Contact: Golda Solomon, 877-529-9528, or gs@goldajazz.com

Cornelia Street Café: corneliastreetcafe@earthlink.net

For immediate release

Po’Jazz at The Cornelia Street Cafe

Poetry in Partnership with Jazz

Thursday, July 15^th, 2004 6 - 8 p.m.

Po’Jazz, the one-of-a-kind jazz and poetry series, is proud to present critically acclaimed jazz vocalist and vocal improviser Kendra Shank in its third Thursday evening of the month slot on July 15^th Downstairs at The Cornelia Street Café. The downstairs room opens at 5:30 for early dining and imbibing (serving the same fine food as upstairs). Admission is $15 ($13 students/seniors), which includes one drink.

Host Golda Solomon, “The Medicine Woman of Jazz,” will perform her unique brand of jazz-flavored poetry backed by musicians Eliot Cardinaux on piano, Adam Chilenski on bass, and Bram Kincheloe on drums. She recently appeared at the Makor Marathon, a daylong festival of visual and performing arts at the 92^nd Street Y, and at Mamapalooza 2004 at the Bowery Poetry Club. Golda’s poetry has been described as having “a rhythm and spontaneity that goes right to the heart… (She) has found her perfect accompaniment in jazz” (Madeline Peters, President and founder of Poet’s Corner).

Kendra Shank’s crystal-pure tone, powerful musicianship and elastic phrasing have won her rave critical notices and fans worldwide. Her original style transcends musical genres. Jazz legend Abbey Lincoln calls her “a singer with a sound.” Kendra has been hailed by critics as "one of the most innovative of present-day jazz vocalists" (Drew Wheeler, CDNow) and "one of the top jazz singers around today" (Scott Yanow, L.A. Jazz Scene). She will be accompanied by Frank Kimbrough on piano and Dean Johnson on acoustic bass.

Po’Jazz is increasingly becoming “the place to be” every third Thursday. Gladys Serrano of Mutable Music says, “Po’Jazz at Cornelia Street is one big friendly party of good words, good sounds, and good food.” Performances are currently being recorded live for a new CD (expected release summer 2005).

This performance is part of a third Thursday of the month poetry and jazz series at The Cornelia Street Café programmed by ICAAN co-founder Golda Solomon in association with JazzJaunts (www.jazzjaunts.com). Dedicated to the belief that the arts are vital for tapping into processes needed for individual healing and community building, ICAAN (Interactive Communication and Arts Network) provides on-site arts programming to workplaces, schools and other organizations. For more information about ICAAN, call 877-529-9528 or visit www.icaan.biz.

The Café is located at 29 Cornelia Street, Greenwich Village, NYC. Po’Jazz events take place in the café’s downstairs performance space. By subway, take the A, C, E, F or V train to West 4^th Street, or the 1 or 9 train to Christopher Street - Sheridan Square (walk 2^1/2 blocks east on West 4^th and make a right onto Cornelia Street.) By car, take 7^th Avenue south to Bleecker; left on Bleecker; left onto Cornelia. For more information, visit www.corneliastreetcafe.com, or call 212-989-9319.

The Cornelia Street Café poetry series is curated by Angelo Verga. The next event in this series will be held on Thursday, August 19th, from 6 until 8.

Artist bios follow; e-mail info@icaan.biz for photos.

About the Artists

Eliot Cardinaux, piano, is currently a first year jazz piano student at the Manhattan School of Music. He was born in Dayton, Ohio in 1984 and moved to New York in the fall of 2003. He began playing jazz piano at the age of 15.

Adam Chilenski, bass, is excited to be living in New York City. Having recently moved here from Portland, Maine he already considers it his home. Adam has been making a living as a musician since high school, and says he has no plans to do anything else.

Dean Johnson, acoustic bassist, was a member of Gerry Mulligan's band for 10 years, touring with him worldwide, until Mulligan's passing in 1996.  Dean has also performed with Bob Brookmeyer, Randy Brecker, Joe Lovano, Dave Liebman, Art Lande, Dave Douglas, Lee Konitz, Nguyen Le, Steve Kuhn, Wynton Marsalis, The New York Voices, Jackie and Roy, and Carol Sloane, among many others, and he has appeared on over 40 recordings with a variety of artists.

Frank Kimbrough, piano, is a composer-in-residence of the Jazz Composers Collective.  His latest trio CD is Lullabluebye, on Palmetto Records.  He has also recorded as a leader for Omnitone, Igmod, Soul Note and Mapleshade.  Other credits include recordings and tours with Ben Allison and Medicine Wheel, The Maria Schneider Orchestra, Ted Nash and Still Evolved, Michael Blake's Elevated Quartet, Ron Horton Quartet.  Visit his website at www.frankkimbrough.com.

Bram Kincheloe, drums, has been playing music all of his life, starting drum lessons at the age of five and taking piano lessons from his mother. He has toured Japan twice with the Monterey Jazz Festival High School All Star Band, and visited Amsterdam twice to study at the Conservatory Von Amsterdam. Bram moved to New York at the age of 16 to study at the LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts, and, after one year, left to attend the Manhattan School of Music, where he is currently studying with Justin Dicioccio.

Kendra Shank combines jazz originals, standards, and open improvisation in a style that transcends musical genres and proves her to be, as Abbey Lincoln states, "an original; a singer with a sound."  Shank's debut CD, Afterglow (Mapleshade, 1994), was co-produced by Shirley Horn and features pianist Larry Willis and saxophonist Gary Bartz.  This was followed by two releases on Jazz Focus, Wish (1998) and Reflections (2000), which put Ms. Shank in the Down Beat International Critics Poll's list of "Talent Deserving Wider Recognition" and in the "Top Ten" lists of Jazziz, The Boston Globe, and Newsday. She has been featured on NPR's JazzSet and Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz and performs internationally in clubs and festivals.  Shank was guest guitarist on Abbey Lincoln's CD Over The Years (Verve, 2000) and has been a vocal guest with Bob Dorough, Jay Clayton, and Peter Leitch.  www.kendrashank.com

Golda Solomon, “the medicine woman of jazz,” is a professor of communications, speech, and theater arts; a poet, performer, producer, and docent; a supporter of women musicians as well as young musicians, poets, and performers. She was project director of Po’Jazz at The Hudson Valley Writers’ Center for four years, and co-founded the brooklyn poetry choir. Golda has pioneered several unique businesses including JazzJaunts, a personalized jazz service, and, with Barbara Sfraga, ICAAN (Interactive Communication and Arts Network), which provides innovative, on-site, organization-specific arts programming to workplaces, schools, and other organizations. Golda has a collection of poetry, Flatbush Cowgirl, published in 1999, for which she co-produced a companion CD, First Set. She also co-produced the CD Po’Jazz: Takin’ It To The Hollow, which includes over 20 poets and musicians. In 2002, Golda's poetry won first prize at the Writer's Workshop in Asheville, North Carolina. Her book and CDs are available on www.amazon.com and www.jazzjaunts.com.

Event flier follows on next page