Jazz Legends Dame Cleo Laine & Sir John Dankworth in Concert
Rrazz Room @ Hotel Nikko (222 Mason Street San Francisco, CA 94102)
- Full Price:
- $55.00 - $70.00
- Our Price:
- $27.50 - $35.00*
* Additional fees apply.
All offers for Dame Cleo Laine & Sir John Dankworth & Friends have expired.
The last date listed for Dame Cleo Laine & Sir John Dankworth & Friends was Sunday September 14, 2008 / 7:00pm.
Currently at Rrazz Room @ Hotel Nikko:
Comedian Donnell Rawlings (Chappelle's Show) Headlines the Rrazz Room
- Full Price:
- $30.00
- Our Price:
- $15.00
Comic Donnell Rawlings takes the stage at the Rrazz Room. He's a national headlining comic with multiple TV stand-up appearances, including BET's Comic View, HBO's Def Comedy Jam and Comedy Central's Reality Bites Back, but he may be best known for his work on that network's Chappelle's Show, in which he played such classic characters as Ashy Larry and the jheri-curled hater Beautiful, and served as the third season's co-host. Rawlings, who had a recurring role on HBO's The Wire, can also be seen regularly on E!'s hit show Chelsea Lately and MTV's Hatin, as well as on his own Comedy Central special, Ashy to Classy. Learn More
Goldstar Member Reviews
Marja
The Rrazz Room was delightfully intimate, and the service was brisk. I wasn't asked to present my ID at the door, but I was prepared to do so, per my "Goldstar" instructions.Written on Sep 12 2008
The proximity to the Powell St. BART station was fantastic, making it really easy to get from Pleasanton to San Francisco in a very timely and convenient manner.
My pet peeve, is that due to the intimacy of the room, you're apt to be bombarded by everyone else's conversations and the misconception that we were attending a sing-along. In fact, if the headliner has to comment on it, I would ask that the staff try to be aware and reinforce courtesy to other patrons. I paid to hear the headliner, not the patrons!
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Joe R.
There is only one word to describe the incredible talents of Dame CLEO LAINE and Sir John Dankworth - SPECTACULAR! Her vocal instument is as clear and versatile as has it has been for 30+ years and his wonderful musical talents/arrangements make the duo the finest in the business. Just wish they would tour more, but at 80 years old, I am thrilled they do what they do when they do it!!! What a wonderful treat! Backed by great local talent, including the brilliant Larry Dunlap at piano make the experience even better.Written on Sep 05 2008
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Cicciabella
This duo and their superbly talented band did a knock-out show! Brilliant and engaging, they are a delight to see. Truly the royalty of British jazz, and standards as written in Sunday's Chronicle. You will be missing something special and rare if you let this slip away. The second best part is being able to chat for a moment with the performers afterward, while they sign CDs. Great to meet them up close! This venue is a perfect fit for the show--Written on Sep 04 2008
you can get up close and personal with the performers. LOVED IT!
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maryannpacula
Cleo Laine wrote the text book on pyrotechnic singing, since copied by Dianne Schurr and others. Even at 80, she continues to have flawless pitch. And what a sense of humor! Totally engages an audience. And JD's rendition of Johnny Hodges was so authentic -- a singing alto sax. What pinned me to my seat, however, was Ellington's Love Call. It typifies what her singing has been about all these years.Written on Sep 04 2008
The sound man must be deaf, however. It's an intimate room that doesn't need mikes that blast away and distort her vocals.
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More Information About Dame Cleo Laine & Sir John Dankworth & Friends
Quotes & Highlights
- "A marriage of musical brilliance." --Telegraph (UK)
- "One of the best singers in the world." --Newsweek
Description
<p>Born in a London suburb, Cleo showed early singing talent, which was nurtured by her Jamaican father and English mother who sent her to singing and dancing lessons. It was not, however, until she reached her mid-twenties that she applied herself seriously to singing. She auditioned successfully for a band led by musician John Dankworth, under whose banner she performed until 1958, in which year the two were married. </p> <p>Then began an illustrious career as a singer and actress. In 1958 she played the lead in a new play at London's famous Royal Court Theatre, home of the new wave of playwrights of the 'fifties - Pinter, Osborne and the like. This led to other stage performances such as the musical "Valmouth" in 1959, the play "A Time to Laugh" (with Robert Morley and Ruth Gordon) in 1962, and eventually to her show stopping Julie in the Wendy Toye production of "Showboat" at the Adelphi Theatre in London in 1971. </p> <p>During this period she had two spectacular recording successes. "You'll Answer to Me" reached the British Top Ten at the precise time that Cleo was 'prima donna' in the 1961 Edinburgh Festival production of the Kurt Weill opera/ballet "The Seven Deadly Sins". In 1964 her "Shakespeare and All that Jazz" album received widespread critical acclaim, and to this day remains an important milestone in her identification with the more unusual aspects of a singer's repertoire. </p> <p>1972 marked the start of Cleo's international activities, with a triumphant first tour of Australia. Shortly afterwards, her career in the United States was launched with a concert at New York's Lincoln Center, followed in 1973 by the first of many Carnegie Hall appearances. Coast-to-coast tours of the U.S. and Canada soon followed, and with them a succession of record albums and television appearances. This led, after several nominations, to Cleo's first Grammy award, in recognition of the live recording of her 1983 Carnegie concert. </p> <p>Other important recordings during that time were duet albums with Ray Charles ("Porgy and Bess") and Mel Tormé, as well as Arnold Schoenberg's "Pierrot Lunaire" which won Cleo a classical Grammy nomination. </p> <p>Cleo's relationship with the musical theatre, started in Britain, continued in the United States with starring performances in "A Little Night Music" and "The Merry Widow" (Michigan Opera). In 1985 she originated the role of Princess Puffer in the Broadway hit musical "The Mystery of Edwin Drood", for which she received a Tony nomination, and in 1989 she received the Los Angeles critics' acclaim for her portrayal of the Witch in Stephen Sondheim's "Into the Woods". Los Angeles was also the scene of a Lifetime Achievement Award to Cleo by the US recording industry (1991). </p> <p>In 1979 Cleo received an OBE from Her Majesty the Queen for services to music, and in the Queen's Birthday Honours List in June 1997 she was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire. She has also been awarded honorary doctorate degrees from Boston's Berklee College of Music in the United States and, in the United Kingdom from Cambridge University, the University of York, the Open University and the University of Luton. In 1998 the Worshipful Company of Musicians awarded her their Silver Medal for a Lifetime Contribution to British Jazz, and the British Jazz Awards have recognised her a number of times, including with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002. </p> <p>She lives with her husband, John Dankworth in Wavendon, Buckinghamshire, where in 1969 they founded their first charity, The Wavendon Allmusic Plan, with the aim of helping people broaden their views about music through performance and musical education. In the converted stable block in the grounds of their home they established an arts centre that has since become internationally renowned. The Stables, Wavendon has been host to many world famous artistes, from Vladimir Ashkenazy to George Shearing, and some of today's top professional musicians and singers have benefited from its education projects in the early stages of their careers. With the aid of an Arts Council lottery grant the new Stables theatre, built adjacent to the original stable block, opened its doors in October 2000 and continues to provide performers, students and audience alike with a centre of musical excellence second to none. The organisation, administered by a board of honorary trustees that includes Dame Cleo and John Dankworth, currently produces an annual programme featuring nearly 200 concerts and 300 education sessions. Having realised their original vision, Dame Cleo and her husband decided in 1999 to set up a further charity. The Wavendon Foundation was formed with the objective of raising funds to benefit both individual young artistes in need of financial aid, and organisations seeking support for music education projects. A major activity of the trust is the annual Wavendon Garden Season, a programme of summer events staged under a purpose-built canopy in the Dankworths' garden. </p> <p>Cleo continues to tour the world with her artistry, and this trend shows no sign of abating. Neither does the career of this unusual and superlative artist. </p> <p>Cleo Laine's autobiography CLEO was published in September 1994 by Simon & Schuster. Her second book, You Can Sing If You Want To, was published by Victor Gollancz in October 1997. </p>