New York, NY (Top40 Charts) "DIVA has long been a swinging unit, and Maricle has a reputation for seeking out the top female players for her "No Man's Band," many of whom have graduated and become prominent leaders themselves. Without surprise, the DIVA Jazz Orchestra plays Mandel's charts with the finesse of veterans who have played them night after night for years, the ensembles are flawless, and there are too many outstanding soloists to list."
-Ken Dryden, AllMusic.Com
"The band punched, kicked, roared and swung with a disciplined abandon and an unaffected joie de vivre."
-JazzTimes
"If there were still big band cutting sessions, DIVA would swing a lot of the remaining big bands out of the place."
-Nat Hentoff, Jazz Times
"DIVA: Big time charts, big time playing and big time solos."
-The Hollywood Reporter
"[DIVA's] ensemble sound crackles with clarity, precision and power."
-The Hartford Courant
"DIVA played with the vigor and complexity of the big time big bands."
-The Washington Post
"[In concert with
Diane Schuur] the band navigated through music that transcended boundaries of time and style."
-Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"There are not many veteran bands that interpret cutting-edge original arrangements with such tight ensembles and strong improvisers."
-International Herald Tribune
"Everybody in that band was powerful… Their set [in concert with Nancy Wilson], powered by drummer-leader Sherrie Maricle, smoked."
-The Plain Dealer, Cleveland
Headed by
Music Director/Drummer Sherrie Maricle, DIVA exudes the excitement and force found in the tradition of the historic big bands but with an eye towards today's progressive sound and originality. With New York as their home base, DIVA performs all over the world playing contemporary, mainstream big band jazz composed and arranged to fit the individual personalities and styles of the players.
The inspiration for DIVA came from Stanley Kay, one-time manager and relief drummer for
Buddy Rich. In 1990, Kay was conducting a band in which Sherrie Maricle was playing the drums. Stanley immediately picked up on her extraordinary talent and began to wonder if there were other women players who could perform at the same level. The search was on and through nationwide auditions, the foundation for DIVA was poured in of June 1992 and what emerged is the dynamic musical force that holds forth to the present day.
Since their premiere performance over 25 years ago (March 30th, 1993 at New York University), DIVA has toured the world to critical and popular acclaim. To fully grasp how wide the appeal is of this incredibly gifted ensemble, one has only to read the catalog of prestigious venues in which the band has performed. Here is but a partial list: Carnegie Hall with the New York Pops Orchestra, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, Verizon Jazz Festival at Lincoln Center, Blue Note, Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Birdland and the Apollo Theater in New York. Add to that the Jazz Showcase in Chicago, Manchester Craftsmen's Guild in Pittsburgh, and Symphony Halls in St. Louis, Philadelphia and Cleveland, plus the Playboy Jazz Festival at the Hollywood Bowl and Cinegrill in Hollywood. International appearances include Le Meridien Hotel in Paris, France; Teatro de Sistina in Rome, Italy; Berlin Jazz Festival in Germany; Salzburg
Music Festival in Austria; Bern Jazz Festival in Switzerland; Montreal and Ottawa International Jazz Festivals in Canada; Bogota International Jazz Festival in Colombia;
Jamaica Jazz Festival; Zagreb Jazz Festival in Croatia; and the Pori Jazz Festival in Finland.
As if the list of settings in which DIVA has performed isn't impressive enough, in 2017 the band was performed at the NEA Jazz Master's Awards Ceremony at the Kennedy Center; from 2013 to the present day the band tours and is featured in Maurice Hines's autobiographical musical Tappin' Through Life, performing extended runs at New World Stages in New York City;
Arena Stage in Washington, DC; the Alliance Theater in Atlanta; the Wallis Performing Art Center in Los Angeles; Cleveland Playhouse; and Delaware Theatre Company. DIVA has also shared the stage with Nancy Wilson, Joe Williams,
Diane Schuur, Carmen Bradford, Marlena Shaw, Dee Daniels, DeeDee Bridgewater, Rosemary Clooney, Ann Hampton Callaway, Jack Jones, Clark Terry, Dr. Billy Taylor, Terry Gibbs, Tommy Newsom, Randy Brecker, Dave Brubeck and more.
The band has also made several notable television and film appearances including performing the soundtrack for the 2014 NBC/Macy's Firework Spectacular, a feature in the award-winning documentary film, The Girls in the Band, multiple appearances on CNN Arts Break, a dedicated segment on CBS Sunday Morning, and musical features as part of The Kennedy Center's 25th Anniversary Special, the Japanese television network NHK, and Metropol TV in Germany.
DIVA boasts of a very impressive series of recordings. Their most recent release, The DIVA Jazz Orchestra's 25th Anniversary Project (ArtistShare, 2018) was preceded by the critically-acclaimed Special Kay (2016), original music of DIVA founder Stanley Kay and A Swingin' Life (2014), featuring Grammy Award winner Nancy Wilson and the soulful Marlena Shaw. Other DIVA recordings include: Johnny Mandel: The Man and his Music, recorded live at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola and conducted by Mandel himself; Live From Jazz at Lincoln Center's Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola, featuring supremely swinging vocalist Carmen Bradford (2008); TNT - Tommy Newsom Tribute, a compilation of charts the late Mr. Newsom arranged exclusively for DIVA (2005); Live in Concert (2002); I Believe in You (1999); Leave It To DIVA (1997); and Something's Coming (1995).
This 25-year benchmark inspired
Music Director/Drummer, Sherrie Maricle, to reflect deeply about the outstanding talent that has shaped the band and the writers (including band members) who have given DIVA the brilliant musical means to showcase and highlight that talent. As Sherrie thought about the current band, she had the realization that most of the players are not only exceptional performers but also gifted composers and arrangers. That, coupled with the fact that many of them have been in the band for 10+, 15+ and 20+ years, and some newer members were once young fans, sparked her vision for DIVA's 25th Anniversary Project. To honor DIVA's 25-year history and legacy of the band's founder, Stanley Kay, Sherrie has tasked herself and asked 8 other band members to compose and arrange an original piece of music to commemorate this significant milestone. To have 10 composers in the band, writing for the band, who have played together for years, who helped forge DIVA's style and sound, who know the band's history, who know and respect each other musically and genuinely like each other, has given them a remarkable opportunity to create and share their first all-original DIVA plays DIVA recording; 9 original writers composing for 15 friends in 1 amazing band. It's DIVA's mission to continue to evolve their powerful, dynamic and precise ensemble sound through the exceptional individual talent within the band and their extraordinary composers and arrangers.
East Coast Andy - Leigh Pilzer - 6:04
Middleground - Janelle Reichman - 6:40
See Saw - Noriko Ueda - 6:59
Jami's Tune -
Barbara Laronga - 6:37
Square One - Alexa Tarantino - 6:19
Darkness of the Matter - Sara Jacovino - 7:40
La Americana - Tomoko Ohno - 5:31
A Quarter Past the Last Minute - Jennifer Krupa - 5:47
Forever in My
Heart - Sherrie Maricle - 7:12
The Rhythm Changes - Sherrie Maricle - 5:37
Label Name: ArtistShare
Street Date: March 30, 2018
Sherrie Maricle -
Music Director/drummer
Noriko Ueda - bass
Tomoko Ohno - piano
Leslie Havens - bass trombone
Sara Jacovino - trombone
Jennifer Krupa - trombone
Rachel Therrien - trumpet, flugelhorn
Barbara Laronga - trumpet, flugelhorn
Jami Dauber - trumpet, flugelhorn, manager
Liesl Whitaker - trumpet, flugelhorn
Leigh Pilzer - baritone saxophone, bass clarinet
Erica von Kleist - tenor saxophone
Janelle Reichman - tenor saxophone, clarinet
Mercedes Beckman - alto saxophone, flute, clarinet
Alexa Tarantino - alto saxophone, soprano saxophone
