JANICE HARRINGTON

Janice Harrington started her world career in 1969 with tours for the USO in SE Asia, entertaining US armed forces personnel during the Vietnam war. Between 1975 and 1977 she performed at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas. Lionel Hampton, with whom she has worked, had told her that "two Aries should not work together; you should get your own show "—which she did in 1980, when she moved to Europe.

She had the opening act for Joan Armatrading in Oslo, for B. B. King in Copenhagen, shared the stage with Rockin Dopsie, Buddy Guy, the pioneer Jack Dupree, Luther Allison, and toured with Big Jay McNeely. On 16 October 1984 she sang in Oslo when bishop Desmond Tutu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

As a jazz artist she has perfomed with Nat Adderley, the Royal Viking Jazzband of Papa Bue, the Humphrey Lyttleton band and the Dutch Swing College Band. She has appeared also with the Danish Radio Big Band, the Oslo Radio Big Band, the German Radio Big Band and the Ljubljana Radio Big Band. In 1995 she worked as producer for the First North German Gospel and Spiritual festival, continuing as festival producer in Germany for several years. She has written two musicals ("Streets of Harlem", "What my eyes have seen") and a third one in collaboration with the famous Norwegian jazz singer Karin Krog.

Harrington is known as an ambassador of music and culture, bringing to this day her programs of authentic American music to children around the world.

Matthias Grabi is a blues and jazz pianist born in Hamburg, Germany.

He works as a soloist, composer. bandleader and studio musician in Northern Germany and beyond, as his music has taken him to more than 40 countries around the world. He has played for the Goethe Institute-USA, giving concerts in Hollywood, Boston, New York and other major US cities. He has performed also on cruise ships such as SY Sea Cloud 1 & 2 and MV EUROPA 2, crossing the Atlantic Ocean and travelling around the Aegean and Baltic Seas, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, the Azores and the West Indies. In all, he spent over one year on board.

Matthias has played with jazz bands at the Parma Swing Festival in Italy, the Jazzfest Moelln in Germany and the International Jazz Festival in Sofia, Bulgaria. His exquisite music is immortalized in many TV and radio shows and several CDs. Musicals such as Andrew Lloyd Webber's CATS were accompanied by the piano of Matthias. In Berlin he has played for the EU's Federal Press Office.

Werner Gürtler is among the best-known players of traditional jazz trombone in Northern Germany, and plays mainly as guest performer for various bands at jazz concerts and festivals. When time permits, he conducts his own amateur jazz band.