Music In Homes: Pre-New Year’s Eve Concert! A. Spencer Barefield & Friends
Guitarist A. Spencer Barefield • Vocalist Isis Damil • Pianist Cliff Monear
Bassist Marion Hayden • Drummer Gayelynn McKinney
Vocalist Isis Damil, a relatively newcomer on the scene, joins the stage with four jazz legends to kick-off our 12th season of Palmer Woods Music in Homes. Only in her twenties, her voice has the depth, richness and passion of an older and more seasoned singer. The daughter of two jazz musicians, music is embedded in her DNA, propelling Isis to merge her classical training with jazz, funk, fusion, neo-soul, scat, rap and R & B. She has performed with some of the best, including her dad, Zion Yisrael, as well as Marcus Belgrave, Ralphe Armstrong, James Carter, Robert Hurst and others. Now a regular at Bakers Keyboard Lounge, she has appeared at Bert’s, Cliff Bells and the Dirty Dog Jazz Cafe.
Creating the holiday spirit with Isis will be pianist supreme Cliff Monear and three Kresge Arts Fellows: guitarist A. Spencer Barefield, and bassist Marion Hayden and percussionist Gayelynn McKinney, two of the founders of the all-women’s Atlantic recording sensation Straight Ahead.
Barefield, the artistic director of Music in Homes, is “an extraordinary guitarist/composer” according to JazzTimes. He has perfomed extensively throughout Europe and the U.S. with jazz greats Roscoe Mitchell, Lester Bowie, Oliver Lake, and Reggie Workmen, to name a few.
Marion and Gayelynn are some of the most in-demand musicians on both the local and national scene, and have performed with numerous jazz veterans, including Marcus Belgrave, Geri Allen, Sonny Fortune, Steve Turre, James Carter, and Regina Carter. Gayelynn, who was Aretha Franklin’s drummer preceding her passing, recently released a recording rekindling the music of father, the famed composer/pianist Harold McKinney, and leads McKinfolk, which performed on our series last year.
The festivities include a delicious light meal, gourmet pastries and desserts, and sparkling wine for a pre-New Year’s Eve toast. Tickets: $60; VIP seating in front rows with additional leg room, early admission, first on line for dinner: $70.
