On Saturday, September 23rd, Westchester Collaborative Theater (WCT) continues its Jazz Masters music series with the Alexis Cole Trio featuring one of Ossining’s own, internationally renowned jazz vocalist Cole, appearing for two sets at 7:30 and 9 pm. Cole, winner of the NY Jazzmobile and Montreux Jazz Festival vocal competitions and the Swing Journal Gold Disk award, will perform an evening of new renditions from The American Songbook in a cabaret setting at WCT’s new home, 23 Water Street in Ossining.
Photo: Alexis Cole, courtesy Jim Wadsworth Productions
Called “one of the great voices of today,” by Jonathan Schwartz, Cole has been compared to such classic jazz singers as Sarah Vaughan (she was a finalist in the Sarah Vaughan Competition) and Anita O’Day. She has performed with the Boston Pops and New York Philharmonic on stage at venues from Avery Fisher Hall to the Kennedy Center. A recording artist for Motéma Music, NY; Chesky Records, NY; and Venus Records, Japan; she heads the Jazz Voice Program at SUNY Purchase and performs and conducts master classes around the world.
Cole will be accompanied by bassist David Finck and drummer Kenny Hassler. Finck has played with and produced for artists as diverse as Dizzy Gillespie, Elton John, Andre Previn and Peter Cincotti. Hassler’s long career in jazz includes work with musicians Bob Mintzer and Randy Brecker, and vocalists Ruth Brown, Johnny Hartman and Edie Brickell.
Tickets, $20 per set, can be purchased online at WCT’s website: wctheater.org (limited seating available; advance purchase is strongly recommended.) Refreshments will be available.
The Westchester Collaborative Theater is a multicultural, cooperative theater company located in Ossining, NY, dedicated to developing new work for the stage and bringing live theater to the community. It is comprised of local playwrights, actors, and directors who employ a Lab approach in which new stage works are nurtured through an iterative process of readings, critiques, and rewrites. When work is ready for production, it is produced for the public at various local venues.
