Ray Smith, Bob Bailey, Alexis Munoa
| Bob Bailey was Dean Martin's musical director in the 60s. He is 85 years old now but has lost nothing of his skill. He has worked with Ginger Rodgers, Fred Astaire, Mel Torme, Jimmy Stewart, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra . . . and the list goes on and on. He was a first call pianist in Hollywood's golden era. And he is still going strong here in Utah as a pianist, arranger, and composer. He has lots of storys about the legends of that era.
Ray Smith is the head of the Jazz department at BYU. He is one of the top woodwind players in the Western US. He has performed all over the world, Japan, Russia, Scandanavia, all of Europe. He also boasts a long list of famous players and singers with whom he has performed. Alexis Munoa is a young vocalist who just returned from a European tour with the big band, Synthesis. Jay Lawrence on drums and Denson Angelo on bass round the quintet. The program will feature a wide variety of classic swing tunes and ballads. We are partial to that old classic jazz sound, but there will be lots of variety: latin, up tempo, ballads, swing, songs from famous movies etc. We are presenting 5 of the top jazz musicians in the area. One reviewer in France writing about Ray Smith said, 'every note he plays dances'. This is true. Exquisite tone quality on flute and sax and exquisite taste whether in the background or soloing, and astonishing technique. If you are entertaining guests or out of town business travelers, bring them. They will not forget this evening. | |
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