Catalina Bar & Grill Presents Corky Hale...And Friends: I'm Glad There Is You 6/13

Catalina Bar & Grill will present a performance of a new critically acclaimed CD of romantic ballads, "Corky Hale...AND FRIENDS - I'M GLAD THERE IS YOU," featuring Corky Hale, the world renowned Jazz pianist, harpist and singer with her friends, singers Sally Kellerman, Freda Payne, Ariana Savalas, Tricia Tahara and Brenna Whitaker for One Night Only!!! The performance/s will be presented on Sunday, June 13, 2010 at 7:30 p.m. at Catalina Bar & Grill; 6725 West Sunset Boulevard (just east of North Highland Avenue); Los Angeles, CA 90028. There is $20 Cover Charge. Valet Parking is available.

Tracks from the new CD include: If I Should Lose You (Robin-Rainger) - Brenna Whitaker; My Romance (Rodgers & Hart) - Tricia Tahara; The More I See You (Mack Gordon/Harry Warren) - Corky Hale; I've Got A Crush On You (George & Ira Gershwin) - Sally Kellerman; I See Your Face Before Me (Howard Dietz/Arthur Schwartz) - Ariana Savalas; You're Getting To Be a Habit With Me (Warren/Dubin) - Corky Hale; Black Is the Color of My True Love's Hair (Anonymous) - Freda Payne; I'm Glad There Is You (Paul Madeira/Jimmy Dorsey) - Tricia Tahara; Like Someone In Love (Jimmy Van Heusen/Johnny Burke - Corky Hale; Where or When (Rodgers & Hart) - Brenna Whitaker; Alfie (Bacharach & David) - Freda Payne.

The Cover Charge is $20 per person. Reservations for the show and dinner can be made by calling Catalina Bar & Grill at 323-466-2210 or online at www.ticketweb.com. Valet Parking is available. For further information about the performance please visit the website www.catalinajazzclub.com. For further information about Corky Hale, please visit www.corkyhale.com.

About The Artists:
Corky Hale (Pianist, Harpist and Vocalist) was born in a small mid-western farm town and started piano lessons at age three. At age seven, while vacationing with her family in Florida, Hale was heard in the lobby of her hotel picking out tunes on the piano by House bandleader, Horace Heidt. Heidt had a little band jacket made for her and featured her for the next few weeks in the evening show.

She has performed at The White House with Tony Bennett, soloed with Barbra Streisand in Central Park and at the Hollywood Bowl, and performed with Björk on her MTV Special in London. Hale has also appeared with George Michael at London's Royal Albert Hall and Washington DC's RFK Stadium. She has played harp for Liberace, piano for Billie Holiday and Mel Tormé, and has sung with the bands of Harry James, Ray Anthony and Jerry Gray.

Hale's harp, piano and vocals can be heard on her three albums "CORKY!;" "Have Yourself A Jazzy Little Christmas;" and her current CD "Corky Hale and Friends...I'm Glad There Is You." Corky Hale's CDs are available at www.cdbaby.com and www.amazon.com.

Her sold-out performances at the Oak Room at the Algonquin in New York, Davenport's in Chicago, the Cinegrill and Herb Albert's Vibrato Grill Jazz...etc. in Los Angeles, the Plush Room in San Francisco, and Pizza On The Park in London have led Los Angeles Times' jazz reviewer Don Heckman to observe that Hale is "more than a triple threat," and the San Francisco Examiner's Philip Ellwood to note her performances are "of cyclonic proportions."

Hale produced "Give ‘em Hell Harry," starring Jason Alexander at the Tiffany Theatre in Los Angeles in 1992. Since 2000 Hale has produced and performed her star-studded show "Corky Hale and Friends: From Tin Pan Alley to Beverly Hills," at the Beverly Hills Civic Center.

In March 2003 her "Salute To Hollywood Songwriters" opened the newly restored Ferry Building at a Gala for San Francisco's "Raising Hope" charity, and in 2002 this show opened the 25th Anniversary Season of the 1,000-seat La Mirada Theatre.

In that same year Hale's musical "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" broke Box Office records at the Coconut Grove Playhouse in Florida. She also produced 1998's "Lullaby Of Broadway" at the Tiffany Theatre in West Hollywood, voted one of the "10 Best Shows" of the year by the Los Angeles Times. Later a concert version of the show starring Sally Kellerman was presented at the University of Judaism. She is currently preparing a new version of the production, re-titled "I Only Have Eyes For You."

On November 22, 2007, Corky Hale made her debut at Carnegie Hall as a Piano Soloist with the New York Pops Orchestra, under the baton of Guest Conductor, Barry Levitt. In 2008 she appeared at the Metropolitan Room in New York and produced a Tribute to Sammy Cahn at the Wilshire Theatre Beverly Hills. In 2009 she appeared at Herb Alpert's Vibrato Grill Jazz...etc. in Los Angeles, selling it out for the third time.

In December 2008 - January 2009, she produced a Sold Out, Standing Room Only Revival of Leiber & Stoller's Smokey Joe's Café at El Portal Theatre in North Hollywood, which received rave reviews, including a Critics Choice in the Los Angeles Times. The same production was also nominated for 10 Ovation Awards in 2009, receiving the most nominations of any single theatrical show produced in Los Angeles during that year. Currently discussions are underway for another National Tour of the Revival of the show. In 2010, Corky Hale served as one of the financial backers of Academy Award nominated documentary film, "The Most Dangerous Man In America - Daniel Ellsberg and The Pentagon Papers." Hale's other upcoming 2010 engagements include appearances the Hillcrest Country Club in Los Angeles and at Walt Disney Concert Hall as part of a Tribute to Dr. Ernst Katz, the late Founding Conductor of the Junior Philharmonic Orchestra.

In addition to her musical accomplishments, Hale jokingly considers herself the ultimate cook-housewife. She has been happily married for 39 years to songwriter Mike Stoller of the team Leiber & Stoller, whose show Smokey Joe's Café broke the record as the longest running musical revue in Broadway history.

Hale serves on the national advisory board of the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL), the national advisory board of Planned Parenthood and the California board of the Women's Reproductive Rights Assistance Project (WRRAP). She and her husband are strong advocates of the Southern Poverty Law Center and serve on the board of the National Coalition to Ban Gun Violence. To learn more about Corky Hale, please visit www.corkyhale.com.

Sally Kellerman (Vocalist) is the Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominated actress who created the infamous role of Major Margaret "Hot Lips" O'Holuihan in Robert Altman's classic film, "M*A*S*H." In 2009 she was honored with the prestigious Art Gilmore Career Achievement Award presented by the Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters.

Kellerman was born in Long Beach, CA. She attended Hollywood High School, where she was "bitten by the acting bug," and continued her studies at Los Angeles City College. She also studied at The Actors Studio in Los Angeles with Jeff Corey and famous classmates, including: Shirley Knight, Jack Nicholson, Robert Towne, Robert Blake, James Colburn and Roger Corman.

The actress has amassed an impressive Résumé of hundreds of memorable feature film, television and theatre credits. She began her television career appearing on "Outer Limits." Other television appearances include roles on the Pilot Episode of "Star Trek" and in episodes of "Kraft Suspense Theatre" and "Bob Hope Presents The Chrysler Theatre." She has starred in "Back To School," opposite Rodney Dangerfield, "Big Blonde" and "Boynton Beach Club." Kellerman's film work includes starring roles in the movies the "Last of The Red Hot Lovers," "Slither," "Foxes" and "A Little Romance." She has been doing voiceover work for over 30 years for clients like Hidden Valley Salad Dressing and Milky Way, and everything in between.

Under contract with Verve Records at the age of 18, Kellerman has been blessed with a signature voice and style as well as an uncanny ability to make a song her own. Her current critically acclaimed CD entitled, "Sally," was released earlier this year. The Los Angeles Times has hailed Kellerman as "someone who has the full package of skills...required to establish herself as a first-rate jazz and blues-tinged vocalist." In 2007 she made her Carnegie Hall debut in a program dedicated to Rock ‘n Roll legends, Leiber & Stoller. To learn more about Kellerman, please visit the website, www.sallykellerman.com.

Freda Payne (Vocalist) grew up in Detroit, MI. Payne's dream was to express herself by means of the playing the piano. At the age of 12, under the direction of piano teacher Ruth Johnson, dance instructor Beatrice Summers and mentor Mack Ferguson, Payne received the kind of guidance that would prove to be the foundation of what would follow. At the age of 13, Payne performed her first studio recordings (United Sound Studios in Detroit), "Father Dear," "The Moon Rock" and "Applications of Love" - written and produced by impresario and Motown Recording Company founder, Berry Gordy, Jr. From those early recordings to her 1970 mega-hit "Band of Gold," written and produced by Holland, Dozier, Holland, for Invictus, to her latest project titled "On The Inside," Payne has sculptured a noteworthy musical legacy.

She was hired (her first paying gig) by the legendary Pearl Bailey as one of her premiere background singers when she was 17 years of age. Payne's "Band of Gold" reached gold status and launched to #3 for six consecutive weeks on U.S. Billboard's pop chart, and rocketed to #1 in Great Britain. "Bring the Boys Home" was another golden smash hit and received tremendous worldwide acceptance, along with the ever popular "Deeper and Deeper," "You Brought The Joy" and "Cherish What Is Dear To You."

In theatrical productions Payne has appeared in "Sophisticated Ladies," "Ain't Misbehavin'," "Blues in the Night," "Jelly's Last Jam, Donald Welch's "A Change Is Gonna Come" and in "Ella Fitzgerald: First Lady of Song," which opened to rave reviews at the Crossroads Theatre in New Brunswick, N.J. Her film credits include: "Nutty Professor II: The Klumps," "Rag Doll," Rhapsody," "Book of Numbers" and "Reptilian." Her television appearances include: "American Idol," "The Tonight Show," "Soul Train," "Merv Griffin," "Dick Cavett," and "David Frost." To learn more about Freda Payne, please visit, www.fredapayne.com.

Ariana Savalas (Vocalist) is the daughter of the late Academy Award nominated actor, Telly Savalas, and Julie Hovland Savalas. She was born on January 9, 1987 in Los Angeles, CA. Upon her father's passing, Ariana and her family moved to her mother's home state of Minnesota. There, she attended a convent high school in order to participate in their renowned professional theatre program. One summer when she was vacationing with her family in Austria, she recorded a song for fun at a mobile karaoke station, which came to the attention of STARTRAX, a European recording company.

Savalas recorded a single with them as well as an EP with producer Jack White. STARTRAX, in association with OE3, the top Austrian pop radio station, promoted Savalas extensively. She performed in Vienna to crowds of tens of thousands, and was featured on all of the top Austrian television entertainment shows with audiences totaling over five million people. After touring Europe, she returned home and finished school. She has appeared locally in Los Angeles at the Cinespace, the Whiskey A Go Go and Herb Alpert's Vibrato Grill Jazz...etc.

At the age of 17, Savalas was accepted by the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London to study Shakespeare and Acting. Following her RADA training, she moved to Los Angeles to work with Robert Carnegie at the prestigious Playhouse West Theater, planning to return to London in the fall of that year. However, after just one month in Los Angeles, fate took an interesting turn. Having no previous professional acting experience, she auditioned for and won the title role of Miriam Shafer in the feature film Miriam, a true story of a Lithuanian holocaust survivor. The part of Miriam required Savalas to play a range of emotions as the character, aging from 15 to 50 years of age. Savalas was only 18-years-old at the time.

Over the next few years, she continued to work in film. She most recently appeared in a starring role in the feature film Akrasia, due out early next year. She writes her own songs, is a self-taught pianist, and dances everyday.

Tricia Tahara (Vocalist) is a Los Angeles resident and Savant Records recording artist. She was raised in Detroit, MI on an eclectic mixture of rock, pop, opera, and Broadway show tunes. She honed her classical technique at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, developed her jazz chops at the Berklee College of Music, and hit the road with rock and funk bands that took her literally around the world.

Tahara then teamed up with fellow Berklee alum Wallace Roney and an all-star jazz band for her debut album, Secrets, which prompted the London Times' Chris Parker to call her, "one of the purest, most affecting voices to emerge in recent years...combining the smooth jazz sophistication of Carmen Lundy with the tempered-steel soulfulness of Anita Baker or Randy Crawford," and, "a skilled and thoughtful lyricist, adding unusually cogent words to Wayne Shorter's ‘Footprints' and Herbie Hancock's ‘Butterfly.'"

All About Jazz's Stanley Péan proclaimed Tahara, "one of the jazz scene's best kept secrets," calling Secrets, "well worth hearing, notably for ‘L'Altra Notte In Fondo Al Mare' (an aria from Boito's Mephistopheles), where freebop meets opera with astonishing results." And the publication Bird Lives declared, "Secrets is anything but a typical jazz vocalist's debut recording. Tricia uses her voice like an instrument, becoming part of the band, and her distinctive, assured musicality is evident on every track." In 2007 she made her Carnegie Hall debut in a program dedicated to Rock ‘n Roll legends, Leiber & Stoller.

Brenna Whitaker (Vocalist) began her musical journey in professional theatre in Kansas City, MO where she was known as a serious young performer with a big voice. Committed to a career in music, she moved to New York City where she studied voice with Broadway veteran Nancy Evers, repertoire with Columbia recording artist Neil Wolfe and acting with renowned teacher Wynn Handman.

Whitaker was heavily influenced by such singers as Peggy Lee, Dinah Washington, Etta James and Eva Cassidy. After changing her focus from musical theatre to a career as a recording artist, she has performed across the country honing her craft. She now leads her seven to 14 piece band in Los Angeles, where she sings at various venues, corporate events and high profile private parties. She has performed with her band at the Café Cordiale, The Edison Bar, Harvelles, The Mint, Pasadena Jazz Institute and The Langham Huntington Hotel.

She recently appeared at the Ford Amphitheatre as part of a program presented by Upright Cabaret. Whitaker is also one of the top recording session vocalist here in Los Angeles. She has recorded over 200 songs for numerous songwriters. She is currently recording her first solo album of vintage Rhythm and Blues and Jazz standards.

Jeff Lass (Album Producer) of Palisades Records has worked as a Musical Director for Corky Hale, Sally Kellerman, Paul Williams, Lamont Dozier,
Smokey Robinson, Laverne Baker, Taylor Dane, Patti Austin, John Raitt, Freda Payne and Mike Stoller. As a composer he has written songs for 16 feature films, including, "Dick Tracy" and "Rage In Harlem," as well as for Madonna's "Breathless" album.

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