Under the direction of RCS Music Director, Dr. Graham Bier, Reading Choral Society will be singing Bob Chilcott’s “A Lille Jazz Mass” at the Abe Lincoln Ballroom, 100 N. Fifth St., Reading on April 8 at 4 p.m. Carla Cook, a jazz singer from New York City, will be the featured soloist. A Jazz Trio, consisting of Mary Bishop on Keyboard, Larry Marshall on Drum and Rob Swanson on Bass, will be accompanying Carla and the Reading Choral Society. Carla will also be singing several jazz selections. The Reading Choral Society Chamber Choir will be featured in several songs at this concert.
Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door; students $10. Tickets may be ordered online or call the RCS office at 610-898-1939.
Cook has been influenced by the jazz vocal masters, but equally influenced by phenomenal instrumentalists, like Miles Davis, Wes Montgomery and The Crusaders. The Detroit native also finds inspiration in R&B, Motown, pop, gospel and country. Cook has an improvisational style that’s steeped in the swing tradition yet eclectic, and brimming with fresh interpretations. That sound is a warm contralto with a remarkably wide range of colors; known for her interpretive gifts, Cook can sing in a hefty, bluesy timbre, reach crystal clear high notes, then scat with sure-footed richness; and she does it all with an acute sense of rhythm and timing.
Her remarkable voice has earned Cook a Grammy nomination for her debut album, “It’s All About Love,” and widespread critical acclaim for her two subsequent recordings, “Dem Bones,” and Simply Natural,” which solidified her reputation as a songwriter as well as a singer.
And in an extraordinary career, Cook has performed or recorded as a guest artist with such luminaries as the Count Basie Orchestra and Lionel Hampton’s Big Band. She originated the lead vocal role for Wynton Marsalis’ Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra’s The Cotton Club Parade at City Center. And in 2011, she was the featured vocalist with the world-renowned Jazz Sinfonica, an 82-piece orchestra performing in Sao Paulo, Brazil. In addition to her performing career, Cook is proud of her work as an educator. She has taught master classes at numerous universities and jazz camps in Australia and the U.S. for teens and adults. And since 2007, she has taught jazz voice and ensemble at Temple University in Philadelphia. For several years, the Carla Cook Quintet has offered master classes through The Rhythm Exchange, an interactive Jazz Education Program she created for secondary students in schools throughout the U.S.
In 2016, Cook was named Artist-In-Residence for the Robert S. Duncanson Society in Cincinnati, OH, where she provided educational programming and performances for students of all ages as well as the general public. In 2017 she joined the faculty of Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, N.Y. for a special Residency teaching “Jazz: A Journey in Progress” to graduate students of performance studies.
