Guilford's A Better Chance program is celebrating 40 years dedicated to helping close the opportunity gap for talented minority women. This special event will bring international music star Morris "Mo" Pleasure to perform with Connecticut's own Rohn Lawrence (guitar) and David Lovolsi (bass) and a special performance by Roberta Flack on Saturday, October 25 at 7:30pm at Guilford High School. The talented Guilford High School Jazz Ensemble will open the concert. Tickets are $25 for open seating. VIP tickets are $125. Event sponsorship opportunities which include tickets are available for $1,000, $500, or $250. Tickets can be purchased on-line at www.guilfordabc.com. For sponsorships contact Jim Schaffer at jim@charity-spring.org or 203-912-2802. Purchase your tickets today. This event is going to be a sell-out!
Internationally hailed as one of the greatest songstresses of our time, GRAMMY Award winning Roberta Flack remains unparalleled in her ability to tell a story through her music. Her songs bring insight into our lives, loves, culture and politics, while effortlessly traversing a broad musical landscape from pop to soul to folk to jazz. She was the first American singer and musician to win the Grammy Award for Record of the Year two consecutive times - in 1973 for The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face and in 1974 for Killing Me Softly with His Song. She remains the only solo artist to have ever accomplished this.
Classically trained on the piano from an early age, Ms. Flack received a music scholarship at age 15 to attend Howard University. Discovered while singing at the Washington, DC nightclub Mr. Henry's by jazz musician Les McCann, she was promptly signed to Atlantic With a string of hits, including, The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, Where Is the Love (a duet with former Howard University classmate Donny Hathaway), Killing Me Softly With His Song, Feel Like Makin' Love, The Closer I Get to You, Tonight I Celebrate My Love, and Set the Night to Music, Ms. Flack has built a musical legacy. In 1999, she aptly received a Star on Hollywood's legendary Walk of Fame.
Roberta is currently involved with a very exciting studio venture — an interpretive album of Beatles' classics.
She regularly plays to appreciative audiences around the world, and had the pleasure of appearing recently with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington DC, conducted by Marvin Hamlisch. In February 2009, Ms. Flack performed with critically acclaimed orchestras in Australia, including the Melbourne, Queensland, Adelaide, Tasmanian, West Australian and Sydney Symphonies.
Very active as a humanitarian and mentor, Ms. Flack founded the Roberta Flack School of Music at the Hyde Leadership Charter School in the Bronx, providing an innovative and inspiring music education program to underprivileged students free of charge.
Known affectionately as "Mo", Morris Pleasure is a renowned multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer. He began playing acoustic piano at the age of four and by his early teens already mastered several instruments including bass, trumpet, guitar, drums and violin.
Mo began his professional music career playing bass with Ray Charles. He then began working as a session musician, backing some of the most accomplished talents in Jazz ,R&B and pop including George Duke, Natalie Cole, Dianne Reeves, Christina Aguilera, Jonathan Butler, Rachelle Ferrell, Brian Culbertson, Michael McDonald, Oleta Adams, Chaka Khan, Roberta Flack, Marcus Miller, Mary J. Blige, and Frankie Beverly and Maze, to name a few.
From 1989 through 1992, Mo was both keyboardist and musical director with saxophonist Najee, pianist Alex Bugnon, and vocalists Philip Bailey, Patti Austin and Jon Lucien. In 1993, he became a member of the legendary group Earth, Wind & Fire, and ascended to become the band’s musical director from 1994-2001. Mo was featured playing keyboards, trumpet and guitar with Janet Jackson’s 2001 All For You tour and played keyboards and trumpet with Boney James’ 2004 Pure tour. As a principal member of the group Devoted Spirits he was featured playing keyboards for Jimi Hendrix’s 60th Birthday Celebration and the 2004 Power of Soul: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix tour.
Mo was a keyboardist in Michael Jackson’s final touring band that was scheduled to perform in the late superstar’s historic 2009, comeback tour at London’s O2 Arena. Most recently he has toured with David Foster, Average White Band and Peter Cetera.
Rohn Lawrence has been widely acclaimed for his work with New Haven Funk bands such as Good News and The Lift, including saxophonist Marion Meadows. Lawrence continues to work with Meadows, George Duke, Diane Reeves, Jonathan Butler, Alex Bugñon, Freddie Jackson, Najee and many others.
David Livolsi, also from Connecticut, is an accomplished bass player whose diversity led him to work with many world renowned artists such as John Scofield, Bill Evans, Jazz Is Dead, T Lavitz & Rod Morgenstein (from The Dixie Dregs), Jerry Goodman, Chuck Loeb, Sam Rivers, John Tropea, and David Spinozza.
Guilford High School's Jazz Ensemble is a Level 1 class that meets daily. Students in grades 9 - 12 are selected through an audition process. The Ensemble performs music from the libraryries of such great bands as Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Stan Kenton, Gordon Goodwin, and Bob Mintzer. A four-time finalist at the Essentially Ellington Competition at Lincoln Center, the GHS Jazz Ensemble also competes at the Berklee College of Music High School Jazz Festival.
Guilford's A Better Chance has for forty years been dedicated to helping to close the opportunity gap for talented minority women. Guilford ABC prepares its scholars to succeed academically and to take a leadership role in their future endeavors. Founded in 1963, A Better Chance is a national program that refers academically talented inner-city students to elite private and public schools. In 1974, Guilford became on of ABC's earliest public school programs. Its six female students reside in a house staffed with a resident director and tutor who live in attached residences. The Guilford community in many ways serves as an extended family.
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