Dynamite Diva Night June 13, 2008

Artists In Rhythm Presents Dynamite Diva Night in Sedona Arizona

For tickets call Sedona Nightlife at 928-204-6483, visit
www.nightlifesedona.com, or call Artists In Rhythm at 928-204-2122.

Sedona, AZ: Sedona’s Creative Life Center is the place to be on Friday the 13th in June, if you wish to be truly bewitched. Four of Sedona’s most talented and versatile singers will be taking the stage together for the first time. Jeanie Carroll, Shondra Jepperson, Susannah Martin and Theresa Robertson will be covering a range of styles that include jazz, pop, funk, gospel, sambas, R&B, blues and, of course, some power ballads.

Covering artists such as Edith Piaf, En Vogue, Amy Winehouse, Stevie Winwood, Etta James, Al Jarreau, Sting, Chaka, Aretha, Norah Jones, and Bonnie Raitt with four part harmonies and cool backup singing, “The Dynamite Diva Night” promises to be a rare and memorable evening.

Presented by Artists In Rhythm and Sedona Nightlife, the concert is also featuring a stellar backup band with Eddie Barratini on drums, Bob Murnahan on guitar, Artists In Rhythm owner Steve Douglas on guitar and bass, David Vincent Mills on piano and synthesizer, and Michael Reed on saxophone.

Carroll is a vocalist, entertainer and DJ. She has performed in Paris, London, St. Moritz, Marrakesh, Tunisia, NY, LA, Phoenix, and all over the Southwest. She is well known locally for her many talents. By day she teaches music, drama, French, and Spanish at the West Sedona Elementary School.

When she’s not in the classroom, Carroll can be heard singing baritone in “RedRockapella,” second alto in the Flagstaff Master Chorale headed by Dr. Edith Copley, or fronting the 17-piece Sentimental Journey Band.

Carroll is also a member of The Flagstaff Light Opera Company and recently performed the role of Duchess in Gilbert and Sullivan’s “The Gondoliers.” Her enormous repertoire includes soulful R & B, country, rock, jazz standards, music of Spain and France, and much more. She is very much in demand as a DJ, having operated her own business, “AZ DJ Music and More” for over 18 years.

Jepperson attended the Julliard School of Drama on scholarship in NYC. As a partner of Tom and Shondra, she sequences and arranges all the duo’s musical tracks. She has been commissioned to compose, arrange and produce projects for TV and radio commercials as well as corporate work for Panasonic and Nu Vision Vitamins. She is the co-anchor of Red Rock Television 16’s ‘Virtual Tour’ guide.

Jepperson has performed her own shows at Sea World, was a featured guest entertainer for ‘Captain’s Night’ on numerous cruise lines and led her own Top 40 and show bands throughout Nevada and southern California. In addition to 30 years of professional guitar playing, she is a talented keyboard artist, songwriter, music arranger and producer, script and show writer, sound engineer, dancer, mime and voice over actor. Jepperson also operates a highly successful DJ and emcee business.

Originally from San Diego, Martin has returned to her native Southwest after a rambling twenty-year career that has carried her along the West Coast through Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area to the Pacific Northwest, onto cruise ships through the Caribbean, Alaska and Canada, into Louisville, and finally Arizona. She gratefully calls Sedona her home and is at home whether singing with a jazz combo, solo guitarist, rockin’ with the classics or wailing some funkified soul.

Martin’s style has been described as subtle and understated, from sultry and molten mezzo to warm cool and cool heat. She earned her music degree from Willamette University and has directed jazz choirs, conducted vocal jazz workshops and does private vocal coaching.

During the day, she is the program director for Sedona Jazz on the Rocks. Martin performs locally with some of Arizona’s most renowned musicians including guitar legend, Jack Petersen and former Kenton lead trumpeter, Mike Vax. She has two CDs released and two more are in the works for summer. She is captivating, mesmerizing and a delight to listen to.

Before coming to Sedona 14 years ago, Robertson enjoyed a successful career as lead singer for one of LA’s most beloved original performing and recording artists, “The Heaters.” The Heaters toured extensively throughout the U.S., and opened for the Talking Heads, Van Halen and Cheap Trick.

Voted one of the top five live performers of the year by the LA and NY Times and releasing two albums, Robertson also worked as a session vocalist for world renowned producers Phil Spector and Joe Wissert. She has reactivated her singing career here with the band Soul Pocket and now Heartbeat.

During the day Robertson assists her husband in his dental practice. She graduated cum laude in psychology from Cal State Northridge, received a black belt in Shin Shei Ryo karate, and has traveled throughout the East studying Eastern philosophy and design principles.

Robertson sings favorites that span many decades and styles from jazz standards and Bossa Novas to Motown, Beatles to Bacharach, Chaka to Norah Jones, Bonnie Raitt to Jack Johnson, and she gets your attention.

The concert starts at 7 p.m., and tickets can be purchased in advance for $20, or $22 at the door. The Creative Life Center is located at 333 Schnebly Road.

For tickets call Sedona Nightlife at 928-204-6483, visit
www.nightlifesedona.com, or call Artists In Rhythm at 928-204-2122.

Article contributed by Steve Douglas.

Posted May 18, 2008.

Official Website: http://www.gatewaytosedona.com/article/id/1811