June 14, 2017, 7pm: Benefit Concert for Diane “L’il Sax” Ellis

Benefit Concert for Diane “L’il Sax” Ellis

June 14, 2017
Royal Blue Reception: 5:45pm – 6:45pm | Show: 7:00pm
Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts
915 E. 60th Street | Chicago, IL
Sponsored by the Hyde Park Jazz Fest

Tickets: Aqua $100 | Royal Blue $250 | Pink $50
$20 RUSH tickets available only on June 14th (at the Logan Box office in person or by phone from noon until doors open before the show)
All proceeds go to support Diane L’il Sax Ellis’ expenses.

The All-Star lineup includes vocalists Dee Alexander, Maggie Brown, Joan Collaso and Bobbi Wilsyn, saxophonists Ari Brown, Richie Cole and Eric Schneider, pianists Miguel de la Cerna and Willie Pickens, trumpet players Orbert Davis and Victor Garcia, bassist Yosef Ben Israel, with Charles Heath, Ernie Adams and Greg Artry on drums.

Ellis, 62, an award-winning jazz educator, music teacher, and performer, suffered a devastating stroke on stage in April 2016. She remains paralyzed on her left side and is no longer able to work or live independently.

During her 23-year teaching tenure, Arthur Dixon Elementary School in Chatham became the first elementary jazz band to perform at the annual All-City Band Competition.

Ellis taught general music classes and directed after-school programs for more than 650 students from kindergarten through eighth-grade providing authentic experiences in music performance and knowledge about music careers.

Students participated in jam sessions sponsored by the Jazz Institute of Chicago (JIC) at the Chicago Cultural Center and she mentored rising stars, such as Dixon alumnus Marquis Hill, first-place winner of the 2014 Thelonious Monk International Trumpet Competition.

Diane’s musicianship earned her seats in touring bands led by jazz greats Sonny Stitt, Jimmy McGriff and Charles Earland. Ellis comes from a family jazz dynasty. Her uncles are Morris Elis, leader of the Morris Ellis Orchestra, and saxophonist Jimmy Ellis, who released his first CD, “The Jimmy Ellis Quartet Live at Andy’s Jazz Club,” in 2016 at age 85.

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