April 18, 2014

What pairs better than the swinging sounds of jazz and the aroma of coffee? On April 25 and 26 at 8:15 pm, Naturally Sharp’s 15 singers, Drexel University’s vocal jazz ensemble, will strike up at the City View Room (sixth floor of MacAlister Hall, 3250 Chestnut St) and transport audiences through “anything that swings” from the last 100 years of jazz.

The concert will celebrate big band favorites by Duke Ellington, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Harold Arlen and W.C. Hardy, as well as the contemporary arrangements of the New York Voices and the Manhattan Transfer. Occurring during national Jazz Appreciation Month, the performance is an ideal opportunity to invoke the city’s rich jazz history of John Coltrane, Billie Holiday and Grover Washington.

Naturally Sharp is an auditioned group of 15 singers who perform in formal evening wear and with a three-piece back-up band. This is their eighth annual end-of-the-year Coffee & Jazz concert. Tickets are $7 at the door, and complimentary dessert bars, gourmet cookies and lemonade will also be served. For more information call 215-895-ARTS or email les98@drexel.edu.