Sheryl Bailey
Guitarist Sheryl Bailey is rated among the foremost bopbased guitarists to have emerged in the 1990’s. Her attack can be direct and hard swinging, but she also exudes subtlety, elegance of phrase and a pure, warm, liquid sound. Bill Milkowski has written about her: “ a modernist burner with an abundance of Pat Martino-style chops, Bailey prefers angular lines, odd harmonies and the occasional touch of dissonance as she sails up and down the fretboard with fluid abandon.” – JazzTimes Magazine, Februrary 2005
Her musical activities aren’t confined to groups working strictly in the orthodox, bop based jazz tradition, as she has toured and recorded with bassist, Richard Bona and is a member of David Krakauer’s Klezmer Madness. Other artists are tenor saxophonist, Gary Thomas, Urban Folk and Jazz artist, KJ Denhert, and pop diva, Irene Cara. While her mid 1990’s CD Little Misunderstood sees her playing with total familiarity and command of the fusion idiom, her latest releases, Reunion of Souls, The Power of Three, and Bull’s Eye represent her love of contemporary straight-ahead jazz.
In 1995 Sheryl was awarded third place in the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Guitar Competition, and has toured South America on behalf of the US State Department as a Jazz Ambassador, honoring the music of Duke Ellington. She currently leads her own trio, The Sheryl Bailey Three (Gary Versace on Hammond B3 and Ian Froman on drums). Her 2002 release, The Power of Three was critically acclaimed and charted in the top 20 of the Jazz Week radio charts. The trio conjures the essence of the Grant Green/ Larry Young/ Elvin Jones band of the late 60’s.
She is also in demand as an educator. Sheryl has been an Assistant Professor of Guitar at the esteemed Berklee College of Music since 2000, and has been a popular clinician at the National Guitar Summer workshop, The Stanford Jazz Workshop, The Duquesne Jazz Guitar Seminar, Uarts in Philadelphia, and at Southern Cross University in Lismore, Australia. Visit her website: http://sherylbailey.com
Gary Versace
Versace was recently partnered with Lee Konitz on a duo recording by the lengendary saxophonist, release date TBA, and also recently completed a six week Asian and European tour with guitarist John Scofield. Also, he will tour Europe with guitarist John Abercrombie and drummer Adam Nussbaum in July of 2006.
Gary Versace was voted a "rising star" on the Hammond organ in the 2005 and 2004 Downbeat critics polls, and was the subject of a feature article in the July 2004 issue of Keyboard magazine.
Over the past five years, Versace has appeared as a sideman on over 30 recordings with artists on labels including ACT, Omnitone, High Note, Justin Time, ArtistShare, Fresh Sound, Steeplechase, and Criss Cross, among others. Versace co-led the band "Project O" with trumpeter Ingrid Jensen (featuring saxophonists Seamus Blake and Steve Wilson) whose first recording on Justin Time records, "Now As Then," was released in May of 2003 and received 4 stars in Downbeat magazine.
As a pianist, Versace performed in a two-piano recital with Marian McPartland, and in April of 1999 appeared on her acclaimed National Public Radio program, "Piano Jazz." McPartland has called him "...endlessly inventive...(Versace) really has an extraordinary talent."
Hear the Sheryl Bailey 3 Thursday, September 7 at The Fat Cat, 75 Christopher St., (212-675-6056) at 10pm.
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