Already one of the most popular jazz clubs in Manhattan, Jazz Standard just cranked it up a notch with a renovation and exciting series of shows during IAJE week. Kicking off the re-opening on January 10^th will be a duo of dynamic innovators, vocalist Nancy King and pianist Geoffrey Keezer. Individually, their talents always promise an evening of intrigue, but together—the possibilities stretch the imagination!

Of vocalist Nancy King, Karrin Allyson said, “She is, I think, one of the best singers that ever walked the planet.” Similarly, Herb Ellis labeled her “the greatest living jazz singer.” Arriving in San Francisco from Springfield, OR in the 1960s, she met future husband Sonny King at the Jazz Workshop and joined his band. In addition to performing for the next two years at the Workshop, she worked with Vince Guaraldi, John Handy, Sonny Donaldson, and Flip Nunez in San Francisco, and studied with Jon Hendricks. After moving to Las Vegas and then back to Oregon to raise her sons, King recorded her first album and made some appearances in New York before starting a collaboration with pianist/composer Steve Christofferson, with whom she has performed on the west coast since the 1980s. She released Straight Into Your Heart (Mons, 1997) with Christopherson and the Dutch Metropole Orchestra and appeared with Ray Brown on his Some Of My Best Friends Are Singers (Telarc, 1998), touring with Brown and his trio during the next year.

Geoffrey Keezer © Andrea Canter

A child prodigy, Keezer grew up surrounded by musicians and music educators (father Ron Keezer headed the jazz band program at the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire), and performed at the Dakota Jazz Club in nearby Minneapolis when he was only 16, three years before his stint with Art Blakey’s last edition of the Jazz Messengers. He has since forged an amazing early career, including ten recordings as leader, touring as a very young collaborator with James Williams, Mulgrew Miller, Donald Brown, and Harold Mabern in the Contemporary Piano Ensemble in the early 1990s, and recently touring and recording in the company of such heavy hitters as the late Ray Brown, Christian McBride, and Jim Hall. His most recent solo release, Wildcrafted: Live at the Dakota, was celebrated with a stint at the Village Vanguard. This past summer, the Joe Locke/Geoffrey Keezer Group released the highly regarded Live in Seattle, documenting a long-standing partnership.

The new partnership between Keezer and King promises to be as remarkable as is the career of each artist. If you’re attending IAJE, this will be a memorable way to start your convention experience while enjoying once of the most user-friendly jazz clubs in town—and some of the best jazz club food anywhere.

Nancy King and Geoffrey Keezer appear for one night only (January 10^th) with two sets, 7:30 and 9:30 pm; visit www.jazzstandard.com or call (212) 576-2232 for reservations. Check out the rest of the week at Jazz Standard—January 11^th—Steve Wilson Quartet; January 12^th, Eric Reed Quartet; January 13^th, Terell Stafford Quintet.

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