CORKY HALE, Jazz Pianist, Harpist and Vocalist and Her Jazz Trio Featuring Jazz Guitarist, JOHN CHIODINI
Vibrato Grill JazzEtc.
2930 N. Beverly Glen Circle; Bel Air, CA 90077-1724
Sunday, March 1, 2009 from 6:30 9:30 p.m.
“More than a triple threat!" --The Los Angeles Times
“A musical tornado. A performance of cyclonic proportions!" --San Francisco Examiner
“Jazz harpist/pianist Corky Hale is a considerable talent! Hale proves the harp can swing...Hales harp is a lush kaleidoscope of harmonies!" --Variety
“Legendary jazz harpist Corky Hale has played for everyone from Tony Bennett, Nat King Cole and Barbra Streisand to Liberace. She is in impressive vocal and instrumental form. Shes an utter delight!" --Next
Bel Air, CA Critically-acclaimed and renowned Jazz Pianist, Harpist and Vocalist Corky Hale will appear with Her Jazz Trio featuring Jazz Guitarist John Chiodini at Vibrato Grill JazzEtc.; 2930 N. Beverly Glen Circle; Bel Air, CA 90077-1724 on Sunday, March 1, 2009 from 6:30 9:30 p.m. Club hours on Sunday evening are from 5:30 10:30 p.m. There is No Cover Charge. There is a $20 Minimum for seating at the Bar. For dinner reservations and further information, please call 310-474-9400 or visit online at vibratogrilljazz.com. Complimentary Valet Parking is available. To learn more about Corky Hale, please visit the website, corkyhale.com.
CORKY HALE (Pianist, Harpist and Vocalist) was born in a small mid-western farm town and started piano lessons at age three. At age seven, while vacationing with her family in Florida, Hale was heard in the lobby of her hotel picking out tunes on the piano by House bandleader, Horace Heidt. Heidt had a little band jacket made for her and featured her for the next few weeks in the evening show.
Hale has played harp for such artists as Liberace, Tony Bennett, Judy Collins, Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole. She has been the piano accompanist for such artists as Billie Holiday and Mel Torm. She has sung with the bands of Harry James, Ray Anthony, and Jerry Gray. She also owned one of the most successful clothing stores in Hollywood for 17 years.
Hale was also the proprietor of “Corky's," a popular restaurant on New Yorks East Side. She has lived in Rome, and for three years, while living there, appeared on the popular television show, Tempo di Jazz. She has performed at The White House with Tony Bennett, soloed with Barbra Streisand in Central Park and at the Hollywood Bowl and performed with Bjrk on her MTV Special in London. Hale has also appeared with George Michael at Londons Royal Albert Hall and RFK Stadium.
Her Sold-Out performances at the Oak Room at the Algonquin in New York, Davenport's in Chicago, the Cinegrill in Los Angeles, the Plush Room in San Francisco, and Pizza On The Park in London have led The Los Angeles Times' jazz reviewer Don Heckman to observe that Hale is “more than a triple threat," and Philip Ellwood of The San Francisco Examiner noted her performance is “one of cyclonic proportions." On November 22, 2007, Corky Hale appeared at Carnegie Hall as a Piano Soloist with the New York Pops Orchestra, under the baton of Guest Conductor, Barry Levitt.
Hales harp, piano and vocals can be heard on her current CD, Corky on the GNP Crescendo label. Since 2000 Hale has produced and performed her star-studded show “Corky Hale and Friends: From Tin Pan Alley to Beverly Hills," at the Beverly Hills Civic Center. In March 2003 her “Salute To Hollywood Songwriters" opened the newly restored Ferry Building at a Gala for San Franciscos “Raising Hope" charity, and in 2002 her show opened the 25th Anniversary Season of the 1,000-seat La Mirada Theatre.
In 2003, Corky Hale added theatrical production to her activities, when her show Boulevard of Broken Dreams broke box office records at the Coconut Grove Playhouse in Florida. In 2000 she was the associate producer of the hit show Fully Committed, which played at the Coronet Theatre in Hollywood. She also produced three other hits 1998's Lullaby Of Broadway at the Tiffany Theatre in West Hollywood, voted one of the “10 Best Shows" of the year by The Los Angeles Times and produced a concert version of the show starring Sally Kellerman. Hale also produced Give 'em Hell Harry, starring Jason Alexander at the Tiffany Theatre in Los Angeles in 1992.
In addition to her musical accomplishments, Hale jokingly considers herself the ultimate cook-housewife. She has been happily married for 38 years to songwriter Mike Stoller of the team Leiber & Stoller, whose show Smokey Joes Caf broke the record as the longest running musical revue in Broadway history. Hale is very involved in numerous charities and political groups, one of them being Angel Harvest, which she introduced to Los Angeles from New York's City Harvest. Angel Harvest picks up overages of food at top restaurants and major events such as the Academy Awards and movie premieres, which otherwise would have been discarded, and delivers them to various shelters for battered women and children, indigent seniors, veterans in rehabilitation and the working poor. She has always been interested in politics and was one of the first white students to join the NAACP while a freshman at the University of Wisconsin. She speaks Italian, French and Spanish, and had an apartment in Italy at one time. Hale serves on the national advisory board of the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL), the national advisory board of Planned Parenthood and the California board of the Womens Reproductive Rights Assistance Project (WRRAP). She and her husband are strong advocates of the Southern Poverty Law Center and serve on the board of The National Coalition to Ban Gun Violence.
Corky Hale also recently appeared as a performer on the Inaugural Playboy Jazz Cruise of the Caribbean with other Jazz greats, Herbie Hancock, Dianne Reeves, Poncho Sanchez and James Moody, among others. In addition, she recently served as Associate Producer of a four-week Sold Out run of a critically acclaimed production of Leiber & Stollers musical revue Smokey Joes Caf seen by over 6,000 theatergoers at the El Portal Theatre in North Hollywood, CA. She is currently in discussions for a new international touring production of Smokey Joes Caf and a new Broadway revival of the show. Hale also recently produced and directed a special event, entitled Its Magic! - A Tribute To Sammy Cahn at the Wilshire Theatre Beverly Hills, CA. She is currently working a new CD with vocals by Corky Hale, Freda Payne, Sally Kellerman, Ariana Savalas, Tricia Tahara and Briana Whitaker. In addition, Hale is developing a new stage show about the lives of Academy Award-winning songwriters Al Dubin and Harry Warren, entitled, “I Only Have Eyes For You."
For more information contact All About Jazz.
