New Orleans Jazz Messengers Light The Pinehurst Stage For Valentine’s Weekend in N. Carolina, USA

Troy Davis and the New Orleans Jazz Messengers will be featured in two nights of jazz at Pinehurst Resort, February 10 and 11, 2006. Formerly known as Jazz’n January, the event was moved to celebrate the holiday of love and passion for a two-day, “Heart ‘n Soul of Jazz” benefit.

Tickets are now on sale for the concerts, which will offer a featured top-name vocalist each evening. Major proceeds of the $65 ticket will go to the Arts Council of Moore County, who has orchestrated the event for the past 21 years.

“We’re very excited to bring the best of the Big Easy, and to help them keep their music alive,” said Chris Dunn, executive director of the Arts Council.

The strength of the composite group created by drummer Troy Davis has yielded a powerhouse of the best in today’s New Orleans jazz world. Gathered for a special two-day jam session of top musicians displaced from Hurricane Katrina, the Jazz Messengers will offer trumpet, clarinet, piano, bass and vocal talent for a series of concerts that can’t be missed. From Louis Armstrong to Jelly Roll Morton, to Nat King Cole and the Marsalis family, each band member will highlight their favorite jazz greats hailing from the homeland of jazz.

Tickets can be purchased by calling the Pinehurst Resort Services desk at 910.235.8415. The $65 ticket (or $110 for both nights) includes a post-concert dessert reception. A special $30 pre-concert dinner will be offered at Pinehurst’s Carolina Dining Room for those with an event ticket; reservations can be made at the time of ticket purchase.

Pinehurst is also offering a special $299/couple overnight rate, which includes accommodations, breakfast, dinner, romance turndown with champagne and flowers delivered to your room in celebration of the Valentine’s holiday. Show tickets can be added either at time of reservation or on site, based on availability.

A Musical Gumbo

Davis has been playing drums since he was three, and at the young age of 25 began a his career with mentor and jazz great Betty Carter, touring Europe and performing opposite such artists as Ray Charles. He also spent 8 years with Terence Blanchard, working on such projects as the score of the film Malcolm X, Terence’s “Billie Holiday Songbook” and the 1995 album “The Heart Speaks,” in lush Brazilian tracks. He toured Europe, Canada and Latin America with Blanchard and throughout the states with Monty Alexander, recording Alexander’s tribute album to Frank Sinatra in 1996.

His career includes television performances on the Today Show, The Tonight Show, and the Bill Cosby Show, as well as stage experience with such talents are the Marsalis family, Toots Thielemans and Sonny Fortune.

He is joined on stage by Mark Braud, grandson of the legendary trumpeter John “Picket” Brunious Sr., one in a long line of family jazz musicians hailing from New Orleans. A graduate of the acclaimed New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, he toured with fellow alumnae Harry Connick Jr., Michael White and the Legendary Eddie Bo throughout Europe. He continues to play with the Harry Connick Jr. Big Band.

Clarinetist Tim Laughlin, also born and raised on New Orleans stride, recently released his album “Blue Orleans” and “The Isle of Orleans,” an award-winning collection of original pieces. He’s appeared on the Today Show and CBS Morning Show, as well as the BET on Jazz show, and performed with the New York Pops and Skitch Henderson at Carnegie Hall.

Other members of the group include bassist David Pulphus, who also toured with Blanchard and Davis, delivering a resonant, classic jazz heartbeat to the group’s performance. Lawrence Siebirth joins the Messengers on piano, after performances with Ellis Marsalis and his own productions for television and the stage.

Phillip Manuel, one of the event’s featured vocalists, was first recognized by such greats as Aaron Neville in his New Orleans roots. After an acclaimed tour in New York and Washington D.C., he traveled the globe through several European jazz festivals. His work includes performances with Patti LaBelle, Nicholas Payton, Fats Domino and Allen Toussant. With a soulful focus on R&B, he’s launched his own recordings, including Love Happened to Me and They Don’t Know.

The fundraising event draws big-name jazz artists to the Sandhills each year, through the generosity of several area businesses. This year’s Heart of Jazz event has been sponsored by Pinehurst Resort, Progress Energy, American Airlines, BB&T Bank, Wachovia Bank, Hagan & Hagan GMAC Real Estate and Lyne’s Furniture Gallery.

For more information on musicians, please call the Arts Council of Moore County at 910.692.4356.

January 3, 2006   Posted in: United States SouthEast