Outdoor Stage
The Fountain Theatre launches its 2022 outdoor summer programming with a new series, Jazz at the Fountain. Acclaimed vocalist Billy Valentine (Billboard chart-topping singer and songwriter) is joined by Grammy-winning saxophonist Tom Scott for an unforgettable night of jazz standards and swinging tunes under the stars on the Fountain's outdoor stage. Stuart Elster (piano), Russ McKinnon (drums), and Chris Colangelo (bass) complete the quartet. Cool music and song for a hot summer night.
Artists:
BILLY VALENTINE - SINGER
STUART ELSTER – PIANO
RUSS MCKINNON – DRUMS
CHRIS COLANGELO – BASS
and special guest –
TOM SCOTT – SAXOPHONE
Multitalented vocalist BILLY VALENTINE’s varied career has taken him across the United States, throughout the many countries of Europe as well as Oman and Egypt.
Billy frequents local Los Angeles clubs, such as Herb Alpert’s Vibrato Grill Jazz (monthly for the past 8+ years), The Baked Potato (established 1970), Casa Del Mar Hotel, Shutters Hotel and some oldies no longer with us, Café Cordiale, Spazio, The Vic.
From the premiere in 2004 for five seasons, Billy’s glorious singing voice could be heard every week on the television series, Boston Legal, from the theme song right through to the end of each and every episode.
Sons of Anarchy was another tv series he also sang on many episodes.
Billy began his professional career as a solo artist opening for such luminaries as Donny Hathaway and Roberta Flack in the 1970s. He also was the lead singer for the group Young Holt Unltd.
Billy and his brother John went on to form the duo The Valentine Brothers, touring and producing four albums from 1975-1989. The duo co-wrote the memorable hit single Money's Too Tight (To Mention), which appeared on their album First Take. Money's Too Tight gained widespread popularity in 1986 when it was released as a single, and on video, performed by Simply Red.
Billy's singing career quickly expanded into theatre and film. In 1977, he toured with the first national touring company of The Wiz as one of its main orchestra voices, staying with the show for over 3 years. In the mid 1980s, he sang lead vocals for the documentary, Champions Forever, a film about Ali, Frazier and Foreman. In the early 1990s, Billy was the singing voice for the lead vocalist character in Robert Townsend's feature film, The Five Heartbeats. He joined the show It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues, performing at the Geffen Theatre in Los Angeles and the San Diego Rep in the late '90s.
Billy's singing talents have also been in demand as a demo recording artist for such high-profile producers and writers as Gerry Goffin, Mark Isham, Burt Bacharach and Hal David.
Keeping pace with his expanding singing career, Billy has written numerous songs, collaborating with such greats as Will Jennings and co-writing three songs on the Neville Bros. Family Groove album. He also co-wrote the title track My World for the incomparable Ray Charles.
During the '70s and '80s, Billy tried his hand at producing with several projects, including Crazy For You, by Sly Stone and Jesse Johnson, two songs on the feature film soundtrack, Soul Man, and the album Vesta from Vesta Williams for A&M Records.
As a musical artist, Billy feels he has been most profoundly influenced by the soulful talents of Otis Redding, Nat King Cole and Carmen MacRae.
CD’s available on ITunes - Travelin’ Light (American songbook), Brit Eyed Soul (a soulful spin on famous English songs), and Timing Is Everything (originals by Billy and Jeff Silbar).
TOM SCOTT is a renowned composer, arranger, producer, music director, saxophonist and educator. His 33 solo recordings have earned him 13 Grammy nominations and 3 Grammy awards. In 2013 he produced a CD for young ukulele master Brittni Paiva which won a Hawaiian Grammy for 'Ukulele Album of the Year', and in 2017 received his first Emmy Award nomination for Musical Direction of the Tony Bennett 90th Birthday TV Special on NBC.
Tom’s career as a guest artist spans more than 500 recordings—by such diverse artists as Barbra Streisand, Quincy Jones, Thelonius Monk, the Blues Brothers, Frank Sinatra, Aretha Franklin and Aerosmith. His numerous contributions as a player and arranger include Joni Mitchell’s Court and Spark and Miles of Aisles, Steely Dan’s Aja and Gaucho; hit singles like Carole King’s Jazzman, Paul McCartney’s Listen to What the Man Said, Rod Stewart’s Do You Think I’m Sexy, Blondie’s Rapture, Toto’s Rosanna, Whitney Houston’s Saving All My Love for You; and on countless movie soundtracks such as Taxi Driver, The Jerk, Three Days of the Condor, Heaven Can Wait, Sea of Love, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc. and the latest release of A Star Is Born.
Other achievements include composing film scores, among them Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, Uptown Saturday Night, Stir Crazy, Hanky Panky, The Sure Thing, Soul Man and Shakes the Clown. His television composing and conducting credits include the themes for Family Ties and Starsky & Hutch, background scores for Baretta, Cannon, Barnaby Jones, Streets Of San Francisco, numerous T.V. Movies and Specials. He has served as Musical Director for the Academy Awards, the Emmy Awards (9 times), the People’s Choice Awards, Comic Relief, the Carol Burnett Show, the Pat Sajak Show, Joni Mitchell, George Harrison, Olivia Newton-John, and the GRP All-Star Big Band, among others—and recently completed scoring the HBO documentary “The Super Bob Einstein Movie”. In addition, he is a DJ on KJZZ-FM and has a popular podcast series "Tom Scott's Podcast Express".
RUSS McKINNON has performed well over 3,000 major concert events in more than 40 countries and has played or recorded with some of the biggest names in the music business.
Russ is probably most known for his years as a touring and recording member of the legendary funky horn band, Tower of Power.
McKinnon later became singer/songwriter Barry Manilow’s touring and recording drummer with whom he remained for 17 years. Russ also has toured, performed, and/or recorded with: Joe Cocker, Louis Miguel, David Foster, Bette Midler, Clive Davis, Phil Ramone, Kenny G, The Gap Band, Melissa Manchester, Marie Osmond, and many others.
As a music educator, Russ has conducted drum workshops across Europe, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States.
Russ graduated from The University of Tulsa, in Tulsa, Oklahoma where he doubled majored in music and business. His post graduate studies in music were at the University of North Texas, in Denton, Texas.
STUART ELSTER is from Los Angeles and has been a professional musician for the last 35 years. He has performed or recorded with Donna Summer, Melissa Manchester, Rickie Lee Jones, Chaka Khan, Nicolette Larson, Glen Campbell, Paul Anka, Willie Bobo, Jimmy Witherspoon, Connie Stevens, Carmen McRae, Helen Reddy, and the Smothers Brothers, among many others.
Stuart served as Assistant Conductor and principal keyboardist for the national companies of "Dreamgirls" and "The Lion King". Currently, he is the Musical Director of Shutters on the Beach Hotel and Hotel Casa Del Mar in Santa Monica, CA. He is also the founding Musical Director of the Vic for Jazz Club in Santa Monica, where his trio performed weekly and featured many local and national jazz artists.
Bassist CHRIS COLANGELO is one of the genuine masters on his instrument. The first thing you notice about Chris’s playing — his tone, deeply resonant with astonishing articulation across the instrument’s sonic register. Once you adjust to such reverberant force, you recognize that this is a musician with serious chops … that hard to define, never forgotten lyric quality that separates yeoman time-keepers from bassists with seductive narrative power.
Born in Camden, New Jersey, Chris attended Rowan University, majoring in jazz performance. Then a resident of the Philadelphia area, Chris was part of the local jazz scene, with session work throughout the Delaware Valley, including gigs in Atlantic City. After moving to Los Angeles in late ’91, Chris began performing and traveling with heavyweights such as the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, Count Basie Orchestra, “The Tonight Show Band”, Yusef Lateef, Bob Brookmeyer, Jimmy Cleveland, Alex Acuna, Roy McCurdy, Doc Severinsen, Ernie Watts, Kei Akagi, Les McCann, Richie Cole, Sal Marquez, Joe La Barbera, Bob Mintzer, Arturo Sandoval, Tom Scott and Peter Erskine among many others. He is currently touring with famed vocalists Jack Jones and Mary Wilson.