Evento

Kelly Park 16 piece BIG Band with George Cole

The Kelly Park Big Band was founded in 2014. The band is dedicated to the writing and performance of fresh original music and arrangements, it is designed to be a concert band, not a dance band. Although much of the music is composed and arranged by Kelly, he has created a platform that gives band members and local composers an opportunity to write for a big band with no constraints; an opportunity to be as free and creative as possible.

Kelly Park is a former faculty member and alumnus of the Berklee College of Music, Boston MA. He has been a fixture of the San Francisco Bay Area music scene for many years, most notably as Musical Director of the Rrazz Room, the premier SF nightclub from 2007-2013. There he performed with such stars as Loretta Devine, Keely Smith, Pia Zadora, the Shirrelles, Deborah Gibson, Trini Lopez, Deana Martin, and many others. He has performed throughout the United States and Europe, and was the owner of the jazz club Kelly's of Alameda.

George Cole: guitarist, vocalist, composer, lyricist, producer, arranger, music educator, and San Francisco native is a consummate performer, bringing vast experience and enormous talent to each show and every project he is a part of. George played lead guitar in the bands: Young Country, The Upstarts, Zula Pool, Beatnik Beatch (Atlantic Records), and Big Blue Hearts (Geffen/Interscope). He has toured with Joe Walsh, recorded with producer Roy Thomas Baker (Queen, Foreigner, The Cars), and performed, played guitar and sang duets with jazz legend Keely Smith. He recorded on Chris Isaak's platinum selling Forever Blue album. George was guitar instructor and mentor to Billie Joe Armstrong and Mike Dirnt of Green Day.

Garnering rave reviews and standing ovations, George has dazzled audiences at musical landmarks across the country. He continues to tour, compose and record extensively while placing music education and his students as a high priority. He is curator/director of violin and guitar for the annual Esprit de Django et Stéphane Festival at The Freight and Salvage in Berkeley. George and the band are now in preproduction for a new record with Grammy Award winner John Cuniberti.