Grace Kelly Quartet
Jazz at the Center

Dates

November 10, 2009
in the Abby Theatre

Description

At the age of 17, Grace Kelly is a human powerhouse of jazz saxophone and vocals.

View a video of Grace playing with the great Frank Morgan

View a highlight video of Grace's career so far.

View a video of Grace singing at the famous Dizzy's Club in NYC.


Jazz has had its share of prodigies over the years, as well as players—Miles Davis was one—who established their creative credentials while they were barely out of their teens. Few teenage horn players and even fewer who are female have drawn much attention in recent years, with the exception, that is, of 15 [now 17] year-old alto saxophonist and singer Grace Kelly....She is a startlingly gifted young jazz talent.

A slender, smiling young woman with a warm demeanor, Kelly came on stage with the look of a slightly nervous teenager about to give a recital. That changed when the first tune began -- the standard "I'll Remember April." Fluent from multi-phonics at the horn's low end to soaring high harmonics, technically facile even at fast tempos, delivering her notes with a strikingly warm and passionate sound, Kelly played with stunning maturity and an extraordinary command of her instrument.

Her soloing on "Caravan" and "'Round Midnight" was filled with unexpected twists and turns, and when she switched to soprano saxophone for an original tune, "101," her improvisational inventiveness immediately adapted to the articulation and tone of the smaller instrument.

That alone would have been impressive, but what was even more remarkable about Kelly's playing was the maturity of her phrasing, her harmonic choices and her use of saxophone techniques that most players don't achieve until they've been playing for decades. Then there are her well-crafted compositions-- "Filosophical Flying Fish," "Every Road I Walked," "Horn Theme Song."

The final asset in this gifted young talent's creative portfolio was her singing and songwriting, superbly displayed in her beautiful rendering of her own thoughtful song, "But Life Goes On."

LA Times

“a first-class jazz musician.” -Wynton Marsalis

“What if I told you that the future of jazz, which many have pronounced dead or dying in the last two decades, rested in the hands of a 16-year-old Korean-American saxophonist named Grace Kelly?” -David Was

“Grace Kelly is a unique and genuine talent. Great young performers are nothing new, but someone who possesses such ease of expression and musical personality at such an early stage of her career is a find, indeed."
Keith Lockhart

“Has she really got it?...the answer turns out to be, “Yes.” -Jazz Times Magazine

Price

$19 adults; $15 seniors, students, teachers

Performance Schedule

Tue, Nov 10 - 7:30PM