Karen Somerville with Blue Night Quintet at Mainstay November 10

Vocalist Karen Somerville will be joined by the award-winning young jazz musicians, the Blue Night Quintet for an evening of jazz standards, classic R&B and a bit of the blues at the Mainstay in Rock Hall, Maryland on Saturday November 10 at 8:00 pm. Admission is $15. For information and reservations call 410-639-9133. Information is also available at the Mainstay’s website https://www.mainstayrockhall.org.

Karen Somerville, known for her versatility and vocal truth-telling will play to her strengths in this evening of jazz, R&B and blues. She will be backed by the Blue Night Quintet, five superb young musicians from the Washington DC area who have appeared at the Takoma Park Jazz Festival and the Mid Atlantic Jazz Festival as combo and whose individual credits include the Jazz Academy Orchestra, Strathmore, University of Maryland Concert Hall, the Eastman School of Music summer jazz program and the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall.

Karen Somerville

Mainstay founder, Tom McHugh describes Somerville as “a jazz singer, par excellence.”  She is a favorite of regional audiences for her jazz vocals that are by turns sweet, sassy and sultry. She has received high praise for her gospel performances with Sombarkin and the New Gospelites and for her stunning performance as Bob Kaufman’s muse in Robert Earl Price’s play “The Golden Sardine.” For this performance she will sing at least one original composition, “A Dozen Roses.” Somerville says “This band felt right in to the groove of the piece … [it has a] story line set in Paris with a saucy bass line.”

The Blue Night Quintet is Sam Levine, 17, on upright bass, a junior at Walter Johnson High School who has studied upright bass with Pepe Gonzales for 5 years and plays jazz bass in the Levine School Jazz Combo and the Jazz Academy Ensemble; Joseph Deng, 15, on tenor sax, a 10th grader at Wootton High School who has studied saxophone for 5 years with Paul Carr, plays lead tenor saxophone in the WHS jazz band, and in the Jazz Academy Orchestra; Jordan Wolff, 16, on drums, a junior at Walt Whitman High School, a member of the school’s jazz ensemble who performs with The Levine School Jazz Combo and The Blue Night Quintet and attended Eastman School of Music Jazz program last summer; Austin Yeun,15, on alto sax, a 9th grader at Montgomery Blair High School who has studied jazz alto saxophone with Paul Carr for 5 years, plays in the school jazz band, the Jazz Academy Orchestra and the Blue Night Quintet; Jack Gruber, 16, on piano, a junior at the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day school who performs with The Levine School Jazz combo, The Jazz Academy Orchestra, and the Blue Night Quintet and has played venues including Strathmore and the University of Maryland Concert Hall.

Somerville became acquainted with the work of the Blue Night Quintet at a party. She says, “I met the pianist, Jack Gruber, over the summer at a pig roast at the home of some musician friends. While there, this very young man [came up to me and] said, “I hear you are jazz singer.” With a huge smile on his face he said, “That’s really cool, I play jazz. I do all the standards. Can I get you to sing with me sometime….? “I was surprised by the combination of his youth and his interest; so I asked how old he was. He said 15, took out his IPod and began naming tunes and artists that we could collaborate on. His energy was contagious! I soon learned that he was the son of the producer for an album I was scheduled to work on in the near future. Once I got through that studio work, I kept my promise to him, learned more about his experiences and aspirations and immediately began working on a gig with his band.”

Somerville describes her program with the Blue Night Quintet as a smorgasbord: “jazz standards, classic R&B, a bit of country, the kick of bossa nova and a side order of rock me baby blues. Stir in the contemporary grooves of 5 young men ages 15 to 17 from the D.C area and you get a bountiful serving of the time-honored and fresh sounds of jazz including tunes made famous by Nina Simone, Smokey Robinson and Etta James.”

The Mainstay (Home of Musical Magic) is the friendly informal storefront performing arts center on Rock Hall’s old time Main Street. It is a 501(c)(3), non profit dedicated to the arts, serving Rock Hall, MD and the surrounding region. It is committed to presenting local, regional and national level talent, at a reasonable price, in an almost perfect acoustic setting. Wine, beer, sodas and snacks are available at the bar.

The Mainstay is supported by ticket sales, fundraising including donations from friends and audience members and an operating grant from the Maryland State Arts Council.
For information and reservations call the Mainstay at 410-639-9133. More information is also available at the Mainstay’s website https://www.mainstayrockhall.org.