Description:

Jewish Pop Rocks! 

A Tribute Concert in Celebration of Chanukah

Featuring The Jordan Klapman Quintet: Sharon Smith(vocals); Mark Cassius(vocals); Ron Johnston (bass); John Collin (drums) and Jordan Klapman (keyboard)

After Elvis joined the army, and before the British Invasion, there emerged a period of quintessential American pop music, when teen idols and girl group hits dominated the airwaves. Memorable hit tunes with a style both innocent and sophisticated were born out of New York's Brill Building— penned and produced by emerging Jewish musicians who would rise to great fame: Leiber and Stoller, Carole King, Neil Sedaka, Burt Bacharach, Ellie Greenwich, Cynthia Weil…and many more. Enjoy classic hits such as On Broadway, Natural Woman, Walk On By, One Fine Day, and more—and dance the afternoon away! Refreshments will be served. Generously sponsored by the Miles Nadal JCC Music Scholarship and Innovation Fund.

Don’t miss Jordan Klapman’s multi-access fall lecture series The Birth of Jewish Pop Rock – the perfect complement to this concert!

Thursday December 14
Concert: 1:00-2:30pm
Reception: 2:30-3:30pm
Al Green Theatre
Admission: $20 

Jordan Klapman (keyboard) is a pianist, bandleader, music director, recording producer, and popular music educator. Since 1977, he has specialized in the performance of 20th century popular music, including ragtime, traditional jazz, Dixieland, 1920s/30s salon music, Big Band, The Great American Songbook, Broadway, and klezmer. He can be heard in music festivals, jazz clubs, concert halls, and theatres across Canada and beyond. Jordan has appeared at Roy Thomson Hall, Koerner Hall, Birdland in New York City, on CBC Radio and television, and as a radio show co-host on JazzFM with the late Jeff Healey.
A very active silent film accompanist, Jordan frequently composes and performs his own retro-style scores for the classic dramas and comedies of the silent era. His CV includes dozens of performances at venues including The TIFF LightBox, Silent Sundays at The Revue Theatre, The Toronto Silent Film Festival, The University of Toronto Media Commons, The Vintage Film Festival, and The Toronto Jewish Film Festival. Jordan has also been a special guest performer at some of our larger MNjcc special events, including at our Chanukah and Valentine’s concerts and Jewish Music Week, and we are very pleased to welcome Jordan back for this in-person concert this fall! For more information, visit http://www.jordanklapman.com/

Mark Cassius is a singer/songwriter, dancer, actor and musician who has shared his gifts on cabaret, concert and theatrical stages around the globe. He is probably best known for his work with the world-renowned a cappella group, The Nylons from 1997 to 2005. During this time he sang baritone and penned some original pieces for the group.A musical theatre veteran, he has appeared on Broadway in Jesus Christ Superstar (reprising his Stratford Festival role), Ragtime (Toronto) and Shenandoah (Toronto and Broadway). Mark’s other Stratford credits include My One and Only and Oklahoma! He also held roles in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Elgin Theatre and Canadian tour) and Miss Saigon (Princess of Wales Theatre). He has been a Kiwanis Music Festival Adjudicator, a Musical and Vocal Director at Canada’s Wonderland, a singing coach in School Theatre Arts programs and Recording Studios across Canada and the United States. He has been a recurring Performance instructor at The Randolph College for the Performing Arts, for over eighteen years and also teaches Musical Theatre Performance courses at Sheridan College and Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson). 

Available: Available

Price: $20.00 Taxes waived

Notes: <br> <b>John Collin</b> (drummer) has over twenty years of drumming experience and has played with most of Toronto’s prominent Big Bands; an accomplished professional percussionist he specialises in jazz and swing genres. He attended the Jazz Program at Humber College and received further training with notable great Roger Flock. John has received airplay on Toronto’s premiere jazz radio station JazzFM91 and on international radio stations aw s well. He has performed with jazz legends Dave Pell and Pat LaBarbera, and at numerous Jazz Festivals across The GTA, Ontario, and beyond. He has been featured in online and print publications including the Jazz Music Archives. John performed at last fall’s concert The Rat Pack: Kings of Cool, and we are delighted to welcome him back! <b>Ron Johnston </b>(bass) - Classically trained, Ron’s first love has always been Jazz. He has been professionally performing and recording, (locally and abroad), with a number of different groups since 1971. Ron has also appeared in numerous TV shows and Films as a musician extra, including being a main band member in the Oscar winning film “Chicago”. He was one of the original members of the well-known Hard Bop band “Kollage”, performing and recording with the group for their first nine years. Currently, Ron can be seen working with Juno award winner Bob DeAngelis, The Tanya Wills Quartet, Fifth Element, as well as freelancing with many other groups in the Toronto area. In addition to teaching privately, Ron is the bass instructor at the acclaimed St. Michael’s College School in Toronto. Ron performed at last fall’s concert The Rat Pack: Kings of Cool, and we are delighted to welcome him back! <b>Sharon Smith’s</b> musical career has included performances in musical theatre, nightclubs, family and corporate parties, radio and television commercials, live television appearances, and performing Jewish liturgical repertoire in synagogues. Sharon regularly performs Jewish Jazz and Jewish American Songbook concerts with Jordan Klapman and the Shelley Miller Band.

Tags: Fall

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