Sunday Jazzy Brunch In The Empress Lounge

330 Virginia Street,Vallejo CA 94590

24 October, 2021

Description

Enjoy 3 Award Wining Jazz Guitarist. Trifecta with catered brunch from one of the top Caterers from Napa. Brunch included with ticket. Buy Tickets here: https://www.ticketfairy.com/event/jazzy-brunch-in-the-empress-lounge-24oct2021 Tickets COVID-19 Card required. Enjoy 3 Award Wining Jazz Guitarist. Trifecta with catered brunch from one of the top Caterers from Napa. Brunch included with ticket. Biography About The Artists Carl Lockett, a San Francisco Bay Area legend, has been spellbinding audiences over the years with his electrifying musical technique. Lockett is a phenomenal, authentic, original groove master who completely astounds listeners. The musical technique he employs is spellbinding, absolutely captivating, and reveals why he has audiences standing on their feet. Lockett’s music has been described as “the most exciting, exhilarating musical ride ever, at the same time wrapping one in the most luxurious, warm sounds, as if riding in a plush limousine”. This demonstrates his ability to absolutely captivate and mesmerize an audience.For his extraordinary musical expression on the guitar, Lockett has received many notable accolades while participating in recording sessions and touring throughout the United States, Europe and Asia with great artists such as, Chuck Mangione, Randy Crawford, Jimmy Smith, Joey DeFrancesco, Hank Crawford, Jimmy McGriff, Plaz Johnson, Tammy Terrell and David Ruffin. His great musical talents have been on display at many well-known festivals and venues including the NORTH SEA and MONTREUX JAZZ FESTIVALS, all three Blue Note Clubs in Japan and the 1980 Winter Olympics. He also wowed audiences with an unparalleled performance at the 50TH ANNIVERSARY MONTEREY JAZZ FESTIVAL in 2007 with Joey DeFrancesco. His impressive career includes a motion picture role as a nightclub band member in the Academy Award nominated Peggy Sue Got Married. Lockett can groove you, he can smooth jazz you, he can hard rock you, and he can lullaby you. He is an impressive musician who, once seen and heard, demonstrates his genuine talent and his remarkable ability to lift an audience and take their breath away. Vernon “Ice” Black An accomplished guitarist and vocalist, Vernon Black spent most of the past 20 years touring, recording and film tracking with music legends like Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, Chakka Kahn and Lionel Richie. More recently, he’s performed and recorded with contemporary artists including Ashanti, Mariah Carey, India Aire, Busta Rhymes and Celine Dion. His work can be heard in films like “The Bodyguard,” “License to Kill,” and “Beverly Hills Cop II;” in advertising jingles for Jaguar, Chevrolet, Toyota, Nissan, Mattel and Levi’s; and in songs and sound effects on video games for Sony Play Station, Nintendo, Sega and EA Sports (Electronic Arts). And at the Jimi Hendrix Festival at Bumbershoot Stadium in Seattle Washington he was the co-music director and opened the show with the legendary "Experience" (Jimi Hendrix’s original band) - Mitch Mitchell (drums) and Noel Redding (bass). Vernon is also a producer, composer and music director. Credits include; The Spice Girls (music director), Regina Belle (composer), Phillip Bailey (composer), Lenny Williams (composer, producer) and his 1st solo record “Sneak Previews” (composer, producer) {guest artists including Herbie Hancock, Steve Smith, Tom Coster, Phillip Bailey} and for multiple artists on his “Ice Black Productions” production company / independent record label. Also an innovator of musical instrument design, Vernon designs his own electric guitars. He is the co-designer of the MP2 digital guitar preamp, which won the award for best guitar processor of 1993. He also received an award from the DVD Association for co-designing the DVD on CD (multi layered enhanced cd) in 2000. In the year 2004, Vernon took a break from the "guitarist for hire" market to create a situation that would allow him to pursue and develop his own producing and writing career as well as being a solo artist. Equally so, he was motivated to create a place that gave artists a more fair and friendly (artist based business) environment. This led to the creation of his production company / independent record label "Ice Black Productions". An award-winning guitarist and composer, San Francisco based Lloyd Gregory is a well-established musician whose style is smooth, soulful, melodic, flowing and immediately charismatic. His extensive R&B roots add a distinct texture to his styling. Gregory is a master of both acoustic and electric guitar. “Lloyd expertly fuses soul, pop and jazz, forging a hybrid that is both enjoyable and intellectually stimulating.” — Minor 7th: Acoustic Music Review “I love Lloyd’s style as a musician. He is a sweet, warm guy, which comes out in his music. His music reminds me of a modern-day Wes Montgomery.” — the legendary Stanley Clarke Lloyd on his influences: “Music is comprised of traditions, even when mixed with innovations — so, of course, every musician is building upon sounds that came before. I admire and respect those jazz guitarists, and I learned a lot from them. But my influences also include early soul innovators like Curtis Mayfield, many of the guitarists in the various Motown artists’ bands, and Ike Turner. Going even further, I have been inspired by rock’n’rollers from Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley through Hendrix to Eddie Van Halen. And on the other end of the spectrum I have been influenced by acoustic players who bridged jazz, Latin and classical — like Django Reinhardt, Bola Sete, Andres Segovia and Al De Meola. I never sat down and learned other guitarists’ solos from their albums. Instead, I studied the tools and language they were using.” Stage and Studio: As a studio musician in Los Angeles, Gregory worked with legendary producer Richard Perry and played sessions with top musicians such as Klaus Voorman (The Beatles), Arthur Adams (B.B. King, Quincy Jones), Harvey Mason (Herbie Hancock, George Benson) and Joe Sample (The Crusaders). He has performed with Rodney Franklin, Stanley Clarke, George Duke, Gerald Albright, Lenny Williams (Tower of Power), Freda Payne, The Dells, and Lowell Fulsom. Also as a session player Lloyd played on a Latin-jazz album by The Funky Aztecs. Gregory has recorded with Martha Reeves, MC Smooth and Freddie Stewart (Sly & The Family Stone) . He has also played on several albums by upcoming blues artists including Zakiya Hooker (John Lee’s daughter), Sugarpie Desanto and Maxine Howard. In addition, Gregory studied under Warren Nunes and took a Masters Class Seminar from Barney Kessel. As a solo artist, he has opened for Phoebe Snow, Norman Brown, Bobby Caldwell, Chaka Khan, Kenny “G”, Brian Culbertson, The Whispers, and Rachael Ferrell to name a few.