Tony-winner Savion Glover and tap legend Jimmy Slyde in an all-jazz tap performance
Lenox, MA (PRWEB) May 28, 2004 -- The Boston Symphony Orchestra has announced the addition of Savion Glover and Jimmy Slyde to the Tanglewood Jazz Festival line-up September 3-5, 2004, in Lenox, Massachusetts. Glover and Slyde will perform an all jazz-tap program with a jazz quintet featuring music by John Coltrane, Miles Davis, George Gershwin and other jazz and Broadway composers Saturday, September 4, 1 pm, at the Theatre Stage.
Glover stormed across the dance world in the 1980s with his hard-hitting tap and improvisational choreography uniting elements from jazz, hip-hop, rap, be-bop and world music. Featured on the cover of the current issue of "Dance" Magazine (May 2004) his recent performances are called "captivating, his hold on the audience through his singular performance is extreme." The late Gregory Hines, Glovers idol, was quoted once as saying, "There is Savion Glover and then there are the rest of us… he has changed the way we perceive tap dancing."
Glover debuted on Broadway as the lead in "The Tap Dance Kid" in 1983 at age 12. In 1988, he co-starred in the film, "Tap," with Gregory Hines and Sammy Davis, Jr. and has appeared on PBS in "Dance in America: Tap!" with Hines and Tommy Tune.
He earned a Tony nomination in 1989 for his performance on Broadway in "Black & Blue" and appeared opposite Gregory Hines in "Jellys Last Jam" in 1992-93. Glover won the Tony Award in 1996 for his choreography of "Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk" and has performed in venues around the world including the Moulin Rouge, Lincoln Center, the Smithsonian Institution, Carnegie Hall and the White House. He has appeared on CBS, ABC and PBS and on the big screen in the Spike Lee film, "Bamboozled." Glover is currently working on a project with Wynton Marsalis for the opening of Jazz at Lincoln Center in the Fall of 2004 and is an artist-in-residence at the Sundance Institute.
Jimmy Slyde (born Jimmy Gotbolt) is a tap master with a rich performance history. He began dancing at age fourteen and joined the popular act, the Slyde Brothers (with Jimmy "Sir Slyde" Mitchell) that launched him into an international stage career in the 1930s and 1940s performing in major cities and venues around the world. His signature dance style of appearing to slide or skate across the stage resulted in an inevitable name change and he adopted the moniker Jimmy Slyde. He recently performed at Columbia University with the Sir Charles Thompson Trio in "Bebop is a Dance," (April 2004). Robert OMeally, Zora Neale Hurston Professor of English and director of the Center for Jazz Studies said, "Jimmy Slyde is considered one of the greatest tap dancers of our century. He can use the floor as a bebop drum, but he can also float and slide….."
Slyde and Glover appeared on stage together in 1987 in "An Afternoon with the Masters: Jazz, Tap, Drums," at Great Woods Center for the Performing Arts along with tap legends Harold Nicholas, Bunny Briggs, Lon Chaney, Chuck Green, and Diane Walker. Tanglewood Jazz Festival Artistic Director, Fred Taylor, who booked the Great Woods Jazz & Blues Festival, remembers Savion as a dynamic young teenager taking the tap world by storm and re-energizing the art form for new audiences. "At the time I thought it was a good idea to showcase the legends along with the best young performer in the business to let people know that tap was in good hands….." says Taylor. In a prescient move, Taylor had the performance video taped. It includes solos by Glover and Slyde and the ensemble performing together accompanied by an equally impressive all-star jazz quintet made up of Max Roach, Alan Dawson, Major Holley, Barry Harris and Andy McGhee. Taylor adds "from Great Woods to Tanglewood—some 17 years later—I am very happy to say that tap is not only in good hands, it is flourishing thanks to outstanding young performers like Savion and their commitment to embracing those who came before them and incorporating new, innovative sounds and techniques to keep dance alive."
Also appearing on the Tanglewood Jazz Festival line-up are Harry Connick, Jr., Branford Marsalis, Dave Brubeck, Marian McPartland, Eliane Elias, Eddie Palmieri and La Perfecta II, Doug Wamble and Miguel Zenon.
Tickets are available by calling SymphonyCharge at 888-266-1200 or online at the Boston Symphony Orchestra website, www.bso.org, powered by EMC Corporation. Tickets are also available at all Ticketmaster outlets, the Ticketmaster website, www.ticketmaster.com or by calling Ticketmaster in Boston at 617-931-2000; in New York City at 212-307-7171; in western Massachusetts at 413-733-2500; and in all other areas at 800-347-0808. Tickets will be available in person at the Tanglewood Box office in Lenox, Massachusetts, beginning Friday, June 4. Box office hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 am to 6 pm, and Sunday from 12 noon to 6 pm.
2004 Tanglewood Jazz Festival
TICKET PRICES
Friday, September 3, 8 pm, Seiji Ozawa Hall
Eliane Elias
Eddie Palmieri and La Perfecta II
$44, $36, $29; lawn tickets $16
Saturday, September 4, 1 pm, Theatre Stage
Savion Glover & Jimmy Slyde
$45
Saturday, September 4, 3 pm, Seiji Ozawa Hall
Marian McPartland
Live taping for NPRs "Piano Jazz" with special guest to be announced
$44, $36, $29; lawn tickets $16
Saturday, September 4, 8 pm, Koussevitzky Music Shed
Harry Connick, Jr.
"Only You" Tour
$80, $60, $40; lawn tickets $20
Sunday, September 5, 2 pm, Seiji Ozawa Hall
Marsalis Music Presents:
Branford Marsalis Quartet
Harry Connick, Jr. Quartet (no vocals)
Doug Wamble Quartet
Miguel Zenon Quartet
$65, $55, $42; lawn tickets $20
Sunday, September 5, 8 pm, Seiji Ozawa Hall
Dave Brubeck Quartet and Symphonette
$65, $55, $42; lawn tickets $20
For additional information, bios and photos on the performing artists, contact:
Dawn Singh
Dawn Singh Publicity
857-544-0739
dawn@dawnsinghpublicity.com
Jonathan Mack
Boston Symphony Orchestra Press Office
617-638-9283
jmack@bso.org
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