The best date night in Northeast Ohio! Premiere singer/entertainer, Helen Welch, and legendary North Coast saxophonist, Ernie Krivda, join the CJO in an evening of love songs, from Rodgers & Hart to the Beatles in our special concert series with the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra!
For 32 years, The Cleveland Jazz Orchestra has been Northeast Ohio’s premier jazz voice. Led by trombonist, composer & arranger, Paul Ferguson, the CJO promotes jazz in its historical and contemporary forms, through concerts with gifted jazz musicians, arrangers, composers and educators in northeast Ohio. The CJO aims for worldwide recognition in cooperation with guest artists, and looks to shepherd young musicians toward the future of jazz. This season exemplifies this mission and vision through a variety of new music, new compositions and arrangements, and a stellar line-up of well-known guest artists and young up-and-coming talent.
Join us as the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra makes their return appearance to BLU Jazz+ with very special guests, Helen Welch & Ernie Krivda - get your tickets now!
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About Helen Welch
Helen Welch is a critically-acclaimed vocalist whose live stage performances explore a diverse range of musical compositions, starting with the 1930s up through present-day. Whether she’s singing Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee and Sarah Vaughan, or Elton John, Sting and Randy Newman, Helen’s sophisticated vocals and humor leave audiences breezily enchanted. The “Helen Welch experience” is perhaps best described by a fan who wrote on her Amazon page, “If you have a chance to see Helen perform, do it! You are in for a special treat.”
A native of England, Helen is well-known throughout the United Kingdom for her musical theatre roles and 1-woman shows. Upon moving to the U.S. in 2003, she began appearing in venues throughout the Northeast. Her unique talents for choosing songs that stand the test of time and making them her own, and her ability to intimately engage her audience, quickly earned her a large and devoted following.
Helen is equally at home performing in intimate spaces for small groups as in outdoor amphitheatres in front of thousands. She appears in the region’s most celebrated entertainment establishments including Severance Hall, Cleveland's Playhouse Square Center, Akron Civic Theatre, Blossom Music Center, the Chautauqua Institute and many more. She frequently guest-stars or headlines with world-class musical organizations such as The Cleveland Orchestra, The Columbus Symphony Orchestra, The Cleveland Pops Orchestra and The Akron Symphony to name just a few.
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About Ernie Krivda
“No doubt about it, Ernie Krivda is one of the originals of the tenor saxophone” wrote Bill Donaldson for Cadence Magazine about the legendary jazz musician whose 6 decade on the music scene is already filled with a new burst accomplishment with across the board critical acclaim for his 2011 CD, "Blues for Pekar." The Capri Records release was dedicated to the late Cleveland author and jazz commentator, Harvey Pekar, who had proclaimed Krivda as “one of the best jazz tenor men in the world.” This recording came right on the heels of two other highly acclaimed CD’s, "Live at The Dirty Dog" and "November Man" (both on CIMP). These recordings continue a period of intense activity, achievement and recognition. In 2009, Ernie Krivda received the Cleveland Arts Prize award for lifetime achievement in music. The banner year ended with Krivda being awarded a CPAC (Community Partnership of Arts and Culture) Fellowship worth twenty thousand dollars. In a career that spans over 50 years, Krivda has earned the respect of his peers and the accolades of critics. His very personal and distinctive improvisational style, along with his unique compositions, has been documented on over 30 recordings under his name and many others as a guest artist. In the last decade and into this one, he has set a most prolific pace with eleven releases since 2003 and more to come.
Ernie Krivda was born in Cleveland, began his music studies at age 6, and attended The Cleveland Institute of Music before going on the road. Since that time he has shared the stage with some of the great names in jazz. He was mentored by musicians such as Cannonball Adderley, played in Quincy Jones orchestra and performed with artists ranging from Ella Fitzgerald to Jackie Wilson. Krivda has made his home in Cleveland for most of his life but his music takes him across the United States, and into the concert halls of Europe and Japan. He also is a highly respected teacher and clinician who mentored many young jazz musicians working on the world jazz scene.