Gail Pettis is a remarkable, original song stylist who does not bring to mind Billie or Ella or Sarah or any other vocalist, past or present. In jazz, she found an ideal outlet for expressing herself as an individual. “It feels like I’ve been looking for this all my life,” she explains. “Jazz invites you to be yourself, and that really appeals to me. You’re not required to sound like anyone else nor do you ever have to sing a song the same way twice. Jazz only asks that you live in the moment. That is tremendously freeing.” Gail was born in Henderson, Kentucky, on May 30, 1958 and grew up in Gary, Indiana. As a child, Gail sang classical music and hymns at a local Presbyterian church and continued to perform in other school and church ensembles in later years, including several years of playing the french horn. She was surrounded by healthcare professionals, yet there was also music in the family tree. Grandfather Arthur Pettis was a blues singer and guitarist who recorded for Victor Records in Memphis in 1928 and for Brunswick in Chicago in 1930. Her grandmother, Ninevah Pettis, played piano in the Chicago area. A latecomer to jazz, Gail began singing jazz in 2001 but quickly made up for lost time. Seattle’s Earshot Jazz magazine named her “2007 Northwest Vocalist of the Year,” and her debut CD, May I Come In?, issued that year by Origin/OA2 Records, received a warm reception by XM Satellite Radio and Music Choice Television, stations across the United States and also in Germany and Portugal. She has also performed at the Gene Harris Jazz Festival in Boise, Idaho, the Amersfoort Jazz Festival in the Netherlands, and in Kobe, Japan, as winner of the Seattle-Kobe Sister City Association’s Female Jazz Vocal Audition in 2006.

ABOUT DMITRI MATHENY
Celebrated for his warm tone, soaring lyricism and masterful technique, American musician Dmitri Matheny has been lauded as “one of the most emotionally expressive improvisers of his generation” (International Review of Music).

First introduced to jazz audiences in the 1990s as the protégé of Art Farmer, Matheny has matured into “one of the jazz world's most talented horn players” (San Francisco Chronicle).

Under Farmer’s tutelage Matheny emerged as a promising new voice in jazz.“Art Farmer’s role in the early success of Dmitri Matheny cannot be overstated,” observed writer and historian Phil Elwood. “Without Art, there could be no Dmitri.”

At 29, after launching a busy recording career on the West Coast, Matheny made his New York debut at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, then began touring internationally.

Matheny has had the privilege of appearing in concert with such jazz luminaries as Larry Coryell, Nathan Davis, Amina Figarova, Tommy Flanagan, Wycliffe Gordon, Darrell Grant, Larry Grenadier, John Handy, Tom Harrell, Billy Higgins, Red Holloway, Denise Jannah, Joe Lovano, James Moody, Jean Louis Rassinfosse, Tony Reedus, Sam Rivers, Max Roach, the Rosenberg Trio, Bud Shank, Sonny Simmons, Mary Stallings, Akira Tana, Billy Taylor, Bobby Watson and Paula West.

Matheny’s film scoring and soundtrack credits include the PBS documentary Mary, Paradox & Grace (1996), the short film Greenhorn Creek (1997), the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art production Voices & Images of California Art (1997), and the RKO Pictures feature film Shade (2003) starring Gabriel Byrne, Jamie Foxx, Melanie Griffith, Thandie Newton, Sylvester Stallone and Stewart Townsend. Matheny also contributed original music for the horror anthology Trapped Ashes (2006) and the supernatural thriller Fire City (2014).

Matheny is past president of the Berklee College of Music Alumni Association, a former governor of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, and a former trustee of the San Francisco Jazz Organization. His volunteer service to the field includes frequent participation in music industry conferences, symposia and grant-making initiatives. Past and current affiliations include the International Association for Jazz Education, Association of Performing Arts Presenters, Western Arts Alliance, California Arts Council, National Endowment for the Arts, Chamber Music America and National Jazz Service Organization.

Joining Dmitri and Gail is pianist Randy Halberstadt & bassist Osama Afifi, both players Cellar Cat favorites.