EVENT: TCC Signature Symphony
DATE: February 20
Diane Schuur, two-time Grammy award winner as best female jazz vocalist, will perform with Signature Symphony at Tulsa Community College (TCC), February 20, 8 p.m., at the VanTrease Performing Arts Center for Education (PACE), 10300 East 81st Street (U.S. Hwy. 169 and 81st Street), Tulsa.
Influenced by jazz legends Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, and Dinah Washington, Schuur has recorded twelve albums, five of which are Grammy-nominated albums. Schuur has performed many times on television and at countless festivals and concerts worldwide with Ray Charles, Maynard Ferguson, Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, Quincy Jones, and B.B. King.
Schuur's luminous three-and-a-half octave range and sophisticated jazz phrasings are not only displayed on her solo albums, but also on albums with the Count Basie Orchestra, Ferguson, King, Barry Manilow, and Stevie Wonder.
A native of Tacoma, Wash. and blinded shortly after birth, Schuur began singing professionally when she was nine years old and was introduced to the world by Gillespie at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1979.
"The one thing I really love about jazz is that it's not very image conscious," Schuur told the Chicago Sun-Times in a March, 2003 interview. "You don't have to be a size 2 or be the darling of the moment to be respected and loved for what you do musically. Jazz is about the music. It's honest and direct."
In addition to the Grammy Awards, Schuur has received the prestigious Ella Fitzgerald Award from the Montreal International Jazz Festival, Disability Awareness Award from the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, and the Helen Keller Award.
Schuur last performed in Tulsa in 1992, with the Signature Symphony under its previous name, Oklahoma Sinfonia. Shuur also performed at the 1989 Greenwood Jazz Celebration and opened the "Jazz Times 3" Series in 1988.
Contact: PACE Box Office, 1-918-595-7777