Piedmont Piano Company is pleased to present
Rebecca Kilgore Trio
Swings With The Best!
The Rebecca Kilgore Trio features 2018 Grammy nominee, Randy Porter, on piano, plus popular bassist, Tom Wakeling. Rebecca sings Great American Songbook standards along with a few 21st century gems. Her repertoire is vast and she’s been a longtime student of the popular swing/jazz canon, having recorded tribute CDs to Fats Waller, Maxine Sullivan, Billie Holiday, Marilyn Monroe, Frank Loesser, and Jerome Kern.
$20 General Admission
“When Rebecca sings, the sun comes out.” – Johnny Mandel
“....A pop-jazz singer whose fluent voice conjures sunlight glinting on running water, Ms. Kilgore infuses everything she performs with a sense of lighthearted enjoyment....” – the New York Times
"Rebecca Kilgore is one of the finest interpreters of the Great American Songbook alive today. Not only can she swing with the best, but she is a master at storytelling through lyrics and music." — Chris Lewis, Great American Songbook Foundation
Rebecca Kilgore is one of America's leading song stylists who finds particular delight in preserving and interpreting the music of the Great American Songbook. She regularly performs worldwide at jazz festivals, jazz parties, and on jazz cruises. She has been a frequent guest on National Public Radio’s ‘Fresh Air’ with Terry Gross, has appeared on ‘A Prairie Home Companion’, and with Michael Feinstein at Carnegie Hall.
She is honored to have been inducted (in 2010) to the Oregon Music Hall of Fame and to the Jazz Society of Oregon’s Hall Of Fame, and to have been invited to perform at New York’s Mabel Mercer Cabaret Convention for three years at Town Hall and Lincoln Center. She was the guest of honor at the 2013 Roswell (New Mexico) Jazz Festival, and honored as a Jazz Legend at the San Diego Jazz Party in 2016.
Rebecca has over 40 recordings with some jazz legends like Bucky Pizzarelli, John Pizzarelli, Dave Frishberg, Harry Allen, and Monty Alexander, Dan Barrett, to name a few. Rebecca also plays some of the best rhythm guitar anywhere! rebeccakilgore.com
“…Randy Porter, an exceptional pianist whose grace and grit should win him many new friends. Listen!” – Chuck Berg
Jazz pianist Randy Porter has a refined understanding of improvisation and the spontaneous communication between musicians. He was a 2018 Grammy Award nominee with vocalist Nancy King on a project he produced and played on called “Porter Plays Porter.” As a Steinway Artist, Randy Porter draws from a rich palette of sonorities found within his imagination and the depths of the piano. Lynn Darroch of The Oregonian states, “Porter has built a reputation as a musician’s musician, a knowledgeable, inventive, and sophisticated player with a remarkable sense of time and gorgeous keyboard facility…”
Randy Porter has performed with many jazz greats and has toured throughout the US and in France, Italy, Greece, and China. Musical highlights include performing at Kimball’s with Art Farmer and Clifford Jordan, Lincoln Center and Kennedy Center with Diane Schuur, Seattle’s Jazz Alley with New York Voices, Yoshi’s in San Francisco with Karrin Allyson and Rebecca Kilgore, The House of Blues in Chicago and BB King’s Blues Club in NYC with Gino Vannelli, the Monterey Jazz Festival with Madeline Eastman, the Chicago and Detroit Jazz Festivals with Charles McPherson.
Porter has been a performer and educator at the Port Townsend Jazz Festival for many years where he has coached many young jazz musicians. He has also worked several years at the Stanford Jazz Workshop and Jazz Camp West with singer Madeline Eastman. Porter teaches master classes and adjudicates student combos and bands at high school and college jazz festivals. Currently, Porter teaches jazz piano at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon. randyporter.com
“Wakeling’s bass kept the line taut and the rhythm stable… spectacular musicianship and a sound that captured my imagination…”– Paul J. Youngman, Toronto Latin Jazz Net
Tom Wakeling has put his bass to work in a 40-plus year career that's seen him perform in major concert halls, leading jazz nightclubs, and recording studios throughout Europe and North America. His bass versatility has supported a wide range of internationally - known artists including Arturo Sandoval, Lee Konitz, Mel Torme, and many others in jazz and pop music alike.
Tom’s work in “show biz” includes playing in the orchestras of national touring shows such as "Cats", "A Chorus Line", the Joffrey Ballet, “Grease”, and "Damn Yankees" (with Jerry Lewis). His most recent recordings are Nancy King’s “Perennial”, and “Another View” with Francois Theberge and Alan Jones.
An experienced and dynamic educator, Tom has served as a guest artist at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, University of Kansas, Stanford University Jazz Workshop, Arizona State University, University of Nevada, University of British Columbia, Centrum/Pt.Townsend Jazz Workshop, New West Jazz Camp, and the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival, among others.tomwakeling.com