Westchester Collaborative Theater's MUSIC IN THE BOX Series to Feature Return Appearance By Alexis Cole

On Saturday, April 29, Westchester Collaborative Theater (WCT) will feature internationally renowned jazz vocalist, Alexis Cole at 7:30pm. The theme for the evening will be "Girl Talk: Music of Women Songwriters from The Great American Songbook and Beyond." An Ossining resident, Cole is a winner of the NY Jazzmobile and Montreux Jazz Festival vocal competitions and the Swing Journal Gold Disk award. This special event will feature songs from Cole's extensive repertoire from The American Songbook and will be performed in a cabaret setting at WCT's home, 23 Water Street in Ossining.

Called "one of the great voices of today," by Jonathan Schwartz, she was hailed by Kevin Jones in Fine Music who wrote, "Here is the supreme stylist at the height of her powers.... The search for the next great jazz singer is over." Cole has been compared to such classic jazz singers as Sarah Vaughan (she was a finalist in the Sarah Vaughan Competition) and Anita O'Day. The official jazz singer of the U.S. Army during a tour of duty that began in 2009, she has performed with the Boston Pops and New York Philharmonic on stage at venues from Avery Fisher Hall to the Kennedy Center. Cole is a recording artist for Motéma Music, NY; Chesky Records, NY; and Venus Records, Japan. She heads the Jazz Voice Program at SUNY Purchase and performs and conducts master classes around the world.

Cole will be accompanied by drummer Kenny Hassler. Hassler has performed from the jazz clubs in Harlem to Broadway and back. Along the way he has performed with jazz greats, Randy Brecker, Lou Donaldson. Singers; Johnny Hartman, Ruth Brown, and Lauren Kinhan.

Tickets, $30 per set, can be purchased online. Advance purchase is strongly recommended. Refreshments will be available.

Since its opening in 2015, the WCT black box performance space has become increasingly known as a venue showcasing WCT plays and readings, as well as live music and a variety of performance artists. For upcoming theater and music events visit http://www.wctheater.org/

About Westchester Collaborative Theater

Westchester Collaborative Theater is a multicultural, cooperative theater company located in Ossining, NY, dedicated to developing new work for the stage and bringing live theater to the community. It is comprised of local playwrights, actors, and directors who employ a Lab approach in which new stage works are nurtured through an iterative process of readings, critiques, and rewrites. When work is ready for production, it is presented to the public at its new theater space.

WCT is committed to furthering theater arts in our community. It is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation and a recipient of production grants from ArtsWestchester and New York State Council on the Arts.

To post a comment, you must register and login.