Dee Spencer feat. Melba's Kitchen Big Band: The Smile Orange Project

Doors 7pm / Pre-Concert Talk 7:30pm

Dee Spencer, curator and organ

Robin Nzingah Smith, musical director, co-leader & woodwinds

Pat Mullan, co-leader & trombone

Deborah Tisdale, vocals

Georgianna Kreiger, Cynthia Mah, Jeunesse Monroe-Speed, Brenda Thompson, Katie Krolikowski, woodwinds

Marina Garza, Sue Leonardi, Jessica Hom, brass

Candace Dee Sanderson, brass, violin & viola

Arnetta Olden, guitar

Debra Lynne Temple, piano

Susanne DiVincenzo, acoustic bass

Nancy Geimer, drums

“… a crackling 14-piece all-woman unit …” — DownBeat

Dee Spencer and Melba’s Kitchen Big Band present The Smile Orange Project, a live performance of the score from the 1976 Jamaican film Smile Orange, composed by legendary jazz trombonist and composer Melba Liston.

The film is based on Trevor Rhone’s satirical play about the Jamaican hotel industry, with Liston’s score highlighting elements of 1970s soul, R&B, Jamaican pop, reggae, and calypso.

In this high-energy, joyful performance, Dee Spencer performs and directs her own arrangements of the Smile Orange score, accompanied by the all-woman big band, Melba’s Kitchen.

Dee Spencer is a San Francisco Bay Area performer, composer, arranger, and educator. Her piano and keyboard performance credits encompass a star-studded roster, including GRAMMY Award winner Ledisi, Beach Blanket Babylon star Renée Lubin, Tower of Power vocal sensation Lenny Williams, and jazz legends John Handy, Jimmy Scott, Louis Bellson, Clark Terry, Regina Carter, Jeff “Tain” Watts, and Bernard Purdie.

Her latest recording, Tranquility, was released in 2018, and she has also served as music director for the stage productions Dreamgirls in Concert, Hair, and Chicago.

Melba’s Kitchen is an all-woman big band offering up a tasty menu of music by Black women, shining a spotlight on the legacy of trombonist, composer, and arranger Melba Liston, jazz icon Mary Lou Williams, and their contemporaries.