Jason Brock (X-Factor Finalist and 3-Time Bay Area Reporter "Best Male Cabaret Performer" winner) returns to Martuni's in a solo show! This time singing gospel/christian songs that he loves (but finds conflict with since he is no longer a Christian himself). Between songs, he'll tell stories about how Christianity and Christian music affected his life - including his fundamentalist Christian mother who rejects him because he's gay (and bases it on her religion). It's going to be fun, funny, touc...
Jason Brock (X-Factor Finalist and 3-Time Bay Area Reporter "Best Male Cabaret Performer" winner) returns to Martuni's in a solo show! This time singing gospel/christian songs that he loves (but finds conflict with since he is no longer a Christian himself). Between songs, he'll tell stories about how Christianity and Christian music affected his life - including his fundamentalist Christian mother who rejects him because he's gay (and bases it on her religion). It's going to be fun, funny, touching and will warm your heart (and body if you're drinking). SFSU Jazz Dept Founder and esteemed composer/performer, Dee Spencer, will be on the piano.
BIOS
JASON BROCK
Jason Brock is a television, film and stage star. He was seen in homes all over the world as a finalist on X-Factor singing songs like Billy Joelâs âNew York State of Mind.â Jason also starred in the film, âLove is not Enough,â which played at global film festivals, including the Frameline Film Festival in San Francisco. Jason is well-known as a cabaret star and performs original shows regularly. He has been voted âBest Male Cabaret Singerâ for the last three years by the readers of the Bay Area Reporter. He has also done a fair amount of theatre. Some of his roles include: Hedwig in âHedwig and the Angry Inchâ at the Boxcar Theatre, a demented flower girl in Taylor Macâs âThe Lilyâs Revengeâ at Magic Theatre, and âPeachy Galeâ in Peaches Christâs âThe Wizard of Oddâ at Castro Theatre. Jason is currently working on an album of original music. His original songs, âCornbread,â âYouâve got the Loveâ and Miguel Migsâ âSail Onâ can be purchased or streamed on most music services today.
DEE SPENCER
Dianthe "Dee" Spencer is a Professor and Chair of Music in the School of Music at San Francisco State University where she founded the jazz studies undergraduate degree program in 1990. She earned and Ed.D from the University of San Francisco; M.M. from Washington University in St. Louis; and a B.S. from Florida A&M University.
Dee served on the piano faculty at Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. Dee served on the governing boards of the International Association for Jazz Education (IAJE) and the SF Chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS). She currently serves on the board of the Community Music Center. She is past director of the Clifford Brown/Stan Getz Fellowship Award combo for the National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts (NFAA), GRAMMY All-Star National High School Jazz Combo and the SFJAZZ All-Star High School Ensemble. This ensemble competed at the Essentially Ellington Competition for Jazz at Lincoln Center in 2002 and 2003.
She was musical director/conductor for the TheaterWorks production of RAISIN'. Dee was a performer and adjudicator/clinician at Walt Disney World's 2010 Jazz Celebration. As a keyboardist, Dee has recorded with former Tower of Power vocalist Lenny Williams and Aretha Franklins favorite drummer Bernard Pretty Perdie. She was a featured performer at the Beijing, Cork, Tasmanian, and Dresden International Jazz Festivals.
In various settings, Dee has performed with jazz greats Jimmy Scott, Louis Bellson, Clark Terry, Branford Marsalis, John Handy, Greg Osby, Jeff Tain Watts, Regina Carter and R&B sensation LEDISI. Dees debut CD, Vintage School was released in 2002. She recently composed the score for the musical "Goodnight, Gorilla." In May 2015, Dee worked with Wynton Marsalis as a judge for the annual Jazz at Lincoln Center's Essentially Ellington Competition.