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Special Guests Saturday, February 4, 2006 Aymee Nuviola Cuban-born singer/songwriter Aymee Nuviola has performed to sold-out crowds in dozens of countries. Music has always been an important part of her life, beginning with piano lessons at the age of seven, but she didn't begin singing until she was in high school. Aymee and her sister, Lourdes, rose to stardom in Cuba as co-hosts of a popular variety show, Todo el Mundo Canta (Everybody Sings). This led to an invitation by legendary music director Pachito Alonso for Aymee to join his band, Pachito Alonso y Sus Kini Kini, with whom she recorded half a dozen albums. In 1995, with her husband, conguero Robert Nuviola, she defected in Costa Rica, and in 2004 she landed in Miami. Aymee Nuviola's two solo CDs are Tiempo A Renacer (Time to Be Reborn) and Yo Se Que Es Mentira (I Know It's a Lie). Joining Aymee on tonight's show are Lourdes Nuviola (vocals), Alexander Carriera (drums and percussion), Carlos Peres (congas), Raynor Marrero (piano), and Dayner Sanchez (bass).Bianca Vallejo Eleven-year-old Bianca Vallejo is a Miami fifth-grader and gifted singer. She takes lessons at the Miami Music Conservatory and participates in her church chorus. And while she loves to sing, Bianca would like to pursue a career in science—as an archaeological geologist. Bianca's accompanist for tonight's show is Steve Scherker, her music teacher.Dan Barrett In high school, cornetist Dan Barrett formed his first group, the Back Bay Jazz Band, playing the music of early jazz greats to Southern California audiences. He also began doing local gigs with great New Orleans musicians like Nappy Lamare and Barney Bigard. In the years that followed, Dan would appear at dozens of jazz festivals in the U.S. and abroad. In the late 1980s, Benny Goodman heard Dan play and invited him to join what would be the King of Swing's last orchestra. Dan has lent his trombone skills to motion pictures, including The Cotton Club and Brighton Beach Memoirs, as well as Woody Allen's Mighty Aphrodite, Everyone Says I Love You and Bullets Over Broadway. His latest solo CDs are Blue Swing and Melody In Swing (Arbors Records).Bob Leary Guitarist and banjo player Bob Leary claims there never was a time when he wasn't fascinated with music. "There's a snapshot of me at no more than 18 months old banging on a plastic banjo," he says. He's been a full-time musician for more than three decades. These days, you can hear him playing aboard the Mississippi Queen paddle-wheeler out of New Orleans, or performing around Florida, where he now makes his home. He spent five years with Walt Disney's Banjo Kings at Disney World and 14 years leading the band at the popular Orlando nightspot Rosie O'Grady's at Church Street Station. Bob has recorded with scores of great jazzmen, including Bob Crosby, Dick Hyman, and as part of Allan Vaché's Big Four.Butch Thompson For 12 years of his four-decade career, Butch Thompson was the house pianist on A Prairie Home Companion, dating back to the show's second broadcast in July 1974. As a soloist, he has earned a worldwide reputation as a master of ragtime, stride and classic jazz piano. Described by Jazz Journal International as "the premier player in traditional jazz today," Thompson also performs with his well-known trio, his eight-piece New Orleans Jazz Originals, and with symphony orchestras, including the Hartford Symphony, the St. Louis Symphony, the Minnesota Orchestra, and the Cairo (Egypt) Symphony. Thompson's first recording, Butch Thompson Plays Jelly Roll Morton Piano Solos, has been re-issued as a Biograph CD. His latest recordings are Butch Thompson's Big Three: 'Tain't Nobody's Business (Jazzology Records), featuring Butch on piano, Duke Heitger on trumpet, and Jimmy Mazzy on banjo and vocals; and At First Light (Turnagain Music), in which Butch teams up with the Miami Philharmonic and conductor Gordon Wright for a program of originals by Wright.Vince Giordano Vince Giordano plays bass, tuba, bass sax and a number of other instruments, all of which complement his passion: music of the 1920s and '30s. He grew up on Long Island listening to old 78s on his grandmother's Victrola. At 14, he joined the musicians' union, and after high school, he joined the Navy and toured with the United States Navy Show Band. Back in New York, Vince continued to develop his musical talents, playing in Broadway pit bands, traditional jazz bands and recording sessions. With his own band, The Nighthawks, Vince has released several albums, including Quality Shout! (Stomp Off Records) and a tribute to Bix Beiderbecke called Bill Challis' The Goldkette Project (Circle Records). Also a music historian and collector, Vince owns more than 30,000 original jazz charts. He was cast as a bass player in the Woody Allen film Sweet and Lowdown. And the Nighthawks recorded a slew of vintage hits for the soundtrack of Martin Scorsese's The Aviator.Andy Stein Violinist and saxophonist Andy Stein collaborated with Garrison Keillor to create the opera Mr. and Mrs. Olson. He has appeared on Saturday Night Live and Late Night with David Letterman, and has performed with artists such as Itzhak Perlman, Eric Clapton, Smashing Pumpkins, Billy Joel, Tony Bennett, Ray Charles and Bob Dylan. | | | |
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