Photos courtesy of Jazz Arts Group of Columbus
Get ready to fall in love all over again during Valentine’s Day weekend when the Jazz Arts Group of Columbus presents Unforgettable: Love Songs of Nat King Cole & Others. Held at the Southern Theatre, showtimes are 7:30 p.m. on Thursday; 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday; 3 p.m. on Sunday.
Ticket Information
Tickets are available now and are priced from $18 to $71. You can purchase tickets at the CAPA Ticket Office, all Ticketmaster outlets, or by phone at either 614-469-0939 or 800-745-3000.
About the Show
The performance celebrates the centenary of jazz legend Nat King Cole and will feature two up-and-coming stars on the jazz circuit – trumpeter and vocalist Benny Benack III, and vocalist Lena Seikaly, who was a crowd favorite at last summer’s JazZoo performances.
Benny Benack III
Known as a singer and trumpet soloist, Benack performs genres of jazz and pop. The JAG website says, “His singing style has been likened to the great crooners of yesteryear such as Bobby Darin and Mel Tormé, and he has enough dazzling trumpet chops to inspire the great trumpeter Wynton Marsalis to name him among the next generation of jazz greats.”
Benack frequently performs as a guest artist at international jazz festivals and has appeared as a soloist with Josh Groban and Ben Folds. Not to mention his New York club performances, like the famed Birdland Jazz Club – where he performed with cabaret icon, Ann Hampton Callaway – and the Bemelman’s Bar in the Carlyle Hotel, where he shared the stage with fashion icon, Isaac Mizrahi.
Lena Siekaly
The Washington Post named Siekaly as “one of Washington’s preeminent jazz singers” and “brightest voices in jazz.” She is establishing her mark in national and international jazz circuits as a revivalist of traditional jazz vocals, including being an innovator in contemporary vocal jazz styles.
In 2015, she was a semi-finalist at the Thelonious Monk Institute International Jazz Vocals Competition. She is also an alum of the Betty Carter Jazz Ahead program in D.C. After her performance with JAG at the 2017 JazZoo, she received an immediate invitation from JAG Artistic Director Byron Stripling to appear on its 2018-2019 season at the Southern Theatre.
Click here to learn more about Unforgettable: Love Songs of Nat King Cole & Others.
Bethany Schultz is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at lfreudenberg@cityscenemediagroup.com.
