Season 2008-09

A TRIBUTE TO BENNY GOODMAN & PEGGY LEE

Biographies

Everett Longstreth

Everett Lonstreth began his musical career touring with his father’s orchestra, playing “The Ballroom Circuit” in the Mid-West and South. After completion of military service, he furthered his studies at Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. Upon graduation from Berklee College, Everett joined the Woody Herman Orchestra and toured with “The Thundering Herd.”

Upon leaving Woody’s band, he was offered a faculty position at Berklee School of Music as an instructor of Arranging, Theory and Big-Band Performance. During this period, he maintained an active schedule both as a player and arranger in a wide variety of musical settings, including Broadway shows, supper clubs, and live performances with such show business luminaries as Steve Allen, Frank Sinatra, Jr., Helen Forest, Liza Minelli, Mitzi Gaynor, Tony Orlando, the Ink Spots and, believe it or not, James Brown.

Everett has had wide experience working with orchestras such as Jimmy Dorsey, Nelson Riddle, and Harry James sporadically over the past three decades. He has contributed to Jazz Educational Television and has numerous recordings to his credit, both as a player and as an arranger and orchestrator.

Since forming his own orchestra and performing “A Tribute to Benny Goodman,” Everett and his band have appeared regularly in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, and Hawaii, as well as numerous cities and towns, large and small throughout the United States. His band is a perennial favorite on cruise ships booked well into the 21 st century.

Everett has authored many Big-Band arrangements used by clinicians and educators at music schools and music camps throughout America. He also has a collection of original material published by Maher Publications in conjunction with Downbeat Magazine. He also has published textbooks on orchestra arranging, which are widely used at the high school and collegiate level. In 2005, The Everett Lonstreth Scholarship in Music was established at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA.

Amanda Carr

Amanda’s versatility in both singing, performing and composing is a result nearly 3 decades as a professional musician. Daughter of Big Band vocalist Nancy Carr, and trumpet player Nick Capezuto, Amanda began playing piano and singing at age 5. Early on she studied classical piano under the direction of Gerhardt Scherstedt at the South Shore Conservatory of Music and went on to the University of Lowell, College of Music in 1980 under their scholarship program. Among her multi-styled performances and projects, she travels and sings internationally with the Benny Goodman Tribute Orchestra and is also featured with the Artie Shaw Band, led by renowned clarinetist Dick Johnson, The Harry James Band led by Fred Radke, and the Glen Miller Band.

Amanda’s first jazz vocal recording, Carr Toons, impacted New England and abroad with her swinging version of the 1940’s war song, Don’t Sit Under the AppleTree, airing regionally in the popular and controversial GAP parody television commercial, Jordan’s Swings. Her sultry singing style weaves gracefully through jazz standards and offers up some striking original material with each recording.

In 1998, Amanda headlined at the world renown, EuroJazz Festival in Italy, where she shared the stage with International jazz artists, James Moody and Goerge Mraz. The national media attention she received prompted her to return in March of 1999, recording and releasing Live in San Giorgio. Her eclectic album credits include her composing and playing with the late great Dave Guard from the Kingston Trio and a spot on The Old Vienna Kaufeehaus’ album featuring New England’s best singer/songwriters. Currently, Amanda owns and operates a successful recording studio in Braintree, Massachusetts, along with composer/director, Bob Pascarella. Amanda released Tender Trap in the Fall of 2004.

In addition to dozens of TV and radio commercials, she has composed and performed award-winning music for two PBS major network documentaries, The Story of Golf, narrated by Jim McKay, and has earned a National Emmy Nomination and has aired as a CBS Network special during the 2000 and 2001 Masters Tournament. A frequent radio talk show guest, her voice and personality are no stranger to the airwaves. Her on-camera appearances include both hosting and performing. Scoring original music for Red Sox Home Run Heroes and the millennium award-winning hit, Boston Red Sox, 100 Years of Baseball History, Amanda has appeared a number of times to sing the National Anthem at Boston’s historical Fenway Park.

“…a fresh and addicting voice. The Cream of the Crop”
Ron Della Chiesa, WGBH Radio, host of The American Songbook

“An excellent vocalist with a strinking personality who has captivated Italy”
Sergio Giolito, La Sentinella del Canavese