Join us for an evening of excellent holiday jazz to get you in the seasonal spirt!
$10 Suggested Donation - All Proceeds go to the Custer Area Arts Council
Chicago Jazz vocalist Alyssa Allgood and local Black Hills trumpeter Alex Massa are swingin’ into the holiday season with a very special one-night-only performance at the Custer Beacon. With Shawn Parker on sax and flute, Kirk Kadish on the keys, Alex Diaz on upright bass, and local legend Terry Rathbun on drums, this intimate performance at the Custer Beacon will have you hummin’ and reminiscing of seasons past.
Alyssa Allgood is a Chicago-based jazz vocalist, bandleader, composer, and educator who has been described as “assured and daring” by DownBeat Magazine and a “model of sophisticated song interpretation” by the Chicago Tribune. She brings a modern flair to the jazz tradition with her engaging arrangements, infectious swing feel, and lyrical focus of self-love, and human connection.
Wielding her instrument with extraordinary nuance and depth, Allgood has established herself as a leading voice in Chicago’s vibrant jazz scene and beyond. She has appeared at such distinguished venues as the Jazz at Lincoln Center Club in Shanghai, Birdland Jazz Club, the Chicago Jazz Festival, the Green Mill, and the Jazz Showcase. She won the Inaugural Ella Fitzgerald Jazz Voice Competition (2017) and the David Baker Memorial Scholarship through the Jazz Education Network (2022). Allgood was also named Best Jazz Entertainer in the Chicago Music Awards (2019), a Luminarts Cultural Foundation Jazz Improvisation Fellow (2016), and a Semifinalist in the Shure Montreux Jazz Voice Competition (2015), where she performed for a jury presided by jazz legend Al Jarreau.
She is a passionate educator who currently works as an Adjunct Lecturer at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she directs the vocal jazz ensemble, teaches private lessons, and teaches a jazz arranging course. Allgood is also a highly sought-after clinician and has presented masterclasses at many esteemed institutions including the Jazz Education Network Conference, the Illinois Music Educators Association, Anchor Music’s Vocal Jazz Academy, jazzvoice.com, the University of Chicago and Drake University.
Allgood is set to release her highly anticipated album of original music in Spring 2024, which features internationally acclaimed musicians John Patitucci, Kendrick Scott, Geoffrey Keezer and Greg Ward. Her previous albums garnered Allgood praise for her lyrical depth, instrumental approach, and accomplished scat and vocalese singing.
