Results for "John Toomey"

Lena Seikaly at the Attucks Theater

by Mark Robbins
April 24, 2020

Lena Seikaly is not a household name... yet! The jny:Washington D.C. native has been called one of the “brightest voices in jazz" and her new fans at the sold out Attucks Theatre performance could not agree more. Classically trained as an operatic mezzo-soprano her phrasing, intonation, and full bodied tone is reminiscent of Ella Fitzgerald. She ...

Marquis Hill at the Attucks Theatre

by Mark Robbins
April 4, 2020

Marquis Hill doesn't usually get a chance to play straight ahead jazz standards. The jny: Chicago born, Thelonius Monk Institute of Jazz competition winner combines all genres of music, jazz, hip-hop, soul, Chicago house, R&B -to Hill “It all comes from the same tree. They simply blossomed from different branches." His latest album, Love Tape, combines ...

John Toomey

Professor John Toomey has been recognized for excellence in teaching several times, including his designation as University Professor for Excellence in Teaching, an honorary title awarded to less then 2 percent of the faculty at the university. Other honors include TELETECHNET Professor of the Year, and winner of the prestigious SCHEV Award for Excellence in Teaching. In 1991, Professor Toomey was designated a cultural specialist in Jazz by the United States Information Agency, and was sent to Botswana, Africa in this capacity to both teach and perform.In the area of research, Professor Toomey serves as both director and performer for the Attucks Jazz Series under the umbrella of the Virginia Arts Festival, performs often on the Diehn Concert Series with various jazz artists, and served as performer and Music Director for Havana Nights, a state of the art jazz club in the Tidewater region

Houston Person with the John Toomey Trio at Old Dominion University

by Mark Robbins
June 18, 2019

Dizzy Gillespie said of Houston Person, “He's one of the best... He's got bull chops!" Those “bull chops" got quite a workout when Person visited Old Dominion University as the guest performer of the F. Ludwig Diehn Concert Series. The tenor saxophonist arrived early in the week to preside over a series of master classes as ...

Nate Najar with the John Toomey Trio at Attucks Theatre

by Mark Robbins
April 21, 2019

In 1961, under the sponsorship of the U.S. State Department, jazz/classical guitarist Charlie Byrd toured South America. This trip proved to be fortuitous for both Byrd and North America for it introduced Byrd to the Brazilian Bossa Nova. Back in the states Byrd played Bossa Nova tapes for Stan Getz who then convinced producer Creed Taylor ...

Billy Drummond at Attucks Jazz Club

by Mark Robbins
March 16, 2019

Billy Drummond grew up in Newport News, VA listening to his father's jazz record collection and eventually playing drums in his own and other's bands across the water in Norfolk. In the late '80s Drummond knew if he wanted to make it as a jazz drummer he would have to leave this area and, encouraged by ...

John Fedchock Quartet: Reminiscence

by Jack Bowers
February 12, 2019

After recording his quartet's splendid album Fluidity (Summit Records 2015), trombonist John Fedchock realized he had enough unused material in hand from that delightful concert date to consider releasing a second album. The more he listened to the music that hadn't made the cut on Fluidity, the more Fedchock was convinced that a second album not ...

Sharon Clark with the John Toomey Trio at the Historic Attucks Theater

by Mark Robbins
October 23, 2018

Washington, D.C. vocalist Sharon Clark wowed a sold out Attucks Theater audience with the voice and phrasing of Sarah Vaughan at her best. With John Toomey on piano, Jimmy Masters on base and Brian Jones on drums Ms. Clark covered the gamut from pop to jazz, from Miles Davis to the Beatles. The audience jumped to ...

Charlie Young with the John Toomey Trio at the Attucks Theater

by Mark Robbins
January 4, 2018

Native son Charlie Young returned home to teach a master class to a group of eager Old Dominion University jazz students then perform to a sold out audience at the Attucks Theater. Young's journey began in one of Norfolk's housing projects and has led him to being the Professor of Jazz saxophone at Howard University for ...

Bruce Harris with the John Toomey Trio at Attucks Theater

by Mark Robbins
November 28, 2017

In 1990 Spike Lee's movie, Mo Better Blues, was released. A young Bruce Harris watched the film about the turmoil surrounding a jazz trumpeter and his quintet and in the next 129 minutes his love of the trumpet was born. From performing in the “Essential Ellington" jazz band competition while in high school to ...