Mara Kaye returns with bassist Marlon Martinez & The Marlonius Jazz Orchestra
Our very own Mara Kaye returns to The Grand Annex to pay tribute to her Jazz hero, the one and only Lady Day presenting a collection of Billie Holiday’s iconic contributions to music with The Marlonius Jazz Orchestra, an 11-piece Big Band led and arranged by LA’s own virtuosic bassist and composer, Marlon Martinez.
Doors open early at 6:45 PM for Mara Kaye’s pre-concert presentation, “A Storyteller’s Guide to Singing the Blues.” (7:00 PM-7:45 PM). Concert starts at 8:00 PM.
Mara Kaye
Vivacious Brooklynite turned Angelino, Mara Kaye has a voice that all at once transcends the earthly realm and tenderly knocks you to the floor. She’s like some last pocket of the blues that never got explored, all wrapped up in a ball of 21st-century charisma.
“She’s got “a voice that sounds like Louis Armstrong’s trumpet at a rent party,” says blues guitar legend Jimmy Vivino, and The Wall Street Journal thinks she’s a sign that “things are getting better.”
Mara’s debut single, “It Had to Be You”, featuring roots and blues piano legend Carl Sonny Leyland, has garnered acclaim and steady rotation on LA’s premier jazz station, KJAZZ 88.1 FM. Her original tune, “Dystopian Blues”, was showcased on ‘The Kelly Clarkson Show.’ A recent collaboration with Brooklyn hip-hop legend AZ on his track “Never Enough” with rapper Rick Ross, highlights how Mara continues to build bridges and to defy genre expectations.
The Marlonius Jazz Orchestra
Hailing from Los Angeles, Marlon Martinez brings his Marlonius Jazz Orchestra to accompany Miss Mara Kaye! Marlon is a virtuoso bassist and composer. He is a protégé of Stanley Clarke, a graduate of the Colburn Conservatory of Music, a student of jazz bassist Ron Carter and has toured with a range of artists, – notably Stewart Copeland, Mike Garson, Quatuor Ebène and Wild Up.
Recently in 2022, Marlon created Ever Up and Onward: A Tribute to Billy Strayhorn, an eight-episode educational video series produced by the Colburn School and his 2017 debut album Yours Truly is available worldwide with reviews by All About Jazz and L.A. Jazz Scene.
☆Roots & Rambles Workshop: A Storyteller’s Guide to Singing the Blues
Roots & Rambles is a concert workshop series featuring musicians dedicated to the preservation, artistry, and evolution of folk and traditional music in the United States. One hour before the concert. Please RSVP if you plan on participating. Concert tickets are required to participate.
Roots & Rambles is made possible by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
