Acclaimed award-winning jazz vocalist Lynette Washington and pianist, producer, composer and White Plains resident Dennis Bell have released Live at the X, a double CD celebrating the music of Miles Davis, Sarah Vaughn, Carmen McRae and Shirley Horn.  The recording was made in concert at ArtsWestchester, in the third year of the New Urban Jazz series.

The jazz program, founded in 2009 with support from the New York State Council on the Arts, highlights the musical accomplishments of Westchester-based jazz artists and has developed into an annual series of four to six concerts.  Washington, Bell and their band performed a stunning program of the music that inspires them, including an entire set dedicated to Miles Davis’ signature period compositions during the 1950s and early 60s. Washington’s set featured a vocal repertoire that inspires her from the work of jazz vocal masters Sarah Vaughn, Shirley Horn and Carmen McRae. 

ArtsWestchester is proud to have presented these contemporary masters of jazz in concert and to have helped make possible the recording of this double album by the students of the Mercy College Music Technology Department in White Plains, where Dennis Bell is an Adjunct Professor of Music. The album is available on iTunes, CDBaby, Amazon and from GuavaJamm Entertainment.

Featured on the CD are Lynette Washington – vocals; with Bruce Harris – trumpet and flugelhorn; Bruce Williams – alto saxophone; Janelle Reichman – tenor saxophone; Dennis Bell – piano; Noriko Ueda – bass; and Victor Jones – drums. The CD was produced, arranged and mixed by Dennis Bell for City Slicker Productions (www. cityslickerproductions.com).

Lynette Washington is a native New Yorker with an extensive career in jazz, R&B, and gospel. This is Ms. Washington’s fifth album release. Amongst her many credits, she was the 2005 First Prize Winner of the Jazzmobile/Anheuser Busch Jazz Vocal Competition and was featured on WBGO’s Singers Unlimited Show with Michael Bourne. Ms. Washington has performed in major venues, clubs, and concert halls throughout the tri-state area. In 2010 and 2011, she was featured in the jazz series Live at the X at ArtsWestchester. She has appeared at New York metro area venues, including The River Room, Creole, The Schomberg Museum, BB Kings, Zinc Bar, Solomon’s Porch, Pier 2110, The Brooklyn Museum, The Sculpture Garden in Yonkers, and the off-Broadway touring company of Crowns. She was selected by the Jazzmobile Society to pay tribute to Nina Simone at a solo performance held at Harlem Stage (Aaron Davis Hall) in the fall of 2008. Lynette has worked with many well-known artists including Aretha Franklin, U2, Peter Gabriel, Celia Cruz and Clifford Jordan, etc. She was a featured lead singer and musical arranger with New Voices of Freedom, and appeared with U2 at Madison Square Garden, with an album single release on U2 Rattle & Hum. Other credits include TV performances with the Special Olympics Org.; the BBC/Virgin Records worldwide telecast, One World, One Voice; a video with Lenny Kravitz, Give Peace a Chance; and the 2002 VMA Music Awards with James Brown and Jimmy Fallon. Her work in television and commercials include Roy Rogers, Nabisco, Pizza Hut, and Toyota. Ms. Washington is Jazzmobile Award-winning iTunes Essential Jazz Artist.

Dennis Bell is a gold and platinum award-winning pianist, producer/arranger, songwriter conductor and music educator. A graduate of the High School of Music & Art, New York University and Queens College (MA), Dennis is the founder and CEO of City Slicker Productions, Mark of Aries Music (BMI) and GuavaJamm Entertainment. Dennis has produced records by Doug E. Fresh, Dave Valentin, New Voices of Freedom, U2, and Touché, amongst others. He was the musical director/conductor for the international tour of Jesus Christ Superstar, and throughout his career has performed and conducted in venues from Carnegie and Alice Tully Halls to Madison Square Garden, with appearances on the Joan Rivers Show, New York at Night, MTV Video Music Awards, and the movie U2, Rattle and Hum. Mr. Bell’s compositions for dance can be heard on the album Musique Pour La Danse Moderne (2008), and includes works performed at The Yard (Martha’s Vineyard), Arts Umbrella in Vancouver, Yale University, LaGuardia HS of Music & Art and Performing Arts, Ailey II, The Juilliard School (New Dances ‘08), Perry Mansfield (Steamboat Springs, CO.), and University Cal at Irvine amongst others. Additional recordings include Dennis Bell Jazz NY: Live at the Joseph P. Kennedy Center, Then & Now – A Jazz Retrospect of New York City’s High School or Music & Art, a solo album I, MYSELF, & ME, and various TV/radio jingles for Drakes, Hardees, Roy Rogers, and Nabisco. He has performed with Marcus Miller, Buddy Williams, Nick Brignola, Jimmy Owens, Dave Grusin, Buddy Morrow, Sal Salvador, Dave Valentin, Noel Pointer, Steve Jordan, U2, Lenny Kravitz, Celia Cruz, Billy Preston, and a host of others. Mr. Bell is a Yamaha Influential Jazz Artist and has participated for two seasons in our NewUrbanJazz concert series.