Gray Sargent & Paul Francis met while touring with Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga. They reunite Thursday, March 26 live at The Grand.
A bit of legendary guitar player, Gray Sargent’s bio: he played with Illinois Jacquet from 1975 to 1990, and worked with Dave McKenna in the 80s and 90s. He took a position as artist-in-residence at Harvard in the academic year 1988–1989. He has performed and/or recorded with Ruby Braff, Donna Byrne, Benny Carter, Arnett Cobb, Lou Colombo, Vic Dickenson, Scott Hamilton, Peanuts Hucko, Billy Novick, Herb Pomeroy, Chuck Riggs, Buddy Tate, Frank Wess, Bob Wilber, Marshall Wood, Phil Woods, Tony Bennett, in addition to working in large orchestras under the direction of George Wein (Newport Jazz Festival All-Stars, 1989) and Dick Johnson (Artie Shaw Orchestra, 1990s).
Sargent was a member of the Tony Bennett Quartet for 24 years, from 1997 to 2021, including Bennett's final performances with Lady Gaga.
NYC / Croton-based drummer, Paul Francis, has appeared on multiple Grammy winning recordings. He has toured and recorded extensively with Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga. Paul has also performed with Stevie Wonder, Jon Faddis, Ralph Lalama, and Richie Hart.
Bryan Copeland joins the old friends on bass. Copeland has spent time in the studio recording with Jon Brion, David Binney, Radney Foster, Andre Heyword, and Aben Eubanks (Kelly Clarkson). He has shared the stage with too many greats to name, including David “Fathead” Newman, Roy Hargrove, Tim Warfield, Marcus Belgrave, Billy Kilson, Dayna Stephens, Camila Meza, Charles Altura, Marcus Printup, Donald Edwards, J.J. Johnson (Tedeschi Trucks Band), Nir Felder, Ephraim Owens (Mumford and Sons), Ernie Watts. He has toured the world and perform at legendary jazz festivals like The Montreux Jazz Festival, The North Sea Jazz Festival, Jazz a Juan in Antibes, FR., The Vienne Jazz Festival, The Lion Jazz Festival, The NYC Winter Jazz Festival, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and was named outstanding soloist Addison Jazz Festival.
An event not to be missed!
$10 cover.