October 1 2024
For immediate release

Contact:
Andrew Wood: 415-399-9554 (o) 415-305-1102 (c) [email protected]
Lucho Ramirez: 415-425-0445 [email protected]

SF International Arts Festival Presents
A Celebration of Black Music
Lift Every Voice
with the Dee Spencer Trio

Calendar Editors Please Note
Who: Dee Spencer Trio with Michelle Jacques, Clairdee and 12 Community Singers
What: Lift Every Voice
Where: Joe Henderson Lab, SFJAZZ
Address: 201 Franklin Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102.
Date & Time: Fri-Sun January 17-19, 7:00pm.
Tickets: FREE.
Box Office and Information: https://www.sfjazz.org 415-788-7353

Photos Available on Request

October 1, 2024 San Francisco: San Francisco International Arts Festival (SFIAF) is proud to present the Dee Spencer Trio with special guest vocalists Michelle Jacques and Clairdee and 12 soloists drawn from the community. Lift Every Voice is a series of special live concerts that celebrates Black music rooted in traditions such as gospel, blues and jazz.

Lift Every Voice is a project designed to provide opportunities for members of the community to engage with professional singers and musicians in the exploration of Black/African American music.

The community singers were recruited by Dee Spencer through her CALLING ALL SINGERS audition process. Selected participants are receiving free coaching during rehearsals that focus on vocal and microphone technique, stage presence and communicating with musicians.

Dee Spencer said of her motivations in creating the program, "We hope the concerts will inject audiences and participants with a renewed sense of cultural pride and respect for the contributions of historical individuals who have composed and/or performed Black/African American music throughout the ages."

Lift Every Voice will be performed in association with SFJAZZ on January 17 - 19 -- the weekend of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Bank Holiday. The concerts are presented to the public FREE OF CHARGE.

Biographies

Dee Spencer (Arrangements, Piano & Vocals)
Dee Spencer is a Professor of Jazz and Musical Theatre in the School of Theatre & Dance at San Francisco State University (SFSU). Dee received her B.S. from Florida A&M; M.M. at Washington University in St. Louis; and EdD, University of San Francisco.  Dee founded the Jazz Studies degree program in the School of Music at SFSU and served as director for five years. Dee founded the San Francisco Jazz Organization (SFJAZZ) education program. Her former students include recording artists/producers, Braxton Brothers, Beyonce’s music director, saxophonist Tia Fuller, and Lauren Hill’s music director, saxophonist Howard Wiley.

Michelle Jacques (Vocals & Choir Master)
For over 20 years Michelle has taught educational programs for the San Francisco Symphony's Adventures in Music, Cazadero Performing Arts Family Camp, education programs/workshops at Stern Grove, the Bay Area Discovery Museum, Yerba Buena Gardens in San Francisco, CMEA Bay Section Conference Clinician, conductor for the Oakland Youth Chorus, lecturer at University of San Francisco on music standards in education K through 8 and choral director at the Oakland School for the Arts 6th through 12th grades.

Clairdee (Vocals)
Clairdee moved to the Bay Area in 1986 where she began working with her mentor, drummer Billy Higgins, as well as trumpeter Eddie Henderson, saxophonist John Handy, and pianists Roland Hanna and Allen Farnham. Herdiscography includes three albums as leader. A passionate advocate for arts education, Clairdee is a former vocal jazz instructor at UC Berkeley's Jazz Department and Diablo Valley College, and is a teaching artist with SFJAZZ and the San Francisco Symphony’s education programs.

Jewell McMillon (Bass)
Jewell is a bassist, music artist and mathematician from the Bay Area who has been a member of the musician and artist community in the Bay for the last five years. She is heavily influenced by all styles of Black American Music and her peers in the community. She’s recently had the pleasure of being a member of bands that played at the 2023 Black Joy Parade, The Chapel, and California Academy of Sciences and is excited about continuing to share community and music with the Bay Area and beyond.

Jayla Hernandez (Drums)
Jayla is a drummer, student and jazz enthusiast, who embodies the sound of West Oakland soul infused with the energy of young artists just like herself. Jayla Graduated from Oakland School from the Arts in 2020 and is currently pursuing her BM in Jazz Studies at San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Jayla has had the pleasure of working with various artist through the years and plans to continue that journey while playing and exploring the world of Black Music.

Funding Credits: Lift Every Voice for Dr. King is made possible in part by the support of the Dream Keepers Initiative Program of the San Francisco Arts Commission and SFJAZZ.

Calendar Editors Please Note
Who: Dee Spencer Trio with Michelle Jacques & Clairdee
What: Lift Every Voice
Where: Joe Henderson Lab, SFJAZZ
Address: 201 Franklin Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102.
Date & Time: Fri-Sun January 17-19, 7:00pm.
Tickets: FREE.
Box Office and Information: https://www.sfjazz.org 415-788-7353

Photos Available on Request