Clazzical Notes, a Pasadena-based nonprofit arts organization, will present “Two Fats: From Harlem to New Orleans — Waller & Domino” on Saturday, April 25, at 5 p.m. at the Alkebulan Cultural Center, 1435 N. Raymond Ave. in Pasadena.
The concert pairs the music of Thomas “Fats” Waller, the Harlem stride piano master who helped define the sound of the 1920s and ’30s jazz era, with that of Antoine “Fats” Domino, the New Orleans rhythm and blues pianist whose recordings in the 1950s and ’60s helped lay the groundwork for rock ‘n’ roll. Domino’s stage name was itself partly a tribute to Waller, the earlier keyboard giant.
According to a press release from Clazzical Notes, the program will feature pianist Lanny Hartley, who has served as music director for multiple regional and touring productions of the Tony Award-winning musical revue “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” the 1978 Broadway show built around Waller’s catalog. Hartley’s credits in that role include the 2017 La Mirada Theatre production directed by original Broadway cast member Ken Page. He has also worked as musical director for productions including “The Late Great Ladies of Blues and Jazz” and “Dinah Was” in New York, Los Angeles, and Williamstown.
Pianist Rahn Coleman will also perform. Coleman, a classically trained musician who studied harmony and music theory with Nadia Boulanger at the American Conservatory in Fontainebleau, France, has served as musical director, arranger, and pianist for artists including Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight, the Temptations, Tina Turner, and Sarah Vaughan, according to his biography. He also performed with the Clinton Presidential Inaugural Orchestra.
Vocalist Karen Evans, according to the press release, began her professional career in the early 1980s touring with keyboardist and singer Patrice Rushen. Evans joined Ray Charles’s backing vocal group, the Raelettes, in 1996 and toured with Charles until his death in 2004. Historical records of the Raelettes’ lineup confirm Evans’s membership in the group during that period.
Vocalist Masta Edwards, a singer, songwriter, and bandleader based in Los Angeles since 1975, will also perform. The press release states he has collaborated with artists including Seal, Thelma Houston, and Keb’ Mo’, and joined the California-based lineup of the Motown group Sly, Slick, & Wicked in 2022.
Bassist Hilliard Wilson rounds out the instrumental ensemble.
Jazz drummer Roy McCurdy will serve as host for the evening. McCurdy, who is on the faculty at the Pasadena Conservatory of Music and serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music, spent a decade as the drummer in Cannonball Adderley’s Quintet from 1965 to 1975. During that tenure he performed on recordings including the soul-jazz standard “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy.” His credits also include work with Sonny Rollins, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Nancy Wilson, and Count Basie.
Clazzical Notes was founded in Pasadena in 2004 by Jerri Price-Gaines, who serves as the organization’s executive and artistic director. The nonprofit debuted at Fuller Seminary’s Travis Auditorium in Pasadena and has presented programs at venues across the city, including Boston Court Performing Arts Center and Pasadena City College. According to the Pasadena Village, Price-Gaines formerly served as director of education and community engagement at the Pasadena Symphony and POPS.
The organization describes its mission as staging music programs that engage audiences through performance, educate them about musical history and genres, and foster interaction between audiences and performers.
The Alkebulan Cultural Center, the concert’s venue, was established in 1989 in a historic former Pasadena firehouse in the city’s northwest neighborhood. It was founded by mezzo-soprano Versie Mae Richardson, visual artist Emerson R. Terry, and educator Dr. Maria Battle. The center’s mission focuses on providing knowledge and awareness of African and African American heritage through educational and artistic programming.
The press release states the program is made possible in part by the Pasadena Arts & Culture Commission and the City of Pasadena Cultural Affairs Division.
Admission is $25 per person. Students are admitted free. Tickets are available at www.clazzicalnotes.org. Street parking is free.
