Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts Presents The Tierney Sutton Band: The Sting Variations
By: Julie Musbach Oct. 16, 2017
Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College will open its 2017-18 Kumble Theater season with eight-time GRAMMY®-nominated jazz artist Tierney Sutton. Praised by The New York Times as "a pure jazz spirit," Ms. Sutton and her band will perform their 2017 GRAMMY® Award-nominated project The Sting Variations. Tickets are $35 and can be purchased in advance at BrooklynCenter.org or by calling the Brooklyn Center box office at 718-951-4500. Day-of-show tickets should be purchased at the Kumble Theater on the downtown Brooklyn campus of LIU, located at 1 University Plaza, or by calling the Kumble Theater box office at 718-488-1624.
Spanning the entirety of Sting's career, The Sting Variations explores the music of British rock icon Sting, delivering unique arrangements of both familiar and lesser-known gems. The arrangements are filled with elegance, virtuosity and surprise, and each band member is featured to maximum effect. Some songs included on the album are "Driven to Tears," "Shadows in the Rain," "Fields of Gold," "Every Breath You Take," and "Message in a Bottle."
"[The Police] were part of my teenage DNA," Sutton said in a 2016 interview with Jazz Times. "It was before I was introduced to jazz, and it was interesting to do research on Sting and learn how much jazz influence and jazz background he had." In an interview for Billboard, she adds, "[Sting's] autobiography is full of references to Miles and Coltrane and the Great American Song tradition," making the choice to explore his work a natural one. In fact, he earned the name "Sting" (he was born Gordon Sumner) from the black and yellow striped sweater that he wore while playing with a group called the Phoenix Jazzmen before forming The Police.
About The Tierney Sutton Band
An eight-time GRAMMY® nominee, Tierney Sutton has received seven consecutive nominations for "Best Jazz Vocal Album"-a nomination for every project she has released for the last decade. With a recording and touring history spanning over 20 years and nine CDs, The Tierney Sutton Band ("TSB") is comprised of Sutton and instrumental virtuosos Kevin Axt, Ray Brinker, Trey Henry, and Christian Jacob. The band functions as a true collaborative (and legally incorporated) unit and makes all musical as well as business decisions as partners. In 2011 TSB received a GRAMMY® nomination for its collaborative arranging, the only collaborative team ever to receive that honor.
Their discography is thematic and rich. Past TSB projects have addressed Americana (American Road, 2011), materialism (Desire, 2009), and the pursuit of happiness (On The Other Side, 2007), as well as the musical legacies of Bill Evans (Blue in Green, 2001) and Frank Sinatra (Dancing in The Dark, 2003).
Along these same lines, Ms. Sutton released After Blue in 2013, a jazz-inspired re-imagining of the legacy of Joni Mitchell. The album received wide acclaim and was Sutton's breakout as a leader without her longtime band, and features Al Jarreau, Hubert Laws, Peter Erskine, Larry Goldings, Mark Summer, Kevin Axt, Serge Merlaud and The Turtle Island String Quartet. In addition to this, Christian Jacob and TSB scored the original music for Clint Eastwood's feature film Sully, starring Tom Hanks and Laura Linney. The film premiered on September 9, 2016.
Tierney has headlined in recent years at The Hollywood Bowl, Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, and Jazz at Lincoln Center. She can also be heard on film and television soundtracks including that of The Academy Award-nominated film The Cooler as well as on television commercials (BMW, Green Giant, Yoplait Yogurt, Coca-Cola).
When she is off the road, Tierney is in demand as both a producer and vocal educator. She taught for over a decade at USC's Thornton School of Music and served for five years as Vocal Department Head at The Los Angeles College of Music in Pasadena, CA where she created a new curriculum for vocalists of all genres. Tierney has taught and mentored some of music's finest new generation of singers including Gretchen Parlato and Sara Gazarek.
As part of its season at Kumble Theater, Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts will also present Afro-Puerto Rican group Los Pleneros de la 21(December 10, 2017), Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company (February 11, 2018), Daniel Beaty's solo theatrical tour-de-force Emergency (February 17-18, 2018), an evening of solo works with NEA Jazz Master Kenny Barron (February 24, 2018), Brooklyn-based jazz artist Alicia Olatuja (March 10, 2017), and Step Afrika! (April 28, 2018). The company plans to announce additional performances in the fall in conjunction with the opening of the new Leonard and Claire Tow Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College. Visit BrooklynCenter.org for a complete season lineup.
Multibuy discounts (three or more shows) save 15% off individual ticket prices. Multibuyers enjoy flexible ticket exchanges and discounted parking for purchased performances at Brooklyn College. A 50% discount for children ages 12 and under is offered for select performances. Discounts are also available for seniors, students, Brooklyn College faculty/staff/alumni, active/retired military personnel, and groups. $10 student rush tickets available day-of-show.
The Tierney Sutton Band: The Sting Variations
Saturday, October 21, 2017 at 8pm, $35
Kumble Theater at LIU Brooklyn, 1 University Plaza, Brooklyn
Online orders:
Box Office: 718-951-4500
Groups of 15 or more: 718-951-4600 x3331
About Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts
Founded in 1954, Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College presents outstanding performing arts and arts education programs, reflective of Brooklyn's diverse communities, at affordable prices. Each season, Brooklyn Center welcomes over 65,000 people to the 2,400 seat Whitman Theatre, including up to 45,000 schoolchildren from over 300 schools who attend their SchoolTime series, one of the largest arts-in-education programs in the borough. For the 2017-18 season, the company will present at the Kumble Theater on the downtown Brooklyn campus of LIU, while Whitman Theatre undergoes a 12-month closure for structural repairs. Brooklyn Center will announce additional performancesfor the spring of 2018 in conjunction with the opening of the new Leonard and Claire Tow Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College.
Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts' programs are supported, in part, by public funding from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council. Brooklyn Center's 2017-18 season is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
Major support for the 2017-18 season is provided by: Brooklyn College, Con Edison, TD Bank, National Grid, The Howard Gilman Foundation, the Jazz Touring Network, the Alice Lawrence Foundation, the Mertz Gilmore Foundation, the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, and the TD Charitable Foundation. Additional support provided by CNG Publications, The Brooklyn Eagle, Brooklyn Media Group, and WBGO Jazz 88.3 FM. The Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott New York Brooklyn is the official hotel of Brooklyn Center's 2017-18 season.
Brooklyn Center's presentation of Alicia Olatuja is made possible through the Jazz Touring Network program of the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation with support from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts gratefully acknowledges generous support from New York State Assembly members Annette Robinson and Helene Weinstein; New York City Council Member Jumaane D. Williams; New York City Council Cultural Affairs Committee Chair Jimmy Van Bramer; New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, and Commissioner of Cultural Affairs Tom Finkelpearl.
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