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Jazz Vocalist & Dynamic Entertainer George Evans at NYC's Danny's Skylight Room

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Thrilling Canadian Jazz Vocalist and Dynamic Entertainer George Evans Comes to “Danny's Skylight Room"
April 19, 20 & 21

With his exciting new show “Bewitched"
Featuring selections from his latest CD:

Bewitched (M-Swing Records - Festival Distribution - 2006 Release)

“George Evans sings with knowledge, skill, artistic sensibility and a willingness to get up there and take chances" --Will Friedwald, The New York Sun

NEW YORK CITY: Thrilling Canadian jazz vocalist and dynamic entertainer, George Evans, will appear for the first time at New York City's premiere Cabaret and Jazz venue, “Danny's Skylight Room" on Wednesday, April 19th, Thursday, April 20th, and Friday, April 21st.

Joining George on the bandstand will be the exceptional John Di Martino on piano. In 1991, George Evans re-located to Canada, and for the past decade (and six critically-acclaimed recordings!), George has been a monumental favourite on the Canadian club scene, always presenting superbly crafted, highly entertaining, elegant, and thoroughly fresh shows.

This appearance, George's premiere at Danny's will be no exception, as George performs in New York for the first time since the summer 1998 edition of the Mabel Mercer Cabaret Convention. Debuting his latest show, “Bewitched" - which will feature material from his seventh, brand-new CD, also entitled Bewitched . The “M-Swing Music" CD is being made available internationally by Festival Distribution. “Danny's Skylight Room" is located at 348 West 46th St. (between 9th and 10th Avenue). All performances will begin at 9:15.

For reservations (highly recommended), please call 212-265-8130.

About George Evans
Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, George Evans was raised in a musical environment. With Mom a world-renowned vocal teacher and Dad an equally revered musicologist, linguist, and coach, it seemed logical that George would proceed to a career in classical music, but that was not to be. A fascination with classic pop records, Hollywood musicals and popular standards held far greater appeal than opera for George. He trained seriously in Musical Theatre at the first such school to offer a degree program in the field...however, after working diligently on his chosen craft, George arrived in New York City in the 80s only to find that the business had moved away from the music he most loved. He subsequently left the field to find satisfaction in research and performance of The Great American Songbook.

In 1991, George relocated to Montral, Canada, where he studied the music in solitude...archiving and cataloguing the popular recording artists of the 40's, 50's and 60's, and broadcasting weekly from a campus community radio station, which gave him the freedom to explore whatever he wished to play on the air. It was through these weekly broadcasts that George became well known to Montral music fans and they willingly came out in support of his gigs with the fine musicians on the local jazz scene. Offers in the field of radio came and went, and for a time, George broadcast on two stations simultaneously.

Though George created two successful radio pilots for the CBC radio network and contributed with regularity to CBC Radio, George's endeavors in the field of musical performance escalated, and he became increasingly active on stage and in the recording studio, performing in concerts and clubs, and recording two albums with his Montreal band. In 1998 George was honoured by an invitation to appear as part of The Mabel Mercer Cabaret Convention in New York City, and shortly thereafter to perform with Canada's Oliver Jones and Ranee Lee on the CBC 60th Birthday Celebration, which was broadcast “live" from “Lion D'or" in Montral.

Opportunity again came knocking in 1999, when a major satellite television company requested George's ongoing services as staff announcer, and he relocated to the Mega-City of Toronto. The move was a positive one, and in Toronto his career as a singer-entertainer bloomed. High profile return engagements at “The Top O' The Senator" endeared him to local jazz fans, and gave him the opportunity to work with many of Canada's finest jazz-men in an intimate club setting. George Evans' new Toronto quintet first recorded in 2001, and went on to release two critically-praised albums which garnered solid reviews and received regular play on Canadian jazz radio.

George Evans was profiled on TVO's “Studio 2" in 2000, again in 2003, and was featured in performance with an all-star band, including Ed Bickert on guitar and Guido Basso on trumpet, a testament to the level of musicianship and notoriety he had achieved. Noteworthy engagements at The Montral International Jazz Festival, The Lake George Jazz Festival, The Vancouver International Jazz Festival, and The All-Canadian Jazz Festival in Port Hope followed, and George was honoured with headlining engagements in The Royal Conservatory Jazz Series, Jazz FM 91's long-running “Sound of Toronto Jazz" Series, and the CBC Studio Jazz Vocal Showcase (broadcast and recorded “live" from the Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto.)

Over the years, the signature vocal sound that George Evans has cultivated has been likened to singers as diverse as Johnny Hartman, Mel Torm, Sarah Vaughan, Anita O'Day and Nancy Wilson, all of whom a profound influence on his early work. George's taste leans toward the lesser-known gems of popular music, but he possesses a vast catalogue of favourites from which to build a program of great popular appeal.

On stage, George Evans conveys a warm presence, an easy charm, and an offbeat sense of humour that audiences find disarming. Though clearly a jazz musician, George's work is also deeply rooted in the New York cabaret tradition. His influences in that regard include such distinctive performers as Bobby Short, Sylvia Syms, and Julie Wilson, each of whom championed the art of communication through interpretation of lyrics, as well as the patter they each used to personalize the material at hand. This unique and intimate approach to presentation is what has long set George apart from the many fine vocalists on the Canadian scene, and audiences tend to agree.

These days, George is digging ever deeper into the worlds of music production and media. A recognized music archivist, George has been tapped a total of eight times to select and sequence for Verve Records US. In 2004 he created the unusual “Here Come The Boys: a Canadian Crooner Collection," and his fifth solo album Movie Songs, both for Maximum Jazz and Universal Music Canada. As a writer, George's column “Vocalizing In Jazz" was for several years a feature of Planet Jazz Magazine, a promising international publication.

The 2005-2006 Season finds George returning to the airwaves as host for the new CSR/XM Network in Canada, as well as releasing his sixth solo CD, Bewitched for his own M-Swing label. In April 2006 George Evans reactivates his career stateside with a return to New York cabaret. His first NYC performance run since the 1998 season, George will embark upon a series of dates at Danny's Skylight Room, home of classic vocalists such as Blossom Dearie and Annie Ross.

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