About this Event
The Sean Nelson Jazz Orchestra is a "full bodied and polished brassy big band" (Jazz Weekly) made up of 17 of the finest musicians in New England. Formed in 2016 as the New London Big Band, for the past nine years they have played monthly for sold out crowds at the Social Bar + Kitchen in New London CT. The band has performed all over the country, including the Kennedy Center (Washington DC), the Birdland Jazz Club (NYC), Monks Jazz Club (Austin TX), and Hallowed Halls (Portland OR). The band has released three albums, the most recent of which, “Don’t Stop Now: the lost music of Thad Jones for Harry James,” reached #29 on the jazz radio charts.
The band’s sound is rooted in the Kansas City swing of Count Basie, “swinging high, hard, and hot” (All About Jazz.) "Nelson...has assembled a youthful, sharp, hip 17-piece ensemble as dedicated as he is to the belief that big band sounds can provide a fine musical experience — one best served up live, where the groove and excitement of the arrangements and instrumental interplay can energize and pack a dance floor across generations." (The Day of New London)
Sean Nelson is the leader and founder of the band. By day, he is enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard, where he plays trombone with the Coast Guard Band’s concert band and jazz ensembles, serves as staff arranger, and is music director for the Guardians Big Band.
Nelson was music director and arranger for the 2024 National Christmas Tree Lighting with the Coast Guard's Guardians Big Band, creating over 500 pages of arrangements. This was performed in front of the White House and seen nationally on CBS. Sean was one of two composers that co-created the official song of the Space Force, Semper Supra, which is now part of every Armed Forces Medley. He also composed the official song for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officer corps (one of the eight federal uniformed services). He has won the National Band Association Young Composers Jazz Composition Contest and is a two time winner of Downbeat Magazine’s jazz arranging award. He currently works as the arranger for Sam Houston State University Bearkat Marching Band. Sean's big band arrangements are published at iJazzmusic.com.
A native of Dallas, Texas, Sean received a Bachelor of Music degree from Sam Houston State University and a Master of Music degree from the University of North Texas. While at North Texas, he was trombonist and composer for the One O’Clock Lab Band and sang with the Jazz Singers I. Sean’s trombone quartet won the International Trombone Association Quartet Contest. He spent his summers and winter breaks playing in house bands on cruise ships for Princess Cruises and Cunard Cruises.
Sean lives in Quaker Hill, Connecticut, with his wife Megan and children Lucinda, Giles, McCoy, and Cab.
Sean is a performing artist for S.E. Shires trombones and Denis Wick mouthpieces and mutes.
Leala Cyr Bio:
Leala Cyr is fast becoming one of the most sought-after jazz vocalists of her generation. A rare “double threat,” Cyr complements her impeccable vocals with a warm, golden tone on the trumpet. As a member of Esperanza Spalding’s “Radio Music and Chamber Music Societies,” she has performed around the world and has appeared on The Late Show, The Tonight Show, The View, The Daily Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Austin City Limits, and more.
In February 2019, Cyr released her debut album, First Instinct. A blend of originals and standards, the album showcases her unique talent for vocal improvisation as well as her ingenuity as a songwriter and arranger.
Leala has appeared with her own group at highly regarded venues such as Cornelia Street Café, National Sawdust, Zinc Bar, and Rockwood Music Hall in New York City; Ryles Jazz Club, the Bee Hive, and the Beat Brew Hall in Boston; the Egg in Albany, NY; the Blue Opus in Green Bay, WI; and at the Baby Grand Jazz Series and Black Eyed Sally's in Hartford, CT.
Her current collaborations range from membership in Jody Redhage Ferber’s group Rose and the Nightingale to an upcoming album with Milton Nascimento, Ricardo Vogt, and Pedro Bernardo.
Over the years, Leala has shared the stage with the likes of Milton Nascimento (in front of 100,000 people at “Rock in Rio”), Terri Lyne Carrington, Ivan Lins, Jamey Haddad, Gretchen Parlato, Nicole Zuraitis, Jeff “Tain” Watts, James Genus, Paul Winter, Guinga, Tia Fuller, Darmon Meader, and Ray Angry.
Highlights from Cyr’s college and high school days include being named Down Beat Magazine’s 2005 “Best Jazz Vocalist” in the college division, receiving the World Tour Scholarship to study at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, and performing with her high school jazz band at the prestigious Essentially Ellington Competition at Lincoln Center in NYC.
A native of Pulaski, WI, Leala now resides in CT, where she is actively involved in a number of music scenes and is adjunct faculty at the Hartt School of Music and UConn.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
The Side Door , 85 Lyme St, Old Lyme, United States
USD 22.68 to USD 43.86
