Gualala Arts Promoting public interest and participation in the arts since 1961
Gualala Arts’ first event of the Sonoma – Mendocino Coast Whale & Jazz Festival Series will be Friday, June 10. Saint Orres’ Dinner & Jazz in the main dining room will feature the Susan Sutton Trio.
Revered for her original compositions, tender renditions of standards, and effervescent spirit in performance, pianist Susan Sutton will be joined by the pinnacle northern California guitarist, Randy Vincent, and the buoyant French bassist, Pierre Archain. Festival music coordinator Fred Adler calls this a “’dream trio’ of instrumental northern California musicians, who will create musical magic at Saint Orres.”
Sonoma County’s Randy Vincent is considered one of our country’s premier jazz guitarists. The list of greats he has performed or recorded with includes Dizzy Gillespie and stellar vibist Bobby Hutcherson. He is a coveted instructor currently teaching at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. His students have included Julian Lage, the young prodigy who appeared on the 2000 Grammy Awards, who has since received national acclaim.
French-born bassist, Pierre Archain, grew up near the annual Nice Jazz Festival which provided inspiration. It was a regular stop for such jazz greats as Ella Fitzgerald and Miles Davis. Archain fell under the spell, becoming a powerful jazz bassist, spending the last 40 years in northern California.
Brooklyn born composer/pianist Susan Sutton’s musical passion began as a child, receiving classical training on piano and cello. She holds a degree in Music Composition and Performance from Dominican University and studied jazz piano and composition with Bryce Rohde of the Australian Jazz Quintet, and jazz piano with George Cables. Her style has been described as vibrant and harmonically sophisticated.
Sutton’s original works include a series of modern chamber pieces and multiple published volumes of her jazz compositions. The latest volume is the complete book entitled “Susan Sutton Compositions”, published in 2020. Inspired by influences from Thelonius Monk to Herbie Hancock as well as Eric Satie and George Gershwin, she launched her own trio in 1981.
The Mendocino Coast’s architectural gem, Saint Orres, is on Highway One, north of downtown Gualala. Reservations are highly recommended. There will be two seatings on Friday, June 10. (No cover-charge. 707-884-3335.)