Virginia Mayhew Quartet February 16, 2008

Four Stars...A fresh, intelligent, polished player...Virginia Mayhew, remember her name. - Downbeat Saxophonist-composer-arranger VIRGINIA MAYHEW has been an active participant in the New York jazz scenesince 1987. A native of San Francisco, Virginia came to New York to enroll in the New Schools Jazz Performance program, and was awarded its Zoot Sims Memorial Scholarship. In the course of her career, Virginia has worked with such renowned artists as Earl Fatha Hines, CabCalloway, Frank Zappa, James Brown, Norman Simmons, Al Grey, Junior Mance, Toshiko Akiyoshi, DocCheatam, Joe Williams, Leon Parker, Clark Terry, Terry Gibbs, Kenny Barron, Chico OFarrill, Dena DeRose, Ingrid Jensen, Claudio Roditi, and many others.Virginia has appeared in most of the Citys jazz venues, including the Blue Note, the Village Vanguard, the Village Gate, Sweet Basil, Sweet Rhythm, Birdland, Carnegie Hall, the Jazz Standard, Lincoln Center, andTown Hall, as well as performing throughout the United States, Europe, the Newly Independent States, the Caribbean, Bermuda, Australia, and Southeast Asia. Virginia has performed at many jazz festivals as a leader, including the Monterey Jazz Festival, JVC Jazz Festival, Floating Jazz Festival, Verizon Jazz Festival, Mary Lou Williams Jazz Festival at the KennedyCenter, San Francisco Jazz Festival, San Jose Jazz Festival, East Coast Jazz Festival, Panasonic Jazz Festival, Guinness Cork (Ireland) Jazz Festival, Verizon Music Festival, Perth International Arts Festival,Melbourne Jazz Festival, Llangollen International Music Festival, Jazz At Sea, and other smaller festivals. Virginia has traveled twice as a representative of the United States as a Jazz Ambassador. The first tour (2001 to the Newly Independent States, formerly the USSRKazakhstan, Moldova, Armenia, Belarus, Ukraine) featured the music of Louis Armstrong, and the second (2003 to Southeast Asia (Thailand, Laos, Viet Nam, Malaysia, India and Bangladesh) demonstrating the Latin and Brazilian influence on Jazz Music. In addition, Virginia has established her credentials in the field of jazz education, both as a teacher of privatestudents, as faculty at numerous jazz camps, (including Stanford Jazz Workshop, Monterey Jazz Festivalsummer camp, and Jazz Camp in Pescadero, CA), and as an experienced clinician and Artist-In-Residence, (including Univ. of Mass, Univ. of Louisville, Bloomington Univ. and others). She has traveled around the U.S.A. working as an adjudicator, teaching master classes, and working with school ensembles large and small.She teaches at the Greenwich Music House, a 100-year-old community music center, where she is the directorand founder of the Greenwich House Jazz Workshop. Her own quartet performed at the 2002 IAJEConference to rave reviews. For several years, Virginia worked with veteran trombonist Al Grey. She is featured on his 1992 release, FAB(Capri), and contributed several arrangements to his 1995 CD, "Centerpiece" (Telarc). Her arrangements were also performed during the Battle Royale: Trombones and Alto Saxophones concert, which was part of Jazz At Lincoln Center. Virginia is the Musical Director and saxophonist of the Duke Ellington Legacy, a 9-piece group led byEllingtons grandson, Edward Kennedy Ellington II. The Ellington Legacy is dedicated to keeping Ellingtons music through performances in schools, retirement communities, prisons, public concerts, and clubs. The group featurespiano great, Norman Simmons. Virginia also is a member of Brazilian trumpet and flugelhorn player/composer/arranger Claudio Roditis group.

Event submitted by Eventful.com on behalf of clmgarage.