February 21, 2014
MEDIA CONTACT
Media: Su Byron § [email protected]
The Jazz Club of Sarasota Presents
Tom Ellison and Hip Pocket
In a “Joy of Jazz” Concert
March 9, 2 p.m. § Centennial Park in Venice
(Sarasota, Florida) The Jazz Club of Sarasota’s 2014 Joy of Jazz concert series concludes with Tom Ellison and Hip Pocket, March 9, 2014, 2 p.m., in Centennial Park in downtown Venice. The concert is free but donations are accepted in support of the Jazz Club’s scholarship fund. Guests are encouraged to bring lawn chairs and blankets. For more information, call 941-366-1552 or visit www.jazzclubsarasota.org. The series is sponsored by the Gulf Coast Community Foundation.
Tom Ellison took up the saxophone at age seven, and by 12 had already played his first professional gig, performing with his father’s band. That concert sparked Ellison’s lifelong passion for live performance and marked the beginning of an illustrious musical career that has included performing with such greats as Tony Bennett, Johnny Mathis, Henry Mancini, Woody Herman, Aretha Franklin, the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, the Four Tops and the Temptations. Ellison stayed busy in Rochester, New York’s music scene for years before moving to Venice in 2010, where he quickly joined the Suncoast’s flourishing jazz circuit. He is a member of several regional ensembles, including the Naples Jazz Orchestra, the Ken Loomer Big Band and the Sarasota Jazz Project Big Band, and has performed with the Venice Symphony Orchestra and the Naples Philharmonic. In 2012, Ellison joined forces with pianist Matt Bokulic, bassist Don Mopsick and drummer Chuck Parr to form Hip Pocket, which has quickly become a popular fixture on the area jazz scene.
“We’re pleased to close out another successful Joy of Jazz season with the inspired sounds of Tom Ellison and Hip Pocket,” says Jazz Club of Sarasota board member and series producer Bill Beckman. “These four musicians present a wealth of musical experience, as well as some of the best interpretations of classic and contemporary jazz around. It’s going to be another swinging Sunday afternoon in Centennial Park!”
For more information about the Jazz Club of Sarasota, call 941-366-1552, or visit www.jazzclubsarasota.org.
About the Jazz Club of Sarasota
The Jazz Club of Sarasota’s mission is to promote, preserve, and educate people about jazz, the original American art form. Founded in 1980 by the late Hal Davis, the club presents ongoing concert series, events, lectures and the annual Sarasota Jazz Festival.
