presenting…
Jazzi Jan & Bay Area’s Finest
with Tammy Hall, piano
Expressions of Love
Featuring…
- Jazzi Jan, Vocals
- Vicki Grossi, Bass
- Tammy Hall, Piano
- Michaelle Goerlitz, percussion
- Joyce Baker, drums
- Barbara Hunter, horns
Jan Beard aka Jazzi Jan, was reared under a Gospel music influence and displayed musical talents at the early age of five. After singing and recording Gospel music and R& B for many years, Jan began to stretch her her musical talents to include other styles of singing. Jazz became her true calling. Jan’s inspiration to sing Jazz came from listening to the works of several Jazz Greats such as Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughn, Dinah Washington, and Ella Fitzgerald. From smooth to soft and sultry tones to belting blues and gospel moans Jazzi Jan promises to deliver a posh excursion of sound.
Vicky Grossi is a violin, viola and electric bass instructor at Musically Minded Academy. She has performed with members of Tower of Power, Santana, Buddy Guy Band, The Headhunters, Lakeside, Jimmy Smith, Joey DeFrancesco and Grammy Nominees Manuel Romero and PC Munoz. Vicky is a master of both improvisation and composition.
Pianist Tammy L. Hall began playing at age four. It was more than apparent that Music had chosen her.
Michaelle Goerlitz has been playing drums and percussion since she was eight years old. After attending college in the Midwest, she moved to San Francisco in 1980 to continue her studies, which have led to exploration of Brazilian, Afro Cuban, Venezuelan, Peruvian and Middle Eastern rhythms (plus American idioms jazz, R & B & funk). She was a founding member of two renowned & long-term projects, the Blazing Redheads and Wild Mango. Both groups blended many different styles which showcased Michaelle’s versatile percussive skills.
Joyce Baker has been playing drums since she was a small child with her famous father “Buddy” Baker. Joyce has played with Bay Area greats such as Mel Graves, George Marsh, Opie Bellas, Lea DeLaria, Mimi Fox and the Cable Car Award Recipients Nicholas Glover and Wray. Over the years, she has also been seen and heard with Theatre companies Contra Costa Theatre, Hootchie Doo Productions “Nunsense” series, orchestras with Sonoma Valley Chorale, Contare Con Vivo, and Oakland East Bay Symphony. Joyce is a recording artist and can be heard on multiple CD’s with Amy Meyers, Liquid Girlfriend, Doug Stevens and The Outband, Nicholas, Glover and Wray, D. Anthony. By day she is a music teacher and by night she can be heard with Bad Ass Boots, Big O’, Amy Meyers, and her own swinging jazz group. Otherwise she lives with her lovely wife of 24 years, the best dog in the world, Santita, her two cats Sushi and Sir Lumley in her hideway home in the hills of El Sobrante.
Barbara Hunter is a classically trained jazz flutist. Her professional jazz experience as band leader and free lance musician spans more than twenty years working Bay Area and northern California clubs and private events. She performed in the San Cristobal de las Casas Jazz Festival in Chiapas, Mexico with the Kamau Seitu Ensemble, and in a big band tour of Japan. Her classical music experience began in Denver and includes Emeritus Symphony Orchestra.