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11/19/09

Mary Stallings & Eric Reed /Nov. 20-21/ Jazz Cafe Detroit

Mary Stallings & Eric Reed

Nov. 20-21/ Jazz Cafe Detroit

"Perhaps the best jazz singer alive today is a woman almost everybody seems to have missed.
Her name is Mary Stallings." --New York Times

On November 20 & 21, Jazz Café at Music Hall presents
one of the most versatile jazz vocalists of the last 40 years,
the expressive and emotional singer, Mary Stallings
for 4 sets and two nights at 8:30 PM and 11 PM.
Ms. Stallings will also be accompanied by composer/ pianist,
Eric Reed for her Detroit appearances.

Stylistically influenced by Carmen McRae, San Franciscan, Mary Stallings is a passionate vocalist who may not be a household name- but should be. The niece of saxophonist Orlando Stallings, she started singing as a child and sang jazz in Bay Area clubs during her teenage years, when she performed with Louis Jordan's Tympani Five and shared the stage with such greats as Wes Montgomery and Ben Webster. One of Stallings' fans was vibes master, Cal Tjader, whom she teamed up with in 1961 for Cal Tjader Plays, Mary Stallings Sings on Fantasy. After stints with Dizzy Gillespie and Billy Eckstine in the 1960s, Stallings toured with the Count Basie Orchestra as a featured vocalist from 1969-1972. The singer was still in Basie's band when, in 1971, she gave birth to her only child, R&B singer Adriana Evans and Stallings went into semi-retirement from music to stay home and raise her daughter. Though she performed occasionally, it wasn't until the late 1980s that Stallings seriously resumed her career. She made a long overdue return with Clarity's 1990 audiophile release Fine and Mellow, and in 1994 Stallings signed with Concord Jazz and recorded I Waited for You.

Manhattan Moods in 1997 vocally echoed some of Stallings heroines
like Billie Holliday and Dinah Washington and was a great return to form.

In 2005, native Detroiter, Geri Allen produced and played piano on the brilliant,
Remember Love considered by many to be the finest recording of her career
explores the incredible range of Stalling's voice,
seamlessly navigating from Bop to slow ballads,
this recording reached #23 on Billboard's Jazz Charts.


Tickets for Mary Stallings with Special Guest, Eric Reed are $27
and available at Music Hall Box Office and at www.ticketmaster.com

JAZZ CAFE
350 Madison Ave
Detroit, MI 48226
(313) 887-8500