Yuletide Swing with Special Guest Bill Hyland ImpresaRIO Series Hosted by Rio Clemente

Friday, December 7, 2001  at 8pm Tickets: $15 Your browser doesn't support EMBED, but you can still listen to the background sound of this page by<a href="sound/be-happy.mid"> clicking here. </a> Play music?

The December ImpresaRIO program is truly a “special” one, in part because of the unique performance date but mostly because of the selection and arrangements of the chosen compositions.  Rusty Springfield and Russ Moy will supply the rhythmic underpinnings and some truly original solo work in support of Rio’s piano fantasies.

Guest artist Bill Hyland is a multi-talented reed player whose musical career started in high school, and has continued at various levels of intensity ever since.  Early on he was a staff musician at the CBS radio outlet in Philadelphia and performed with Sarah Vaughan, Rosemary Clooney, Joel Grey, and Eddie Fisher and in numerous touring bands including Alvino Rey and Mal Hallett.

During an extensive career as a lawyer Bill served four years as Attorney General of New Jersey (1974-1978.)  In 1974 he performed Floyd Werle’s “Concerts for Alto Saxophone Doubling Clarinet” on public television, and later the Debussy “Rhapsody for Saxophone” with the New Jersey Pops at Waterloo Village and in Short Hills.

On the Jazz side Bill appeared frequently with close friend (and legal client) Benny Goodman during his lifetime.  Since Mr. Goodman’s death, Bill, who was named co-executor of the Goodman estate, has played in a number of tributes to the late jazz legend, performing on the clarinet Mr. Goodman left him.  One of these performances was at the New Jersey Jazz Society’s 50^th anniversary commemoration of Goodman’s famous Carnegie Hall concert in 1938!

Bill also played the Newport Jazz festival and in numerous other settings with such notables as Teddy Wilson, Lionel Hampton, PeeWee Erwin, Bobby Rosengarten, Bucky and John Pizzarelli, Dr. Billy Taylor, Dick Hyman, and Matt Hinton.  He is a frequent performer at Shanghi Jazz in Madison.

Well!  Enough said!  With the “Rio Trio” and Bill Hyland’s wonderful clarinet this promises to be a virtuoso celebration of the 2001 Holiday Season.  Come join us -- $15.00 including snack – 8 PM Friday December 7^th.