Performing Arts Series
presents
Swing This
Debby Boone
John Oddo, Music Director and Pianist
James Saporito, Drumer and Percussionist
Featuring Kansas City Musicians
James Isaac, saxophone
Clint Ashlock, trumpet
Todd Wilkinson, saxophone
Ryan Sharp, trumpet
Jeff Hamer, trombone
Timothy Doherty, saxophone
Gerald Spaits, bass
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Yardley Hall
Johnson County Community College
Song selections will be announced from the stage.
There will be a 15-minute intermission.
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Swing This
Debby Boone
“Nothing puts me in a party mood like a classic swing tune. When my father, Pat Boone,
headlined Vegas in the 60s, I was there with him—and even though I was just a kid, I
couldn’t get enough of the music or the glamour.
Now, with Swing This, I finally have. It’s my take on the joyful, exhilarating swing songs
that inspired me to become a singer—arranged by John Oddo, one of the best in the
business, and performed by a killer band.
This is the party I’ve been waiting my whole life to throw!”
– Debby Boone
Debby Boone
Debby Boone earned instant fame when her first single, You Light Up My Life was an
overnight hit. The tune claimed the #1 spot on the Billboard charts for ten straight weeks
and sold in excess of four million copies. You Light Up My Life ranks # 7 in Billboard
Magazine’s The Hot 100’s All-Time Top-Charting Songs of the last 5 decades. Debby
received the GRAMMY® Award for Best New Artist of the Year, and has since won two
additional GRAMMY Awards, and seven GRAMMY nominations.
Debby’s current Concord Records release, Reflections of Rosemary, is an intimate
musical portrait of her late mother-in-law, the legendary singer Rosemary Clooney, for
whom Debby had great love and respect. The CD is a collection of 14 standards chosen
for their significance in Boone’s life with Clooney, and is led by Clooney’s longtime
Musical Director, John Oddo. Debby continues to tour Reflections of Rosemary along
with John Oddo at Performing Arts Centers and Symphony Halls throughout the USA.
Debby’s new up-coming CD and show titled Swing This was inspired by her childhood
years immersed in the Las Vegas “Swing” culture of the 60s while traveling with her
father, Pat Boone. Swing This is a reflection of the music, glamour and pure exhilaration
that led Debby to become a performer in the first place. In Debby’s own words, “Swing
This is “the party I’ve been waiting my whole life to throw,” and we are happy to share it
with you this evening.
Her appearance with the Boston Pops at Symphony Hall in Boston, MA was a real
highlight for Debby and her audience. Richard Kaufman, Principal Pops Conductor of
Pacific Symphony confirms, “Debby was a shining light on our Pops season, in the
tradition of great singers who bring a song to life just the way the composer intended. Her
voice is superb and her stage presence endearing.”
In addition to her recording career, Debby’s starring roles on Broadway include Seven
Brides for Seven Brothers, the role of Maria in Lincoln Center’s 30th Anniversary
production of The Sound of Music and as Rizzo of Grease. Debby toured nationally in
Meet Me In St. Louis, and performed the role of Anna in the 50th Anniversary staging of
Rodgers and Hammerstein’s, The King and I at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Center in
California.
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Recent stage performances of Debby’s include New York’s third annual “24 Hour
Musicals”, whereby Debby was joined by a talented group of nearly 50 industry
professionals to write, produce, compose and perform short original musicals within 24
hours! Additionally, for the third year in a row, Debby performed in this year’s “Lyrics
and Lyricists” event at the 92nd St. Y, with musical director John Oddo. Debby also looks
forward to continuing her “Christmas Memories” show in 2012 with The Gatlin Brothers
at the Mansion Theatre in Branson, MO.
John Oddo
John Oddo is a musician with tremendous versatility, as comfortable conducting and
arranging for a jazz trio, as he is a symphony orchestra. John started his career working
with Woody Herman and his legendary Thundering Herd. During Oddo’s three years with
Herman’s Band, he contributed numerous arrangements and original compositions.
In 1983 John met Rosemary Clooney, who admitted to having “stolen” him from Herman
following a recording project that featured her with the band. John remained at Clooney’s
side for more than eighteen years as her musical director, pianist, and arranger. His
credits include work on 20 of her recordings as well as countless live performances and
television appearances.
Mr. Oddo got to know Debby Boone—Clooney’s daughter-in-law through this long
association. Over the years, he was musical director for many performances that Ms.
Boone shared with Ms. Clooney. He also played piano and wrote all of the arrangements
for a 2005 Concord Records release by Debby Boone entitled Reflections of Rosemary (a
tribute to Rosemary Clooney). He enjoys now being Ms. Boone’s Musical Director,
working with her in a small group jazz setting as well as conducting her symphony
orchestra engagements. He has also produced and written the arrangements for Swing
This, Ms. Boone’s latest CD.
John is also a frequent collaborator of Michael Feinstein’s, serving as musical director for
many of Feinstein’s shows at the Loews Regency. He also received a Drama Desk Award
nomination for his orchestrations for Feinstein’s and Dame Edna Everage’s 2010
Broadway show, All About Me. Oddo also currently works as musical director for several
other artists including Christine Ebersole and James Naughton. Other collaborators have
included Tony Bennett, Ray Charles, Barbara Cook, Stan Getz, Bob and Dolores Hope,
Cheyenne Jackson, Maureen McGovern, David Hyde Pierce, John Pizzarelli, Toni
Tennille and Linda Ronstadt. Other favorite projects include: composing and performing
the theme music for Our Town starring Paul Newman (Masterpiece Theatre and
Showtime) and the NBC- TV special, Scott Hamilton and Friends for which he served as
conductor, pianist and arranger. John holds a Masters Degree in Jazz Studies from the
prestigious Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY.
James Saporito (drummer/percussion)
Since graduating from the Eastman School of Music, James Saporito has enjoyed a
flourishing career as a freelance drummer/percussionist in New York City. He has
recorded over 60 major motion picture soundtracks and 150 albums, collaborating with
such artists as Marilyn Horne, Gladys Knight, Billy Joel, Barbara Cook, Tony Bennett,
and Celine Dion.
Saporito serves as Associate Principal Percussionist with the New York City Ballet
Orchestra, and he often performs with the New York Philharmonic. He is the Principal
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Percussionist with the New York Pops Orchestra and also a member of the Westchester
Philharmonic Orchestra and the American Composers Orchestra. His jazz trio with
pianist Kenny Ascher and bassist Dick Sarpola has released their first album Pentimento.
Saporito is most proud of his two children and his wife, the Pulitzer Prize-winning
composer Melinda Wagner.
Kansas City Musicians
Clint Ashlock, trumpet
Clint is an exciting young musician based in the Kansas City area. He is available as a
freelance musician and is comfortable in all genres of music, ranging from contemporary
and straight-ahead jazz and classical to blues, R&B and funk. Clint grew up in the Kansas
City area and was introduced to music when he was told he could miss an hour of class
every day by going to band rehearsal. Things turned serious after hearing recordings by
Miles Davis and Clifford Brown late in high school. Ashlock is a dedicated student of
jazz and its history, and his playing reflects the swinging, soulful nature of his influences,
people like Freddie Hubbard, Woody Shaw, Terence Blanchard and plenty more. He is
also a thriving arranger and composer.
Having recently completed graduate studies with jazz legend Bobby Watson, Clint can
currently be seen around town playing in various groups, most recently his large
ensemble project, New Jazz Order. NJO is made up of some of Kansas City’s finest
musicians, dedicated to playing original compositions and arrangements from local folks
along with “unoriginals” from a wide and varied group of jazz legends. The band holds
court at historic Harling’s in Kansas City every Tuesday night from 9 to midnight.
Todd Wilkinson, saxophone
Todd is the Director of Jazz Studies and Instructor of Saxophone at Ottawa University in
Ottawa, KS. He has completed a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Performance from Arizona
State University, a Master of Arts in Music Theory and Composition from Stephen F.
Austin State University, and a Doctor of Arts in Saxophone Performance from the
University of Kansas.
His past tenure includes a board membership with the Topeka Jazz Workshop, the Artistic
Director for the Coleman Hawkins Legacy Jazz Festival, the Director of Jazz Studies and
Instructor of Saxophone at Washburn University, the President of the Kansas City Jazz
Ambassadors and owner/operator of the Drum Room Jazz Club. Todd has conducted
Honors Jazz Bands throughout the Midwest and has worked as a clinician/adjudicator in
Washington State, Kansas, Oklahoma, Iowa, Texas, Colorado and Missouri.
Professionally Todd has led two successful bands, Bokomaru and the Goombahles. He
has also appeared as a sideman with scores of major performers, most notably, Herb Ellis,
Mel Torme, Phil Woods, Joe Williams, Bob Mintzer, Patti Page, Mark Murphy, Lanny
Morgan, Gary Foster, Kevin Mahogany, the Kansas City Chiefs T.D. Pack Band, Jim
Pugh, Bobby Watson, Scott Whitfield, the Temptations, Ray Anderson, Lew Sollof, Jiggs
Whigham, Ryan Kisor, Marvin Stamm, Terence Blanchard, Debby Boone, Tom Harrell,
Mike Metheny, Steve Cardenas, Rich Matteson, Richie Cole, Pete Christlieb, Duffy
Jackson, Stephon Harris, David Sanchez, Bill Caldwell, Larry Schneider, Diane Schurr,
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Karrin Allyson, Houston Person, Kim Park, Tommy Ruskin, Grant Stewart, Harry Allen,
Kitty Margolis, John Fedchock, Natalie Cole, Todd Strait and Wayne Newton.
Ryan Sharp, trumpet
Ryan is currently Principal Trumpet with the Kansas City Philharmonia, Soprano Cornet
with the Fountain City Brass Band and Artist in Residence at Washburn University in
Topeka, KS. Ryan enjoys an active performing schedule having performed with the
Kansas City Symphony, New Jazz Order, Bobby Watson and the 18th Vine Big Band, and
numerous regional orchestras, big bands and salsa bands. In addition to live
performances, Ryan has recorded with many gospel artists such as Natalie Grant, Clint
Brown, Myron Butler & Levi and Marcus Cole. In 2005, Ryan had the opportunity to
record on Marvin Sapp’s Grammy-nominated album Be Exalted.
Ryan is in the final semester of his Doctorate of Musical Arts at the Conservatory of
Music and Dance at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He has had the pleasure of
performing with Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, the Temptations, the Four Tops, the Count Basie
Orchestra, Jon Faddis, Phil Woods, Byron Stripling, Barry Hall and Clark Terry among
others. From January 2003 to July 2005 Ryan was the lead trumpeter of the Ringling
Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus performing across the United States and Mexico for
over 15 million people. He has given concerts, festivals and master classes in Greece,
Canada, England, Scotland, France, Belgium, Holland and Japan.
Jeff Hamer, trombone
Jeff is the lead jazz trombonist and charter member of the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra.
Originally from Moberly, MO, he has lived in the Kansas City area since 1982. Since
attending the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music, Jeff has been
an active participant in the Kansas City music scene as one of the most sought-after
trombonists in the area. Known for his exquisite lead playing, Jeff is also a fine
interpreter of ballads. As a freelance artist, he has performed with notable groups such as
the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra and the Guy Lombardo Orchestra. He can be heard as a
lead player and featured soloist on more than a dozen CD releases from groups such as
the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra, New Vintage Big Band, Kerry Strayer Orchestra, River
City Jazz Orchestra, Boulevard Big Band and others.
Timothy Doherty, saxophone
Kansas City saxophonist Tim Doherty’s musical career has been a fun, diverse and
interesting road. A graduate of the University of Kansas (Bachelor of Music) and the
University of Northern Colorado (Master of Music), Tim’s musical interests and abilities
as a woodwind doubler and jazz improviser have enabled him to thrive in a variety of
musical settings. Tim has had the pleasure of performing at Busch Gardens in
Williamsburg, VA, as lead woodwind in the show band on the SS Noordam for Holland
America Cruise Lines, and was chosen to perform with the All-American College Band at
the Walt Disney World Resort in Orland, FL.
As an educator, Tim has made great strides in and contributed immensely to the Cameron,
TX, community. He taught junior high and high school bands, started jazz ensembles in
both junior high and high school and led both of his jazz groups and concert winds to
superior ratings at local and regional contests and festivals. In addition, Tim co-founded
the Junior High All-Region VIII Jazz Ensemble, coordinating all the audition materials.
Concurrently, Tim was the Director of Jazz Studies and saxophone teacher at Temple
College in Temple, TX, coordinating all areas of jazz study including the TC Jazz
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Ensemble, Jazz Singers, multiple combos and saxophone quartets, as well as building the
Temple Jazz Festival into the largest collegiate jazz festival in Texas. As a member of the
Texas Community College Band Director’s association (TCCBDA), Tim was honored to
serve as the chairman for the jazz committee and to coordinate the annual TCCBDA AllState Jazz Ensemble auditions, performance and clinicians.
As an active performing musician, Tim played regionally in Texas for multiple groups in
a variety of genres from rock to salsa. Throughout his career he has had the privilege of
sharing the stage as either a performer or conductor with Peter Erskine, Randy Brecker,
Aleen Vizzutti, Ernie Watts, Gary Foster, Frank Mantooth, Manhattan Transfer, Kevin
Mahogany, Eric Marienthal, Dave Weckl, Chris Vadala, Bill Watrous and Slide Hampton,
among many others.
After moving back to Kansas City in 2001, Tim has been active in the jazz scene
performing in a multitude of different settings from pop groups to symphonic wind
ensembles. He spent five years as the musical director for New Vintage Band, is the lead
tenor/clarinetist for the Moonlight Serenade Orchestra, and can be seen every month at
Jardine’s with Bram Wijnands and the Majestic 7. Tim’s own group 9plus1 is a 10-piece
ensemble performing high velocity jazz and impressing audiences. 9plus1 was asked to
headline during the inaugural Johnson County Community College Jazz Winterlude in
January 2010, performs monthly at Take Five Coffee Bar, as well as performances
throughout the state by invitation.
Currently, Tim feeds his other passion for cars at his dealership, Keystone Nissan, in
Mission, KS. When not working or playing music, Tim is busy having fun with his wife,
three daughters and two dogs.
Gerald Spaits, bass
Gerald, a native of Kansas City, is one of the foremost jazz bass players in the Kansas
City area. Gerald is currently on staff at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, as the
instructor for Jazz Bass under Bobby Watson. Gerald teaches private lessons at the Toon
Shop and KC Strings, as well as working with students at Johnson County Community
College and several area high schools.
Gerald has enjoyed an active career with local jazz artists including Kim Park, Russ
Long, Gary Sivils, Tommy Ruskin and Kansas City jazz legends Jay McShann, Marilyn
Maye and Claude Williams. He can be heard on jazz recordings with artists Karrin
Allyson, Lisa Henry, Eldar Djangirov and Jay McShann. Gerald is regarded as a
versatile bassist by many in the jazz community and he has appeared with national artists
Herb Ellis, Karrin Allyson, Kevin Mahogany, Gary Foster, and The Woody Herman
Orchestra.
Gerald’s debut CD Three Sides was self-produced in 2000, and he has since released two
additional CDs on the Passit Label: Never Let Me Go and Time to Go with the Russ Long
Trio and The Westport Art Ensemble. He has performed in a number of key jazz events
including the Kansas City Blues and Jazz Festival, Kansas City International Jazz
Festival, the Montreux Jazz Festival, the San Jose Jazz Festival and the World’s Fair in
Seville, Spain.
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A distinguished jazz musician, Gerald is well known as one of the “first calls” with many
artists, and performs regularly with several groups, including his own, The Gerald Spaits
Quartet and the Kansas City Bass Quartet.
Many thanks to Ron Stinson, JCCC Theatre & Music Chair,
for arranging for the talented local players
for today’s performance with Ms. Debby Boone!
2012-2013 Performing Arts Series
Season Announcement
www.jccc.edu/TheSeries
March 28, 2012
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