Thursday September 20, 2012

GREENFIELD, Mass. -- Silktone Productions and Arts Block Cafe will present another installment of "Ladies in Jazz" on Saturday at 8 p.m., featuring vocalists Samirah Evans and Rebecca Holtz.

Over the course of two sets, Evans and Holtz will take turns performing songs from the jazz, blues and pop catalog, as well as collaborate on a few tunes as a duet. The accompanying trio will consist of Eugene Uman on piano, Dave Picchi on bass and Jon Fisher on drums.

Advance tickets can be purchased for $12 at theartsblock.com or by calling 413-774-0150. Tickets will be available at the door for $15. The Arts Block is located at 289 Main St.

Ladies in Jazz is a new musical series conceived by Silktone Productions’ founder Samirah Evans and co-produced with Arts Block Owner, Ed Wierzbowski. Every other month, the series will bring Evans together in concert with another female jazz vocalist or instrumentalist.

The goal is to introduce new women artists to audiences in western Massachusetts, as well as bring established women artists to the area. The series debuted in July with a concert by Evans and jazz vocalist, Jill Connolly.

Holtz is a native of Walpole, N.H., and currently a student at Smith College. Although she has been a loyal student of the jazz tradition since first hearing Ella Fitzgerald on record at age 8, she is known for her ability to vocalize with equal ease

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in blues, rock, folk, musical theatre, soul, funk, big band swing and gospel. She has studied Sheila Jordan and Jay Clayton and has previously performed with many established artists including Samirah Evans and Charles Neville.

She is currently a featured vocalist with the Boston-based swing orchestra, the Compaq Big Band, and will debut a new musical project this fall, called Rebecca Holtz and the Once Hollow.

Evans was fixture on the New Orleans music scene for more than 15 years before relocating to Brattleboro, Vermont in the wake of hurricane Katrina. She formed Samirah Evans & Her Handsome Devils band in 2007 and has performed at clubs, concert venues and music festivals throughout the Northeast.

In 2011, Evans released "Hot Club: Live at the Vermont Jazz Center" (Misha Records), her third CD and first recorded outside of Louisiana. She has shared stages with James Brown, B.B. King, Irma Thomas, Sheila Jordan, Terence Blanchard and Donald Harrison, Jr., among others.

For more information, visit samirahevans.com.