Miers on Music: Why Music Matters with Jeff Miers —Rising star Alex McArthur and jazz legend George Caldwell
Buffalo Music: Ep. 49 – Talk Billie Holiday, jazz and America
By Jeff Miers
Hello music lovers, and welcome to another edition of Why Music Matters. I’m your host, music journalist and musician Jeff Miers.
Today, my guests represent a cross-generational journey through the ever-evolving world of jazz.
Alex McArthur is a singer and storyteller whose resume reads like that of a musician three times her age. A winner of multiple JazzBuffalo Vocalist of the Year awards, Alex brings a distinct soulfulness to any music she lends her voice to, whether she’s singing something she wrote herself, or flexing her interpretive muscles on the works of legends like Ella Fitzgerald, Stevie Wonder, and Mavis Staples.
Alex is joined today by a man who has acted as a significant mentor in her musical journey.
Pianist George Caldwell is credited by Alex as, quote, “the first person I ever attempted to sing jazz in front of, and the person who encouraged me to explore vocal jazz and improvisation in the first place.”
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In his role as Director of the Student Jazz Ensembles and Music Piano Performance Instructor at the University at Buffalo, George has employed his decades of experience as a Grammy-winning professional musician to help mold the musical imaginations of countless young artists-in-the-making.
Those decades of experience include tenures with the Count Basie Orchestra, the Duke Ellington Orchestra, tap dancer and choreographer Saivon Glover, R&B legend Ruth Brown, and right here in Buffalo, the awe-inspiring Star People, a Miles Davis Repertory Ensemble.
Currently, Alex and George are in the midst of performing Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill, a recreation of Billie Holiday’s final performance, with Alex inhabiting the role of Lady Day, and George acting as Musical Director.
The show, a MusicalFare production, is running at Shea’s Smith Theatre in Buffalo’s Theatre and Entertainment District, through February 15. (You can learn more about the production and purchase tickets through musical fare.com.)
Welcome to Why Music Matters, Alex McArthur and George Caldwell!
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Presented By 42 North Brewing
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