This
tribute concert will include various regional singers, with backup by the
Zeropoint Big Band. With sixteen musicians, they will work with each regional
singer to put a new spin on Sinatra’s classic works. Concert-goers can expect
to hear many of the old Sinatra favorites, which will bring back old memories
for some and make new ones for others. The concert is open to all ages and is
family friendly.
Since
2009, the Zeropoint Big Band has been knocking the socks of Central
Pennsylvania music fans with their post-modern-retro approach to big band jazz,
which leaves few musical stones unturned. Their playlists range from classics
from Count Basie, Buddy Rich, Thad Jones, and Duke Ellington to reimagined rock
‘n’ roll anthems by Queen, the Who, U2, and the Beatles.
Zeropoint
has taken the stage at some of the area’s most popular venues and festivals,
including recent performances at the Dauphin County Wine & Jazz Festival,
the Weis Center for the Performing Arts at Bucknell University, the State
Theatre, and the Central PA Festival of the Arts in State College. For the past
two years, the band has performed Duke Ellington’s arrangement of “The
Nutcracker Suite,” and has appeared at the American Ale House in State College on
the first Tuesday of every month for the last six years.
A
jazz combo from greater Central Pennsylvania, Zeropoint is a 16-piece band:
five saxophone players, eight brass, and a three-piece rhythm section. Many of
Zeropoint’s members are nationally-recognized performers, composers, and
educators who happen to make their homes in Central Pennsylvania. A who’s-who
of regional jazz all-stars, Zeropoint features a stellar lineup of fantastic
soloists; including Harrisburg piano-icon Steve Rudolph; brass players Eddie
Severn, Barry Long, Dale Orris, Aaronsburg trombonist Jay Vonada, and Penn
State Professor of Trombone Mark Lusk; drummer Kevin Lowe; and saxophonists Dan
Yoder, also a music professor at Penn State, and State College musician Rick
Hirsch.
The
idea for the Sinatra tribute came from the State Theatre, when they approached
Hirsch about performing a concert for the centennial of Sinatra’s birth.
“Someone on the Board of Directors had the idea that it might be kind of neat,”
Hirsch said. “Zeropoint had a relationship with the folks at the State Theatre,
and we were the first band they thought of.”
Born
Francis Albert Sinatra on December 12, 1915 in Hoboken, New Jersey, Sinatra is
one of the best-selling artists of all time, having sold more than 150 million
records worldwide. His songs have been the soundtrack for generations of fans
for over 70 years.
Because
Sinatra made so many legendary recordings and scored numerous hits, it was a
challenge for the band to narrow it down to only one concert’s worth of music.
But for the tribute, Hirsch believes they chose to present a collection of some
of Sinatra’s most beloved favorites, which include “I’ve Got You Under My
Skin,” “The Best Is Yet to Come,” “Come Fly With Me,” which Sinatra recorded
with the Count Basie Orchestra; “Mack the Knife,” also a popular Bobby Darin
song, “Something Stupid,” a duet with his daughter Nancy; “I Get a Kick Out of
You,” and of course “That’s Life,” the title theme of the show.
Singing
the Sinatra tunes will be four outstanding vocalists based in State College:
Tommy Wareham, Elizabeth Webb, Tyne Palazzi, and Natascha Hoffmeyer. “Elizabeth
has been in town for the last couple of years and she is just a real hidden
treasure,” Hirsch said. “She and Tommy both know the Sinatra songbook inside
and out.”
Hoffmeyer
is perhaps most well known as a blues singer from Natasha and the Spy Boys, and
Palazzi for her bluegrass and banjo-picking. “Tyne is one heck of a singer,”
Hirsch said. “Many of the tunes that Sinatra sang came from Broadway musicals,
and she has a lot of experience doing musical theater.”
In
addition, the concert will feature special guest vocalist Chris DiMattio from
Scranton. “I worked with Chris this past summer on a recording project of
Sinatra tunes,and I thought he really capturetheessence of Sinatra,” Hirsch
said.
Sinatra’s
most popular songs are from a specific era – from the 1940s, ‘50s and ‘60s – music
written by some of the greatest songwriters and composers of the 20th century: Classic
songs by George and Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Rodgers and Hart,
and Lerner and Loewe remain timeless to this day, and their universal appeal is
in large part due to Sinatra’s interpretation of them.
“Sinatra
was such an honest performer and he wore his emotions on his sleeve,” Hirsch
said. “One thing that made him so great as an interpreter of song was that he
would really get inside the lyric; and for him each song would tell a story. I
think that’s what people love about Sinatra, and why his music is still so
strong today.”
