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Dueling Jazz Pianos

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Hod O'Brien & Jim Wray

Music 7:30 pm, Doors/Bar/Food 6:30 pm.
Tickets are $20, or 2 for $35, includes food (reservations required)
Please call 434-361-1999 for reservations.

...a dueling fusion of bebop and classic jazz...

Listen to Deed I Do:

Dueling Jazz Pianos will make their first appearance at the Hamner Theater Cabaret series Saturday, February 13. Hod O’Brien, local piano legend, and Jim Wray, upstart from California, team up for an entertaining evening of piano give and take.

Hod O’Brien is one of those quiet-and-true jazz giants. He burst upon the scene in the late '50s, when he came to New York City from his hometown in the Berkshire Mountains of Northwest Connecticut near Lenox, MA and Tanglewood. He soon became part of the “loft scene”, jamming with other bop-influenced players like Pepper Adams, Kenny Burrell, Oscar Pettiford and Stan Getz.

Jim Wray started out on trombone, as the leader of a Dixieland band at Cornell University, culminating in two European tours. Then moving over to piano, he toured the winter wasteland of North Dakota with local dance bands by night, and was a physics professor by day.

Dueling Jazz Pianos was born from an accidental encounter that turned into a spontaneous two hour session - and it all started here at the Hamner! Jim Wray & his wife were still new in town when they attended a Hamner Cabaret performance by Hod O'Brien & Stephanie Nakasian.

Says Jim Wray, "At intermission we introduced ourselves to the O’Briens, and, finding they lived down the road, I arranged to visit and compare music notes and ideas. Time passed... A few months later, while I was playing solo piano for a wine tasting at the Batesville store one Saturday afternoon, Hod stopped by. Since I had a small keyboard along (melodica), we were able to do a spontaneous modified 2 piano with my electric keyboard and melodica. The afternoon passed and we had played for about two hours."

"Since then we’ve played a half dozen concert venues including a jazz festival in northern Virginia and our 2nd CD is in the shop, hopefully to be available for the Feb. 13 debut at the Hamner .. where it all started 2 years ago."

Dueling Jazz Pianos have released a CD, Dueling Jazz Pianos, that will be available for purchase at the Cabaret show.

Download a flyer for a friend!

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Sound Direction

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Show 7:30 pm, Doors/Bar/Food 6:30 pm.
Tickets are $20, or 2 for $35, includes food (reservations required)
Please call 434-361-1999 for reservations.

a cappella jazz, pop and folk

Performing again after a four-year hiatus, Sound Direction will make their first appearance at the Hamner Theater Caabret series Saturday, January 16.

Sound Direction is an a cappella sextet made up of three couples from the Shenandoah Valley, Betsy & Keith Dishman, Kim & David Tate and Bettie & John Tindall. Imagine a sound with the tight harmonies of a jazz ensemble, the street corner appeal of American doo-wop and the vocal purity of a choir, and you’ve got Sound Direction.

The group performs a wide variety of music in the a cappella style, including vocal jazz, popular standards, spirituals, novelty numbers, folk tunes and seasonal music.

Sound Direction formed in the fall of 1995, bringing together the diverse and varied backgrounds of the six musicians. They have appeared throughout Virginia, delighting audiences with their eclectic program, light-hearted humor and vocal stylings. Highlights include performances at Jazz-in-the-Park (Staunton), Christmas at Augusta Stone, James River Bateau Festival, Fredericksburg Candlelight Tour, An Evening at Blackstone, as well as First Night celebrations in Waynesboro, Roanoke, Charlottesville and Harrisonburg.

In December of 1997, Sound Direction released their first album, First Course, which includes some of their favorite jazz, pop and folk tunes. In December of 2000, they released Holiday Treats, a collection of Christmas songs including “Winter Wonderland”, “Sleigh Ride”, “I Saw Three Ships” and “Infant Holy”, and featuring guest musicians Buddy Thomas (guitar) and Joe Dockery (percussion).

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Dinah Pehrson Band

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Show 7:30 pm, Doors/Bar/Food 6:30 pm.
Tickets are $20, or 2 for $35, includes food (reservations required)
Please call 434-361-1999 for reservations.

The Blues, and more

The Dinah Pehrson Band returns to the Hamner Theater after a hiatus of almost 3 years. Original members Dinah Pehrson (vocals), Vincent Day (guitar, vocals) and Dan Sebring (guitar, vocals) will be joined by veteran local musicians Terry Waggener (bass) and Andrew Carter (drums). There will also be a guest appearance by local musical luminary, Doug Schneider.

Dinah Pehrson, familiar to Hamner Theater audiences as an actress (most recently in Quartet), is originally from New York. She has lived in the Charlottesville area since 1995 and sang regionally with the Dinah Pehrson Band from 2000-06. An alto, most of her repertoire is blues, but her musical tastes and interests are eclectic and far-ranging.

Terry Waggener has been playing bass since he was in High School in the 60's. He played in many Rappahannock County Bands including The Timberline Flyers, The OK's, The Big Bristols and has been playing with Vincent Day since 1973.

Vincent Day's (acoustic & electric guitar/vocals) musical experience began at the age of eleven when he learned "Has Anybody Seen My Gal?" on the ukelele. He quickly switched to guitar and solo material from the Beatles, Bob Dylan and Donavon when he became interested in girls. His first band, "The Surfers" was formed during 7th grade covering two songs: "Louie Louie" and "I Fought The Law". Vincent has played in the following Virginia rock bands: "Tonight's Menu", "The Chorus of Idiots", "The Big (and I mean Big) Bristols", "The Crazy Eights", "Venus Jones Band", "Red Sky", and "Hard Rain". Vincent takes credit for the name 'Dinah Pehrson' when he helped form the band in 2000.

Dan Sebring (electric guitar, bass, mandolin, fiddle, violin, keyboards, drums, harmonica & vocals) joined the Dinah Band in 2002 and has been a part of the family ever since. He has played around Charlottesville for many years performing with some local notable bands like "Johnny Sportscoat and the Casuals", "The Stoned Wheat Things" and "The Hog Waller Ramblers" to name a few. He also plays contra dances with "The Avante Gardeners". His musical taste are wide and varied: playing bluegrass, old time, classical, jazz, blues, rock, country, etc.

Andrew Carter (drums). Andrew lives in Charlottesville with his wife and three children and consequently has not had much time to become ensconced in the local musical scene. However, before moving back to the Charlottesville area, he was ensconced in the Atlanta alternate rock scene as a drummer for "Love Tractor".

Plan for a fun, shakin' Saturday evening of blues and R&B with some Dylan, country, jazz, rock'n'roll, and who-knows-what-else mixed in.

Will you help us to spread the word? Please, give our flyer to a friend. Thanks!
The Dinah Pehrson Band shake it up (Right click, Save as or Download link)

photos from the Pehrson/Day Band's previous Cabaret performance in November, 2006