, Bill Watrous, Don Menza, John LaBarbera, Claude “Fiddler” Williams, Benny Powell, Dave Stryker, and Bobby Watson are amongst the many fine jazz artists the Nebraska Jazz Orchestra has hosted for Nebraska audiences.
Special guest, Greg Abate, is a saxophonist, flutist and composer who spends 150 days a year touring the globe. In the mid 70’s after finishing a four-year program at Berklee College Of Music, Greg played lead alto for the Ray Charles Orchestra for 2 years. In 1978 Greg formed his group Channel One which was a favorite in the New England area and from there had the opportunity to play tenor sax with the revived Artie Shaw Orchestra under leadership of Dick Johnson from 1986 to ’87. Following this experience Greg ventured out as post hard bop soloist playing Jazz Festivals, Jazz Societies and Jazz Clubs throughout the U.S. Canada and abroad, including most of Europe, UK, and Moscow and Georgia Russia.
Gerald Dunn & The Jazz Disciples
Gerald Dunn, the Entertainment Director for Kansas City’s American Jazz Museum located in the historic 18th & Vine district, has earned and maintained a spot as one of the city’s premiere saxophonists. He has toured and played with the world renowned Illinois Jacquet’s Big Band based in New York. Kansas City artists like Oleta Adams, Kevin Mahogany, Bobby Watson and Karrin Allyson are among those who have also given Gerald performance opportunities.
The Disciples are four of Kansas City’s best players: Gerald Dunn on alto and tenor saxophones, a passionate player who's also music coordinator for the American Jazz Museum, in addition to his disc jockey work and musical performances; pianist Everett Freeman, a player of wide experience who makes his solos into soulful adventures; Tyrone Clark, a bassist of tremendous skill and taste who gives the music a solid, melodious footing and excels as a soloist; and drummer Mike Warren, who brings a volcanic energy to everything the band does. - Joe Klopus, The Kansas City star.
Susie Thorne
Born in Hastings, Nebraska, the daughter of a classically trained vocalist mother and a professional trumpet player father (who was an occasional sideman for such greats as Lionel Hampton and Gerry Mulligan), Susie Thorne was raised with a great love of music.
Thorne’s late father owned and operated a jazz club in Omaha, Nebraska after his retirement. The club featured a popular Friday night jazz-jam which was recently featured on a PBS Special “Next Exit” for its long-running jam which is still occurring today. There, Susie was able to sit in as a young girl and try her hand at the standards. After graduating from high school, Thorne traveled the United States as lead vocalist in a rhythm & blues band. Wanting to broaden her horizons, Thorne also traveled overseas where she entertained fans as a solo piano/vocalist on tour through Europe and Asia.
After returning to the states, Thorne re-connected with her jazz roots while studying piano performance at the University of Colorado at Denver. Once there she was re-introduced to vocal jazz and inspired by such legendary artists as Ella Fitzgerald, Nancy Wilson and Carmen McRae and went on to study vocal performance at the Academy of Vocal Arts. Thorne was invited back on tour and went on to perform for a loyal following in Japan and Hong Kong. There she continued her jazz studies with American jazz artists on tour.
Visiting her family in the US, she met her husband and settled in Omaha, Nebraska. Here she continues her musical studies at the University of Nebraska at Omaha where she studied classical voice with Wendy Eaton and has performed as a vocalist with the UNO Jazz Band. She has also studied vocal jazz techniques privately with Jennifer Shelton-Barnes and jazz-piano with Christine Hitt. Her first CD, “Love for Sale,” was released in 2000 and greeted with critical acclaim, winning her comparisons to the vocal stylings of the legendary performers such as a young Eartha Kitt.
Thorne’s second CD, “Blue Skies, Clear Day,” features 11 songs with all arrangements by Susie Thorne and co-produced by Christine Hitt. “Blue Skies, Clear Day” was released nationally and internationally in 2006.
Joseph Vincelli
Saxaphonist Joseph Vincelli, a New Jersey native, has toured and recorded with the likes of Buddy Miles, Ice Cube, Bobby Goldsboro, Jerry Vale, and Burt Reynolds. Vincelli now lives in Dallas, Texas, where he’s recorded ten albums over a seven year period and recently finished a fifteen year project, a three volume book series entitled, "My Friend, Music." He also teaches master classes to students interested in the industry of music.
Vincelli has toured extensively throughout North America and with visits to Brazil, Venezuela, England, Italy, and South Africa. Although Joseph cooks on stage, his first love at five years of age was a fascination for food. He continues to use cooking and eating fine cuisine as a source of creativity. More recently, he has developed benefit concerts and contests that bring celebritites and top chefs together in order to raise money for young performing artists, including the Kids Who Care Performing Artists Foundation, in Fort Worth, Texas, which raises tens of thousands of dollars every year.
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