Seacoast Jazz Society Presents: SHARON JONES and JIM PORCELLA (6pm)

Seacoast Jazz Society Presents: SHARON JONES and JIM PORCELLA (6pm)

Fri 7/5

5:30pm doors/6pm-7:15pm show

18+ | $20 adv./$25 day of

Join us for a fabulous new show with two legendary jazz vocalists, Sharon Jones and Jim Porcella. They are teaming up for the first time to entertain you with a mix of jazz music from Ella Fitzgerald to Frank Sinatra and the “Great American Songbook.”

Hailing from New England, both Sharon and Jim have made their name in clubs and performances across the U.S. and internationally.

Sharon Jones

Sharon Jones is “Portsmouth’s Gem,” so named by “Portsmouth Spotlight Magazine” for her many shining performances over the years at The Music Hall, Jimmy’s Jazz and Blues Club, the

Seacoast Jazz Festival, Top of the Hub, and much more! She is admired and loved for her inimitable, energetic, multi-dimensional vocals, whether singing a ballad, a hard jazz tune, a funky blues composition, or a ‘60s rock song. A born performer, she infuses emotion into every song and draws you into the experience with her. Growing up in Portsmouth in a family of 13 children, she launched her career shortly after high school, traveling extensively with world renowned jazz organist, Johnny Hammond Smith and saxophonist Houston Person before settling in Los Angeles where she sang in popular clubs, was a studio backup singer, and studied voice. During the summers she performed at resorts from New York to LA to Boston and Montreal, before returning to New England to make Portsmouth her permanent home. In 2007 during Black History Month, the Portsmouth Postal Service presented Sharon with the “Ella Fitzgerald Commemorative Stamp” honoring Sharon’s community service as well as her tremendous talent.

Hear Sharon on youtube:

Jim Porcella

Jim Porcella has been singing jazz since the early 1970s. Joe Williams said this about him: "Jim's got the gift! He really swings!" And Diane Shur noted his "wonderful choices, beautifully sung!" Rex Reed said, “Jim's singing is exquisite! I want to hear more!"

Jim grew up in Medford, Massachusetts, and started playing drums at age 14. Later, while attending the Berklee School of Music in Boston he began singing around the New England area.

His jazz vocal career took off and he went on to record seven critically acclaimed CDs, performing in jazz and cabaret settings in the Northeast, London, San Francisco, the Virgin Islands, and Vancouver. He was also the featured vocalist at Boston's Ritz Carlton and Boston's prestigious Bay Tower Room. He has been the featured vocalist with the Artie Shaw Orchestra and is the leader of the swing band Bombay Jim and the Swinging Sapphires. Jim was also lead vocalist with the group Primavera!, a tribute show to the music of Louis Prima and Keely Smith. And for several years he traveled the country with the show The 3 Swingin Tenors. He presently performs a show with his daughter Renee Legendre called “Just the Two of Us" and is the lead vocalist with "GUMBO," presenting the music of New Orleans.

Hear Jim on youtube:

About the Seacoast Jazz Society

This event is cosponsored by the Seacoast Jazz Society, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering a love of jazz in the community, supporting local musicians, and providing scholarships to young artists. For more information, visit www.seacoastjazz.org.

Host or Publisher The Press Room