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Merrimans' Playhouse Jazz Performance Series

Presented by Merrimans' Playhouse at Century Center

June 20, 2007

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The sixth in the Merrimans' Playhouse Jazz Performance Series, this performance features The Merriman Trio with special guest, Joan Hickey on piano. The remainder of the trio are South Bend musicians Mary Merriman on double bass, and Stephen Merriman on drums. This concert offers an opportunity to experience the art of jazz in downtown South Bend, that is affordable and family friendly. The performance will be two sets with a 20 minute intermission. Refreshments will be available before and after each set. Cash bar. Also, there will be jazz commentary by Mr. Bill and Mike Cobbler at the beginning of the program. Joan Hickey is an educator and freelance artist throughout Chicago and the greater Midwest. Joan has been teaching and performing in the Chicago area since the 1980's. “Hickey remains one the most appealing and distinctive pianists in the city… (she) produces gorgeously singing lines and unexpected harmonies…The gentility of her touch is matched by the intellectual accomplishment of her improvisation” (Howard Reich, the Chicago Tribune). Joan has performed in such venues as The Jazz Showcase, The Green Mill, Pete Miller’s, and the Chicago Jazz Festival. She has been awarded 2 National Endowment for the Arts grants and an Illinois Arts Council grant in music composition. Her quintet was a finalist in the Hennessy Jazz Competition. The C.D., "Soulmates" was nominated for Best jazz C.D. at the Chicago Music Awards. She performed at the Kennedy Center in May 2006 during the Women in Jazz Festival. Joan has played with Nat Adderly, Von Freeman, Frank Morgan, Lou Tabakin, Jon Faddis, Clark Terry and Buster Williams. Tours include Italy, Sweden, and Denmark with the Jazz Members Big Band featuring Joe Williams, vocalist. Teaching has been an important part of Joan's work for many years. She has taught at Univ. of Illinois, her Alma Mater, since 1994, and Northwestern University with her husband (drummer) Joel Spencer, since 2004. She still keeps a small studio of talented high school jazz students, and has seen them go on to USC, New School, UIUC, and Eastman in jazz studies. Stephen and Mary Merriman put their energy into the art of the jazz trio, and promoting jazz in the South Bend area. They plan to continue bringing high quality jazz artists through Merrimans' Playhouse. Location: Recital Hall, Century Center