New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ UE3 Promotions) Fresh off her current tour with
Valerie Simpson paying tribute to the musical legacy of the late singer/songwriter Nick Ashford, NYC based recording artist
Valerie Ghent celebrates the release of her highly anticipated new CD, "Day To Day Dream," Wednesday June 27 with a special performance at Sugar Bar.
Featuring 11 songs of love, determination and celebration -- all written, arranged and produced by Ghent -- "Day To Day Dream" is a tour de force of driving piano, emotive vocals, a killer rhythm section and the singer/pianist's deep NYC blues-soul groove.
At Sugar Bar, Ghent will perform with many of the all-star musicians on her newest CD, set for release June 26 on valghent.com, CDBaby & iTunes.
These include bassist Tinker Barfield (Luther Vandross, Ashford & Simpson), drummer
Kevin Johnson (Curtis Mayfield, Cassandra Wilson), percussionist Bashiri Johnson (Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston), vocalists Alfa Anderson (Chic, Luther Vandross) and Keith Fluitt (Nona Hendryx, Roberta Flack), trumpeter Steven Bernstein (Levon Helm), saxophonist Paul Shapiro (Jay-Z, Lou Reed), harmonica master
Dennis Moriarty and bassist/producer Francis Mbappe, from Cameroon via Paris.
A native New Yorker with a 3 1/2 octave range, Ghent has released four CDs on her own label, toured as a keyboardist and vocalist with Ashford & Simpson and Debbie Harry, and shared stages with a diverse array of artists, including Dr. Maya Angelou, Billy Preston,
Iggy Pop and Defunkt. Working closely with Ashford & Simpson as keyboardist, vocalist and recording engineer for over two decades, Ghent has recorded their music as well as collaborations with Angelou, Nina Simone, Sir Cliff Richard,
Roberta Flack and many others. Ghent is also the founder of Songwriter's Beat, a monthly night for performing songwriters and director of Feel the Music!, an arts education nonprofit she founded after volunteering during the 9/11 recovery.
Sugar Bar, owned by Ashford & Simpson since 1996, is located on Manhattan's Upper West Side at 254 W. 72nd Street. Showtime is 8 p.m., admission $10, with a two drink minimum. Reservations: 212.579.0222.
