The award-winning Karla Harris Quartet kicks off the Arts at the Etherredge Center series at 7 p.m. Sept. 5.
Led by Jazz-Week charting vocalist and songwriter, Karla Harris, the quartet plays a blend of straight-ahead and contemporary jazz paying tribute to legendary jazz artists, as well as pop, R&B and Latin music influences.
“We are thrilled to have such a high-energy performer launch our season for us. Karla is a one-of-a-kind talent, and I know our audiences are going to be wowed by her,” said Paul B. Crook, University of South Carolina Aiken Etherredge Center executive director, in a news release.
According to her website, Harris’s love for singing “started first with a love for words and the power of their expression. As a young girl growing up in the suburbs west of St. Louis, she often would spend Saturday mornings writing little stories. Many afternoons would find her listening to favorites in her parents’ eclectic album collection, singing along.”
She developed a love for the lyrics in the songs of performers such as Nancy Wilson, Billie Holiday, Barbra Streisand, Sammy Davis Jr., the Fifth Dimension and Aretha Franklin. Her early performances were with a cousin at family gatherings.
A graduate of the University of Missouri-St. Louis, she was instrumental in the development of The Land of Music, a multi-disciplinary music curriculum for young learners taught in schools and homes across the United States.
“In the early 2000s, she was lead vocalist in combos led by internationally acclaimed bassist Tom Kennedy, whose credits include such greats as Rosemary Clooney, Freddie Hubbard, Mike Stern, Lee Ritenour, Ben Vereen and Dave Weckl,” her website said.
Harris is an artist-in-residence with the Jazz Studies department at Kennesaw State University, teaching Applied Vocal Jazz to aspiring singers.
She also conducts the Jazz Discovery Series, an educational outreach program focused on jazz music. While in Aiken, she and her group will outreach programs at Aiken Intermediate, New Ellenton Middle School and Jackson Middle School. They will also offer a masterclass for USCA students.
Audiences will also have a chance to get a sneak peak of the concert at Aiken’s Makin’ in front of the Aiken Train Museum, at the corner of Park and Union, at noon Sept. 5.
“We love bringing in artists who are willing and able to get out in the community to provide outreach,” Crook said. “The Etherredge Center and the University are vital parts of Aiken, and we love being able to give back.”
Tickets are $30-35. Go here for tickets.
Charmain Z. Brackett, the publisher of Augusta Good News and Inspiring: Women of Augusta, has covered Augusta’s news for more than 35 years. She’s won multiple Georgia Press Association awards and received the 2018 Greater Augusta Arts Council’s media award. Reach her at charmain@augustagoodnews.com. Sign up for the newsletter here.
