Sunday, June 19, 6 p.m.
The Redstone Room, 129 Main Street, Davenport IA
Praised by JazzPolice.com for her “big, soulful voice,” and with 20-year David Sanborn collaborator Ricky Peterson insisting, “She will knock you out,” Minnesota-based jazz singer Pippi Ardennia performs as a June 17 guest in Polyrhythms' Third Sunday Jazz Workshop & Matinée Series, with her partner for the event Daniel Leahy, the noted jazz pianist who is currently writing and recording new compositions for the artist.
A Chicago native who has been singing since she was 13 years old and for more than 35 years, Ardennia has performed at many of Chicago's most respected jazz clubs, among them Burning Spear, Mr. Kelly's, Rosebud on Rush, Green Dolphin, and the Chicago Symphony Center. Since moving to Minnesota, Pippi has appeared at the Dakota Jazz Club, and is currently co-producing as starring in a highly acclaimed concert series at the Historic Landmark Center. She has also performed for such notables as Bill Clinton, Tony Bennett, and Liza Minnelli and performed alongside Freddie Hubbard, George Freeman, and Billy Branch, while the Minnesota Women's Press staff named her a “Changemaker” for her leadership of the PipJazz, the student-oriented not-for-profit Ardennia herself founded. With Peterson lauding her “unique style that has subtle hints of Carmen McRae and Billy Holiday,” Ardennia released Love So Good in 2013, which features a wide assortment of jazz and soul covers in addition to the artist's original compositions.
Accompanying Ardennia in her Polyrhythms debut, pianist/composer Leahy began playing music at the age of four, after he and his family discovered that young Daniel was able to replicate the exact song, note for note, that they heard the organist play at church that morning. In his numerous concert and jazz-festival appearances in the decades since, Leahy has played with Louie Belson, Clark “Mumbles” Terry, Hampton Hawes, and James Morrison, and has studed jazz under Benny Green and Tamir Hendelman. Joining Leahy and Ardennia for their June 17 Redstone Room engagement are pianist Mike Nellas, entering his fourth decade as an in-demand jazz artist, and Paul Weddle, a sax playuer boasting 63 years with the instrument.
Polyrhythms' 6 p.m. concert on June 17 will be preceded by a 3 p.m. “Jazz Demystifying” workshop; tickets are $10-15 for the evening performance, with the workshop $5 for adults and free for students. For tickets and information, contact Polyrhythms at (309)373-0790 or Polyrhythms.org, or the Redstone Room at (563)326-1333 or RiverMusicExperience.org.
