Powerhouse Vocalist Dianne Reeves and The Music Conversation

“Jazz is a spirit, and it’s something that you feel inside.”

Submitted by Laura Schairer, Audience Magnets

Dianne Reeves, “the most admired jazz diva since the heyday of Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, and Billie Holiday,” makes her first-ever appearance at Tempe Center for the Arts December 11. The five-time GRAMMY award-winner, has received the nation’s highest honor as “Jazz Master” from the National Endowment for the Arts, shares her timeless voice and improvisational prowess in an exceptional holiday program of seasonal sounds.

Born in Detroit and raised in Denver, Colorado, Reeves became interested in music as a result of her family’s rich musical atmosphere and growing up in an era where musical boundaries were less rigid than they are today. She was introduced to jazz through her uncle, Charles Burrell, a classical and jazz bassist, who gave her lots of records, including those from one of her early influences, Sarah Vaughn. In high school, she was discovered by the great trumpeter, Clark Terry, who she went on to sing with, and launched her spectacular career.

“It was extraordinary,” says Reeves about her time with Terry. “As through that experience with Terry, I realized that the music was a kind of language, a conversation going on on the stage, musically. And I knew I wanted to be part of the conversation. Clark would play something and I would answer, and I started to understand – jazz is a spirit, and it’s something that you feel inside.”

Over a career that has spanned 45 years, five Grammys, honorary doctorates: Berklee College of Music and The Julliard School, twenty recordings, and an appearance as a jazz singer in the acclaimed film Good Night and Good Luck, Reeves has earned her status as the #1 jazz singer on planet earth.

With her far-reaching range, the vocal powerhouse will perform several holiday favorites as well as the standards that she has become known for.

“It’s a mixture,” says Reeves. “It’s really about coming together – celebrating the holiday, but also in the way a storyteller uses other music along with Christmas music. It’s a fun time: I enjoy this. I love doing Christmas tours.”

Dianne Reeves: Christmas Time Is Here
December 11 at 8:30 pm
Tempe Center for the Arts
700 W. Rio Salado Parkway
Tempecenterforthearts.com

Tickets are $25, $35, $45, $55 with additional VIP add on for $25 which includes pre-show reception in the beautiful Lakeside room.