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Page updated:
April 6, 2008
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BETTY & FRIENDS
Gala Event Celebrates Life of Legendary Jazz Vocalist
BETTY CARTER
Featuring international jazz sensation SHAWNN MONTEIRO
Plus 50th birthday fęte for four Pancreatic Cancer Alliance founding members
To benefit pancreatic cancer research
The Pancreatic Cancer Alliance presents a gala evening of food, music and champagne on Wednesday, May 7, 2008, beginning at 6 pm in the ballroom of the Crowne Plaza Hotel, at 10 Lincoln Square in downtown Worcester. “Happy Birthday, Betty & Friends” will celebrate the life and legend of GRAMMY® Award-winning jazz vocalist
BETTY CARTER, who died 10 years ago of pancreatic cancer and would have been 78 years old on May 16th. Performing that evening will be internationally acclaimed jazz vocalist
SHAWNN MONTEIRO, backed by the Russ Hoffmann Trio. Shawnn brought down the house at the PCA’s very first Betty Carter Tribute in 2004.
(Bio below)
The evening will also be a birthday celebration for four Pancreatic Cancer Alliance founding members who are turning 50 this year: Dr. Dario Altieri, Professor and Chair of Cancer Biology at UMass Medical School; Alliance Chair Tom Cole; Co-Chair Audrey Kurlan-Marcy; and pediatrician Dr. Margaret Hunt, who is also celebrating her fifth cancer-free year as a pancreatic cancer survivor. Betty Carter’s son Kagle Redding, who served as his mother’s road manager in the mid-‘90s, plans to come up from New York City to speak at the event.
All proceeds from "Happy Birthday, Betty & Friends" benefit the Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008, at 6 PM
for buffet dinner, music, silent auction, and sweet delights
Crowne Plaza Hotel Ballroom, Lincoln Square, Worcester
A complimentary glass of champagne will be waiting for you
Tickets: $50 advance, $60 at door • Complimentary parking
Patron: $200 (includes two tickets)
For tickets and information: please email jazz@pancreaticalliance.org
Those wishing to contribute to the fund may send tax-deductible donations to UMass Memorial Foundation/Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund, One Biotech, 365 Plantation Street, Suite 100, Worcester, MA 01605-2395. The UMass Memorial Foundation is a tax exempt 501(c)3 charitable organization.
Presenting sponsors
Sponsors
Austin Liquors,
Kurlan Music,
Miles Press,
Something Sweet by Michelle,
Telegram & Gazette,
UMass Memorial Foundation,
and
WICN Radio
About Betty Carter
Long regarded by jazz insiders as perhaps the consummate jazz vocalist of the late 20th century,
Betty Carter represented all that was right with jazz singing. Her adventurous scat style and distinctive interpretations put her on par with the other great ladies of jazz - Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday and Carmen McRae. She had a huge hit in the ‘60s with her duet with Ray Charles on "Baby, It’s Cold Outside." In the ‘70s Betty formed her own record label, Bet-Car, and helped spawn the bebop revival. With numerous GRAMMY nominations, she finally won in 1988 for best female jazz vocal performance for her Verve label debut Look What I Got! In addition to singing, she also founded the Jazz Ahead program and helped nurture and develop many young musicians who have gone on to stellar jazz careers. In 1992, she was named a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts, and in 1997 she was invited to the White House to perform and receive the National Medal of Arts from Presidential Clinton. The death of Ms. Carter from pancreatic cancer on September 26, 1998, brought to a close a remarkable career spanning nearly 50 years.
About the Shawnn Monteiro
"Exciting, captivating and completely distinctive" is how jazz cognoscenti describe the style of
Shawnn Monteiro, who has delighted audiences at clubs and festivals throughout the US and Europe with her lyrical phrasing and scat variations that honor the influences of Carmen McRae and Sarah Vaughan. But good genes help, too. Shawnn's father was late, renowned bassist Jimmy Woode, veteran of the Duke Ellington band. Throw into the mix a lot of musical inspiration and guidance from her Godfather, Clark Terry. Percussion great and Latin/jazz impresario Mongo Santamaria discovered Shawnn singing in a club in San Jose, California and signed her on the spot to tour with his band. She electrified audiences as his only vocalist and female percussionist during a two-year stint, sharing the stage with such greats as Stan Kenton, Celia Cruz, the Fania All-Stars, and Weather Report. Since then, Shawnn has performed with a prestigious list of jazz artists, including Clark Terry, Red Holloway, Ray Brown, Lionel Hampton, Frank Foster and the Basie Band, Nat Adderly, Kenny Barron, Jack McDuff, Keter Betts, Bobby Durham, Jimmy Cobb, Stanley Jordan, Johnny Griffin and Sonny Fortune. Shawnn is also an adjunct Professor in Jazz Vocals at both Rhode Island College in Providence and Hartt School of Music, University of Hartford, and has taught vocal master classes in Rome and Genova, Italy every summer since 1995.
Get involved!
If interested in learning more or helping on a committee, please email us at
Hope@PancreaticAlliance.org
