Joe Sample “In Concert”
Pioneer of Contemporary Jazz Piano comes to Temecula Wine Country!
We are proud to feature Joe Sample during our “Friends & Wine” Summer Concert Series on Sunday, June 9th at 4:30 PM at Leoness Cellars.
For more than four decades, Joe Sample has been an integral, innovative and bestselling part of jazz history.
Sample, a showman with wit, wisdom and heart-warming songs & stories will perform an intimate, “unplugged-style” show in the candle-lit barrel room at Leoness Cellars.
The summer series will benefit Our Nicolas Foundation in providing music therapy and musical instruments to students with autism in Temecula Valley schools.
“We are encouraging guests to bring musical instruments to the concerts to donate, be it as small as a tambourine, or as large as a guitar or an electronic keyboard,” commented Joel Reese, concert producer at Leoness Cellars. “More than a concert series, we want this to be a community experience where the power of music is shared far beyond the stage.”
We are extremely proud to have R&B, Jazz legend, Ronnie Laws host the series. “Both the lawn and barrel room are quite intimate, offering an unforgettable experience where you feel you have a one-on-one connection with the artist. Both venues truly provide the perfect setting for uniting friends with wine and music,” says Ronnie Laws, concert host.
One of the original members of Earth Wind and Fire, Ronnie Laws is celebrating fifty years in show business by hosting the summer concert series at Leoness Cellars. Ronnie Laws grew up with Joe Sample in Houston, Texas and plans to perform a few songs with Joe during his concert.
Sample will pay homage to the great American songwriters of the 20th century whose masterful works inspired his own development as one of the most diverse and popular jazz performers of the last half century.
A founding member of the influential jazz funk combo, The Crusaders (originally the Jazz Crusaders) and a pioneer of contemporary jazz piano, Sample reaches back to the primary sources of jazz and soul music to create his personal interpretations of classics by such esteemed composers as Scott Joplin, Jelly Roll Morton, the Gershwins, Al Jolson, Duke Ellington, Fats Waller and others. While exploring these rich expressions of Americana, Sample acknowledges his own key role in carrying on these powerful legacies by including distinct reworkings of two of his own classics, “Soul Shadows” and “Spellbound.”
His approach to the songs and the genre perfectly reflect Sample’s belief that “if you played the piano in a stride or ragtime or a boogie-woogie manner, you wouldn’t need a bass player, you didn’t need a drummer. That’s how I started playing in the first place. I’ve been a solo pianist since I was six years old playing in my mama’s living room for her after-church teas.”
In addition to his own performances and hit recordings, Sample has toured and performed with numerous musical greats in all genres, including Marvin Gaye, Tina Turner, BB King, Eric Clapton, Joe Cocker, Randy Crawford (who sang on the 1979 Crusaders smash “Street Life”), Anita Baker, Andrae Crouch and many others.
“Joe Sample truly plays with heart and soul. Guests should come away inspired and thoroughly entertained,” remarked Reese.
Leoness Cellars grows and produces artisan wines that represent Temecula Valley’s Mediterranean climate and The Restaurant at Leoness features al fresco dining at its finest.
Family owned and farmed, this 90-point earning Temecula winery was voted the “Best of 2013” titles for both the winery and its restaurant by Inland Empire Magazine.
The summer concert series features Joe Sample on June 9th and Ronnie Laws and Friends on July 20th.
Joe Sample will perform Sunday, June 9th at 4:30 PM at Leoness Cellars, 38311 De Portola Road.
The top tier VIP concert ticket includes a winery tour, meet & greet wine reception with the artists, and prime seating.
Regular VIP concert tickets include a glass of wine and prime seating.
Reserve tickets for Joe Sample cost $49 Open, $69 VIP and $89 VIP Meet & Greet.
Information: 951-302-7601, ext. 150, reservations@leonesscellars.com, or www.leonessecellars.com