Get “Back to Bacharach” as “Jazz on the Hill” presents vocalist Steve Tyrell April 18 at the Community Concert Hall

 

Composer Burt Bacharach and lyricist Hal David documented countless emotions with their songs, and on Sunday, April 18, 2009, Grammy award winner and their long-time friend and producer-turned-vocalist Steve Tyrell brings that musical magic to Durango at the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College.

            Known in the industry as a Renaissance man – artist, producer, songwriter and performer – Tyrell has re-invented and re-popularized classic pop standards for a modern audience. Long behind the scenes in the music industry, bringing vocalists such as Dionne Warwick and B.J. Thomas to notoriety, he garnered fame of his own with breakthrough performances in the movies “Father of the Bride” and “Father of the Bride II” with Steve Martin. Today, with sold out shows across America and abroad, Tyrell has received rave reviews from as far afield as Moscow, London and Tokyo.

Originally from Houston, Texas, where by 15 he’d already cut his chops in R&B, Tyrell, at age 19, moved to New York City to work for pop/soul music giant Scepter Records during a rich musical era that included Carole King and Gerry Goffin, Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson and, perhaps most importantly, Burt Bacharach and Hal David.

Tyrell’s work with Bacharach and David took him at an early age into the movie industry, coordinating hit songs with the release of the films in which they appeared. By the early ’70s, he’d moved to California and co-founded, with Barry Mann, Tyrell-Mann Music to continue his innovative work in movie music.

When he performed “The Way You Look Tonight” as the wedding singer in the 1991 comedy “Father of the Bride” and two more numbers in the 1995 sequel, fans demanded more, which resulted in Tyrell’s first album “A New Standard.” The stage was set for his career as a performing artist.

 

Among his popular projects are “Songs of Sinatra,” which achieved Top 5 status on the Billboard jazz charts in 2005, and “The Disney Standards” released in 2006. By 2008 the “Back to Bacharach” album was complete – his most personal release to date. Memorable songs included on the album are “This Guy’s In Love With You,” “I Say a Little Prayer” and “One Less Bell to Answer,” as well as much more for fans of Bacharach/David songs.

Notes Tyrell in his press materials regarding the album, “I like to say ‘Back to Bacharach’ was 40 years in the making… There is no other music like this in my life. And I am honored to share it with the world…my way.”

Tickets for Steve Tyrell ($28-$37) are available on the web at www.durangoconcerts.com or by calling 970.247.7657 or 877.282.9992, or at the Ticket Office in Downtown Durango at 7^th and Main Ave. All sales final.

Curtain is 7:30 p.m., with doors to the Concert Hall and concessions, serving beer, wine and non-alcoholic beverages and snacks, opening at 6:30 p.m.

The Community Concert Hall is located in the growing arts complex of Fort Lewis College.  It operates through a partnership with the college, a state-supported, independent institution of higher education, as well as the city of Durango, and with financial and in-kind contributions from generous members of the community.