Backstage Café Jazz Series to Present Holiday Jazz on Dec. 15

Shawnn Monteiro

The Backstage Café Jazz Series will be holding its eighth performance, Holiday Jazz, on Saturday, Dec. 15.

The concert will take place in the Roberts Theater at the Handel Performing Arts Center, and will feature renowned Hartt faculty members Nat Reeves (bass) and Shawnn Monteiro (vocals), along with musicians Rick Germanson and Mark Johnson.

– Shawnn Monteiro (vocals) has delighted audiences from the U.S. to Europe with her highly popular jazz repertoire laced with blues-oriented improvisations and the American Songbook. Monteiro's father was the late renowned bassist Jimmy Woode, veteran of the Duke Ellington band.

– Nat Reeves (bass) has been a faculty member of The Hartt School’s Jackie McLean Institute of Jazz since 1982 and has recorded, performed, and toured throughout the world with Jackie McLean, Pharaoh Sanders, and Kenny Garrett, among others.

– Rick Germanson (piano) has been a highly in-demand pianist on the New York City jazz scene for over a decade. He is also an experienced educator, having given clinics and master classes at such institutes as New York University; The Juilliard School; and the New Jersey Performing Arts Center Jazz for Teens Program, to name a few.

– Mark Johnson (drums) has been a fixture on the New York music scene for the last 30 years. Johnson has a unique approach to drumset composition which is showcased on Drum Waves, a release on his label, Scat Records. Johnson maintains an active teaching schedule as a professor at the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music.

Tickets are $35 and are on sale now through the Lincoln Theater Box Office at 860.768.4228 or 800.274.8587, or online at  http://harttweb.hartford.edu/tickets.aspx.