Cilla Owens at Adelphi University on April 7 at 7:30 p.m.

Cilla Owens has been called "as smooth as Nancy Wilson, as authoritative as Sarah Vaughan, and as informed as Carmen McRae" - JazzTimes. Join Cilla and her Smooth Sailing Jazz Ensemble for a celebration inspired by Ella Fitzgerald's centennial year and the birthday of Billie Holiday, as well as the music of Peggy Lee, Sarah Vaughan, Betty Carter, and other jazz icons. Cilla will perform on Friday, April 7 at 7:30 p.m. on the Westermann Stage, Concert Hall, Adelphi University Performing Arts Center (AUPAC), 1 South Ave, Garden City, New York.

Cilla Owens' credits include performances at Lincoln Center, the Blue Note, Symphony Space, Carnegie Hall, the Cornelia Street Café, the Iridium, and the Brooklyn Museum. She has performed in Germany and the Caribbean, as well as in the Annual Festival of Jewish Music in Krakow, Poland, and the Blues to Bop Festival in Lugano, Switzerland, both as part of saxophonist Paul Shapiro’s Ribs and Brisket Revue. Their CD Essen received rave reviews.

Cilla was the guest soloist at The Sinatra Centennial Celebration with the Hunter Symphony and Jazz Ensemble featuring trombonist Ryan Keberle, under the direction of Reuben Blundell. For several years she has directed the Hunter Jazz Vocal Workshop and the Jazzvox Ensemble. For over a decade she was a member of The Great Day Chorale, dedicated to the preservation of the Negro Spiritual, founded by the late musicologist Louvinia Pointer. She has continued this mission with Voices of Vision., which has appeared with Jacques D’Amboise’s National Dance Institute’s Event of the Year since 2015. Cilla was the first Katowitz-Radin Artist in Residence for the Brooklyn Collection of the Central Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library in 2015, where she presented Lebendig in Brooklyn, which described the thriving Yiddish theater beyond Second Avenue, and Motown and Beyond, a tribute to the live performances at the Fox and Paramount Theaters. She has also enjoyed a long association with the popular Greek singer Gregory Maninakis and his Mikrokosmos ensemble, and has been a featured soloist in the Greek blues festival, Rebetiko.

The Smooth Sailing Ensemble's collective bio reads like a veritable Who's Who in the music industry. They have performed and/or recorded with artists from all genres, including the following: Sting, Bootsy Collins, Queen Latifah, Lou Reed, Jay-Z, B. B. King, Little Richard, Michael Jackson, King Swallow, Ansel Meditation, Cassandra Wilson, Sheryl Crow, David Byrne, Mercedes Hall, Mabel Lee, Ornette Coleman, Dizzy Gillespie, Cyndi Lauper, David Krakauer, Buddy Guy, Elvis Costello, and John Zorn. Three of the ensemble, Glafkos Kontemeniotis, Sly Scott, and Vince Kazi McCoy, can be heard on Cilla's CD, 'Tis What It Is. Collectively these artists have toured practically every continent and crisscrossed the United States and Europe countless times. Cilla Owens is happy to be able to pull these hardworking musicians together for this special evening. `

Smooth Sailing Ensemble: Mario Sprouse, Glafkos Kontemeniotis – piano; Brad Jones – bass; Tony Lewis, Vince Kazi McCoy – drums; Sly Scott, Paul Shapiro – sax.

AUPAC is one of Long Island’s premier cultural arts venues for entertainment of all kinds. Tickets are currently on sale and are priced at $30, with discounts available to seniors, students and alumni. Information is available at the Lucia and Steven N. Fischer Box Office at 516.877.4000 or boxoffice@adelphi.edu. Regular box office hours are Tuesday through Friday from 1:00-6:00 p.m. The box office is also open two hours before most scheduled performances.

About Adelphi: A modern metropolitan university with a personalized approach to higher learning.

Adelphi University is a highly awarded, nationally ranked, powerfully connected doctoral research university offering exceptional liberal arts and sciences programs and professional training with particular strength in its Core Four—Arts and Humanities, STEM and Social Sciences, Professions, and Health and Wellness. Adelphi is dedicated to transforming students’ lives through small classes, hands-on learning and innovative ways to support student success.

Founded in Brooklyn in 1896, Adelphi is Long Island’s oldest private coeducational university. Today Adelphi serves nearly 7,500 national and international students at its beautiful main campus in Garden City, New York—just 23 miles from New York City’s cultural and internship opportunities—and at dynamic learning hubs in Manhattan, the Hudson Valley and Suffolk County, and online.

More than 100,000 Adelphi graduates have gained the skills to thrive professionally as active, caring citizens, making their mark on the University, their communities and the world beyond.

Contact: Kali Chan, director of media relations, 516.877.4040, chan@adelphi.edu
Adelphi University
1 South Ave
Garden City, NY 11530

This release was published on openPR.