Jazz at CAM

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Series 2024-25 Schedule

Lydia Salett Dudley is a jazz pianist, singer, composer and arranger in Raleigh, NC. She is the bandleader for the group Lydia Salett Dudley & Jazz Xpressions.  She and her band members including bassist Aaron Gross, Guitarist Lou Padro and drummer Donovan Cheatham are products of the North Carolina Central University Jazz Program.  In 2011 her passion for music education eventually led her to start The Salett Art Center, Inc., a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide music enrichment for underserved youth.  She has performed for many occasions and shared the stage with several national and international artists. This group’s music is rooted in jazz with a contemporary flair. The latest project “Rise Up”, released in October 2023, was funded by a  female-led ensemble grant from Chamber Music America of NY. Comments from venues include comments such as “Lydia Dudley is an incredible jazz singer, pianist, and songwriter with a storytelling ethos that audiences adore”.  Dave Fox, O. Henry Jazz Series. 

Jay Killman & the Constellations is an impressive and exciting modern jazz quartet, led by guitarist Jay Killman. The band performs mostly original compositions by Killman, with some arrangements of jazz standards and traditional folk songs. Killman’s compositions are truly unique as he pulls elements from a multitude of genres and inspirations – swing, indie, tone poems, blues, R&B, modern jazz, hip hop, romantic classical, folk and more. Killman’s compositions are much deeper than merely “good tunes”, with most of his original songs being inspired by and dedicated to a certain person or event in his life. The compositions intimately capture the character and subtleties of the complex subject. Killman’s arrangements and compositions have been featured at the Rose Theatre at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York to center stage at the Monterey Bay Jazz Festival in California. The Constellations brings Killman’s small group writing and composing to vibrant life. Along with Killman the band consists of Carlos Garcia on piano, David Canning on bass, and Jon Hill on drums; all of whom have been playing together for almost a decade. Because of the intimate connection and dedication of the band members each musician helps to elevate the other, push the music to new highs and actively engage the audience for a special performance each concert.

Musician, bassist, and composer- Kevin Beardsley is an in-demand musician ready to support any group he is a part of and help them sound their best, live or in the studio. 

Born in Sandwich, Illinois, Kevin’s family quickly moved to Apex, North Carolina in High School where he started to connect with the Triangle scene. He completed his Bachelors in Music at UNC Chapel Hill in 2019. (During which he won the UNC 360 Jazz Initiative with his composition “Connection”) 

Kevin has collaborated and shared the stage with a wide range of groups. From his original group GrayScale Whale and the versatile groups Al Strong and Ernest Turner lead, to opening for the Wailers with Africa Unplugged and playing with Slim Gambil from Lady A, Kevin has supported groups in all styles. As a part of the Ernest Turner Trio along with Jeremy Bean Clemons, the group went on to win the 2019 DC Jazz Prix. 

Recently, Kevin also joined Rahsaan Barber’s Everyday Magic on tour in 2023, and Music Directed Starsapien‘s record “Apes Scrapes and Bandage.” More artists Kevin has shared the stage with include- Keith David,  Eve Cornelious, Milton Suggs, Jason Marsalis, Stephen Riley, Jazzmeia Horn, and more.

The Dominican Jazz Project

Thursday, March 6, 2025, 7 PM
CAM Members: $35; Not-Yet Members: $55

The Dominican Jazz Project began when Dominican-born jazz artist, Guillo Carias, invited American jazz pianist and composer, Stephen Anderson, to perform with him and jazz artists living in the Dominican Republic for the 2014 Jazzomania Jazz Festival in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic that was hosted by Tony Dominguez and Carlos Francisco Elías.  The concert and associated clinic went beautifully, and the drummer, Guy Frómeta, invited Anderson to return to Santo Domingo to perform with him in his group for the Casa de Teatro Jazz Festival a few months later.  It was there that Anderson met Sandy Gabriel, a nationally renowned tenor saxophonist.  Their collective friendship grew further with that experience, and following the festival, they agreed to record together.  The result was their 2016 self-titled CD release, The Dominican Jazz Project, that was recorded in the days following the UNC Summer Jazz Workshop where the artists served as guest faculty and where Anderson serves as director. Soon after, renowned Dominican percussionist, David Almengod, joined the group.  

Billie Holiday’s unique vocal approach and advanced sense of rhythm made her one of the most important and influential vocalists in American history. Her relentless fight to be treated as an equal – as a musician, a female, and an African-American – made her one of the most important American figures in the 20th century.

Join us as we detail how she developed her unique vocal style and how she blazed a trail for women and African-Americans that would pave the way for future generations.

This show features a multimedia experience of live music, narration, images, and video footage.

ABOUT THE JAZZ LEGACY PROJECT

Created in 2015 after an epiphany Justin Varnes had while teaching Jazz History at Georgia State University, the JLP has an ongoing residency at the Velvet Note jazz club in Atlanta, where they have been selling out their performances for 6 years and counting. Ditching a traditional textbook in favor of playing records and telling stories about the artists to college kids who knew little or nothing about jazz proved to be a big success. It turned out that performing the artist’s music and telling their stories in between proved to be an even bigger success.

MARIA HOWELL