Dennis Spears and Ginger Commodore: Divas/Divos & All That Jazz

What is a Jazz Singer? The basic clues involve the phrasing and inflections that a singer who has a jazz background will bring to almost every kind of performance and to what extent they are evident in an individual performance. A feeling for the blues, an essential for a jazz musician, is equally essential for a jazz singer. You will at least get a glance at almost every kind of vocal jazz, with one of its more rewarding aspects being that every vocal performance is backed up by strong instrumental performances.

Ginger & Dennis bring Jazz at its Diva/Divo best. Roll-call: Divas Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Betty Carter, Carmen MacRae, Ernestine Anderson, Dinah Washington. And Divos Jimmy Smith, Al Jarreau, Jon Hendricks, Nat King Cole, Joe Williams, Billy Eckstine, Lou Rawls. Jazz is the music of no boundaries. And the more comfortable we are onstage, the better we can do our jobs of entertaining the audiences.

Ginger Commodore is a singer, songwriter and actress who enjoys an illustrious career in the Twin Cities area. She is an original member of the Grammy Award-winning singing ensemble The Sounds of Blackness. She honed her Gospel talents while singing with The Steele’s and the Sam Davis Gospel Ensemble. Ginger is also an original member of the vocal jazz ensemble Moore by Four and performs with them regularly. Ginger’s theatrical credits include productions with the Minnesota Opera Company, the Mixed Blood Theatre, the Children’s Theatre Company, Hey City Theatre, the Penumbra Theatre Company, Chanhassen Dinner Theater and Park Square Theatre. Ginger’s career has led her to travel the world performing across the United States, in Italy, England, Finland, Portugal, and Japan. She has expanded into producing and performing in tribute shows in the Twin Cities. These shows have been in tribute to Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Natalie Cole, Roberta Flack and Nancy Wilson. Ginger is a teaching artist with the Vocal Essence “Witness” School Program and recently debuted as Musical Director for the musical ‘Memphis’ presented by the Bloomington Center for the Arts.

Dennis Spears is a 2013 inductee into the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame. As a jazz vocalist, Spears has performed on stages nationally and internationally. He was awarded Best Male Jazz Vocalist by the Minnesota Jazz Music Awards and has many recordings to his credit. Spears is a proud Penumbra Theatre company member and has also performed roles with the Guthrie Theater, Illusion Theater, Mixed Blood, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Hartford Stage, Actor’s Theatre of Louisville, Chanhassen Dinner Theatre and The Kennedy Center. For his portrayal of one of his music idols, Nat King Cole, Spears was awarded an Ivey Award for Excellence in Acting. Dennis is currently Artistic Director with Capri Theater, Minneapolis MN.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Crooners MainStage, 6161 Hwy 65 NE, Minneapolis, United States

Concerts, fests, parties, meetups - all the happenings, one place.

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