Sat May 2
Lena Seikaly & the Chris Grasso Trio
6PM / $30 | $2.82 Fees Get Tickets
Lena Seikaly & the Chris Grasso Trio
A fixture on the D.C. jazz scene for over 15 years, vocalist and DC area-native Lena
Seikaly is already making her mark in national and international jazz circles as a
revivalist of traditional jazz vocals, as well as an innovator in contemporary vocal jazz
styles. She’ll appear at Mr. Henry’s with Chris Grasso (piano), Jeff Reed (bass) and
Quincy Phillips (drums).
Lena was one of eleven semi-finalists for the prestigious 2015 Thelonious Monk
Institute International Jazz Vocals Competition in L.A., is an alum of the Betty Carter
Jazz Ahead program in DC, the Jazz Aspen Snowmass program directed by Christian
McBride, and the Strathmore Artist-in-Residence program in Maryland. Both as a
bandleader and featured artist, Lena has headlined at Jazz at Lincoln Center Shanghai
(China), the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Strathmore Music Center,
Blues Alley, the Hamilton, West Virginia Public Radio’s Mountain Stage, Sidney Harman
Hall, various Smithsonian venues and DC’s famed Westminster Church, as well as the
Elkhart Jazz Festival (Elkhart, IN), Mel Bay Jazz Festival (St. Louis, MO), Chestertown
Jazz Festival (Chestertown, MD), DC Jazz Festival (Washington, DC), and Center City
Jazz Festival (Philadelphia, PA). She has performed alongside Byron Stripling, Christian
McBride, Sean Jones, Cyrus Chestnut, Norman Simmons, Walter Blanding, Michael
Feinstein, Duduka da Fonseca, and various big bands including the USAF Airmen of
Note, U.S. Army Blues, Columbus Jazz Orchestra, Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks
Orchestra, Capitol Bones Big Band, Alan Baylock Jazz Orchestra and the Bohemian
Caverns Jazz Orchestra.
Lena has released four albums under her name between 2009 and 2018, all of which
were released at Blues Alley. Her music is played regularly on DC’s jazz station WPFW
89.3, and “A Little Closer” was featured on Washington DC’s NPR station, WAMU 88.5
shortly after its release. A proud Palestinian American, Lena has also been involved in
many Arabic fusion projects both in the U.S. and abroad — in summer of 2015, she
toured in Palestine (West Bank) and Israel as the featured vocalist with Al-Manara, a
European-Palestinian ensemble performing original music based on the life of its
Palestinian composer and founder, Ramzi Aburedwan.?
Website: www.lenaseikaly.com
Video: https://tinyurl.com/LenaChrisForHeavensSake
6PM / $30 | $2.82 Fees Get Tickets