BellaDonna

194 2nd Street,Amherst VA 24521

17 December, 2022

Description

BellaDonna is a preservationist band of jazz music of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. Their Amherst Java and Jazz performance on December 17, 2022 from 6 to 8 pm will present Christmas and standard songs by such luminaries of the period as Harold Arlen, Cole Porter, Duke Ellington, and Irving Berlin. Featured in BellaDonna are Donna Kay on vocals, Laurabella Owens on piano, Worth Proffitt on durms, and Andy Aeschbacher on bass. Performancw takes place at 194 Seconrd Street, Amherst. Entrace fee includes a free sup of coffee, soda or water from BAines Coffee, on the premises. Java and Jazz is presented monthly my Amherst Glebe Arts Response and Second Stage Amherst. Donna Kay (vocals) made her debut at Phelps Road Elementary School in Madison Heights VA in 1973, and later sang, guest -conducted and played piano with the ACHS Amherechos . After graduation Kay moved to Atlanta in 1984 where she wrote for music magazines and promoted concerts. In1990, she started playing bass and singing in Atlanta post-punk bands that supported touring bands in larger venues and headlined in smaller clubs. In 1994, she moved to Austin. TX where she spent time studying forms from Latin America, as she was married to a Latin salsa and jazz bassist at the time. In 2004, she moved to Naples, Florida, where she met Nashville-based singer/songwriter Tim McGeary and joined his band, “Wonderful Johnson” on keyboards and backup vocals. They played up and down both Florida coasts for four years, and Donna recorded on McGeary's second CD, Twelve. In 2008, Donna Kay moved to Greenville,SC, where she met Shannon Hoover (Greenville Jazz Collective, Univ. of SC Upstate), who encouraged her to sing jazz. He introduced Donna Kay to Daniel Zongrone in 2010. Daniel was a prog-rock percussionist who also played jazz, and a four-year expermental duo partnership "Vibe Vox" was born. Daniel and Donna formed the experimental jazz duet “Vibe Vox” iIn 2014, Vibe Vox spent a month in Berlin, Germany as artists in residence. In Berlin, Donna says "I saw amazing gypsy jazz musicians and it was then that I decided to form "Donna Kay & The Carousers." The Carousers spent the next seven years playing all over South Carolina and recording." Donna moved back to Lynchburg in 2021 and has performed with Matthew Billings, Laurabella Owens and Lew Taylor. Laurabella Owens (piano) is a music educator and performer working in the genres of blues, jazz and classical music. She is a member of the Lynchburg Symphony Orchestra on violin. Laura co-founded and wrote music for the band “Feng Sway” and played with local reggae artists. Her unique approach to the piano and her depth of repertoire make her a versatile performer. Laura has lived in Central Virginia for many years and has taught piano and violin both in the Lynchburg school system and privately. She comes from a musical family. Lynchburg singer and guitarist David Owens is her brother. Worth Proffitt (drums) is a multi-instrumentalist, well-known in the area for playing blues with Dennis Johnson in Jump Street and currently as part of Proffitt & Sandige, both powerful acoustic blues duos. Worth studied blues with Mississippi blues heavyweight Lonnie Pitchford and North Carolina jazz legend, Brother Jusef Salim. Worth's blues projects have received numerous awards, including: 1997 International Blues Challenge, Charlotte, NC (Jump Street) and 2004 International Blues Challenge, Sedalia, VA (Proffitt & Sandidge).. Worth branches out into electric guitar territory as well, playing rock 'n' roll and electric blues with Bill Hudson, Jack Sutherland, Malcolm Dentler, Roy Slaughter. Larry Scott and others. He has been playing gospel guitar for two Lynchburg area churches since 1996: Saint Mark in Amherst and Saint Mary in Lowesville. Andy Aeschbacher (bass) is a native of Buffalo, New York, and a lifelong musician proficient on electric upright bass. Andy is well-known on the local music scene as a solid, reliable player able to handle many different musical situations. He plays in several local music groups such as The Quantum Mechanics, Quintana, Feng Sway, The MP3 Trio, Code Blue, Hill City Jazz, Laurabella Trio, The Introverts, Deanie Blues Band, The Dog Boys, and Jimmy Rushing & the Prematures. He is also a full-time piano tuner/technician offering quality piano tuning to owners of fine pianos.