A Tribute to Les Paul
VIP: $50 | General Admission (advanced): $25 | General Admission (at the door): $30
This concert is also available via livestream. Purchase $25 livestream tickets here >>
Sponsored by the Les Paul Foundation, this performance features guitarist Russell Malone and vocal soloist and Music Institute Artist-in-Residence Tammy McCann, along with Tom Vaitsas on piano, Eric Hochberg on bass, and Sam Jewell on drums.
Pre-concert talk » 6:30 pm | Les Paul Foundation Program Director, Sue Baker
The night’s festivities include a pre-concert talk by Les Paul Foundation Program Director Sue Baker, who will share stories of Paul’s life, inventions, music, and time living in Chicago, as well as an exhibit of articles, photos, and music documenting the life of the legendary artist.
Les Paul’s impact on countless artists, from Paul McCartney, Eddie Van Halen, and Slash to Bing Crosby, Tony Bennett, and Chet Atkins, speaks to his status as a music legend whose virtuosic playing extended across all genres, including jazz, country, R&B, and rock. His breakthrough recording, “Lover” (1948), showcased a number of his studio innovations, which led to hits with his wife Mary Ford, including “How High the Moon” and 16 Top Ten songs between 1950 and 1954. In the 1950s and early 1960s, Paul had a highly successful performance and television career with Mary Ford. After a lifetime of recordings, his final, multi-Grammy Award-winning album, American Made, World Played, in 2005 featured Keith Richards, Jeff Beck, Sting, and Eric Clapton. Learn more about Les Paul >>
More about guitarist Russell Malone
Russell Malone is one of the signature guitar players of his generation. The leader of 10 albums since 1992, Malone is as well-known on the international circuit for helming a world-class quartet and trio as for his long-standing participation in Ron Carter's Golden Striker Trio and his recent consequential contribution to the musical production of the likes of Sonny Rollins and Dianne Reeves. A master of all tempos, a relentless swinger, he spins his stories—in idioms including the urban and downhome blues, country, gospel, various corners of the American Songbook, and hardcore jazz—with a soulful, instantly recognizable instrumental voice.
More about vocalist Tammy McCann
Music Institute of Chicago Artist-in-Residence Tammy McCann is an internationally recognized jazz vocalist whose powerful, sultry, and soulful voice paints pictures and tells stories by merging classical vocal technique and gospel aesthetic with jazz to create a sound that is completely her own. Named “Best Jazz Vocal Performance” by the Chicago Tribune, arts critic Howard Reich said of McCann, “a voice that soars in all registers, at all tempos, on all occasions...a voice that inspires wonder!” McCann has performed with Ramsey Lewis, Willie Pickens, and Von Freeman and toured as a “Raelette” with the great Ray Charles. In addition, she has thrilled audiences at some of the nation’s premier jazz venues including Birdland, the Blue Note, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola, and Chicago’s own Jazz Showcase.
This concert is made possible by the Les Paul Foundation.
Media Sponsorship provided by WDCB 90.9 FM
The Nichols Concert Hall concert series is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency and sponsorship from ITW.
