On Friday, Feb. 8 at 7 p.m., New Orleans Jazz Professor Matt Lemmler will feature “Kauai Island Singers Showcase Jazz Singer Night 2,” featuring six Kauai-based singer/students — Barbara Pendragon, Melissa Mojo, Christine Melamed, Dhyana Dunville, Diana Leone and Mary Ellen Kopitzke — singing jazz classics from the great American songbook.
On Friday, Feb. 8 at 7 p.m., New Orleans Jazz Professor Matt Lemmler will feature “Kauai Island Singers Showcase Jazz Singer Night 2,” featuring six Kauai-based singer/students — Barbara Pendragon, Melissa Mojo, Christine Melamed, Dhyana Dunville, Diana Leone and Mary Ellen Kopitzke — singing jazz classics from the great American songbook.
“This marks the second year in a row that KISS singers have presented a jazz showcase as students of a visiting jazz artist,” said Melissa Mojo, singer and founder of Kauai Island Singers Showcase. “We are looking forward to working with Matt over a three-day period and sharing our love of jazz with the community.”
The concert will also feature three special guests: Award-winning Northwest vocal jazz icon Greta Matassa, Seattle-based virtuoso jazz bassist Clipper Anderson and Kauai’s own talented singer/musician Alan Van Zee, musical director of St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church
Both Matt and Greta are participating in the St. Michael’s All Angels Jazz Festival on February 2 and 3. They have visited Kauai regularly over the past 12 years — playing and singing in the festival and leading vocal workshops for island students.
Lemmler is considered to be one of the most original musicians to recently emerge from the birthplace of jazz. Known as one of the New Orleans Jazz Professors, Lemmler is a pianist, vocalist, composer, arranger, educator, producer and musical director for The New Orleans Jazz Revival Band.
A prolific performer who continues the legacy of great New Orleans pianists, such as Jelly Roll Morton, Fats Domino, James Booker, Dr. John, Ellis Marsalis and Harry Connick, Jr., Matt’s musical path of spiritual inspiration taps into the healing power of music and motivates him to perform New Orleans Jazz for people around the world in addition to producing promising artists and new projects.
The show starts at 7 p.m. at St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church, 4364 Hardy Street in Lihue. Tickets are $20 in advance; $25 at the door. Visit www.kisskauai.org or 800-838-3006 for tickets.
