DOUBLE FEATURE! 7:00-8:00 JANET PLANET with Tom Theabo and Kelvin Kaspar on guitars. 8:15-9:15 NASCENT featuring Tom Washatka on saxophone, Noah Harmon on piano, and Zach Harmon on drums.
PROOF OF VACCINATION or negative COVID-19 test required to enter venues.
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A special Jazz Coterie presentation. And a Janet Planet you’ve never seen. Ms. Planet serves up an interesting musical collaboration she calls (or whispers) — In a Word. This project features her long-time musical partner Tom Theabo and rising star Kelvin Kaspar…both (and only) on guitar.
Prepare to be moved, to laugh, to wonder. And to have the stars realign.
“Janet Planet is such an exemplary vocal artiste that anything she graces with her vocal cords benefits.”
There’s an honesty that comes with longevity. Janet Planet finds her truth in soul and lyric. Words that stretch the vocal cords and stretch the imagination. Vocal cords that cover many colors, ranges and genres and are still stretching the boundaries of capability and agility.
The chords of Tom Theabo and Kelvin Kaspar will accompany Janet in this unique performance. Two guitars, 12 strings, and endless harmonic excursions.
Janet Planet is a 6-time WAMI winner. In 2014 she was only the second woman in 32 to years to be inducted into the WAMI Hall Of Fame. She is featured in Wisconsin Riffs – Jazz Profiles from the Heartland, a book by Kurt Dietrich, along with other Wisconsin Jazz luminaries.
“Wisconsin remains Janet’s planet, and hooray for that.”
Planet has over 25 recordings in her discography. Since the highly acclaimed album “Sweet Thunder” released in 1985, she continues to produce, write, record, and perform. Her past two recordings were considered for GRAMMYS and the latest Under the Venus Moon, released in 2021, is garnering high reviews.
Janet Planet has performed in Canada, Japan, Germany, South Africa, Russia, and throughout the United States. Ms. Planet is a professor of jazz vocal technique at Lawrence University in Appleton and is co-owner of the independent record label Stellar Sound Productions and Steel Moon recording studio.
TOM THEABO is a legend in his own right. Mr. Theabo has been a full-time guitarist, arranger, writer, studio musician, and teacher for nearly half a century. Tom is credited as being Janet Planet’s musical director and mentor for the past 4 decades. A highlight of this relationship was the duo recording The Consequence of Two. He has also released his own album of originals and original arrangements, A Fine Sample. Tom continues to shape his artistry not only on guitar but as an arranger having penned countless arrangements for the Stellar Records label.
Tom Theabo was featured with Grammy-Nominee Chris Swansen and John Harmon on the 1985 release Sweet Thunder on the Seabreeze Label. Tom has shared the stage with artists such as George Benson, Chuck Mangione and Gene Bertoncini to name a few.
KELVIN KASPAR is a rising star! Mr. Kaspar began playing guitar professionally when he was sixteen. His love for music led him to the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point where he graduated with a Jazz Performance degree. Kelvin has a wide variety of sideman performance credits including Wayne Newton, Saturday Night Live cast members, as well as sharing the stage with The Yellowjackets and Bobby McFerrin. Locally he can be seen performing with The Pocket Kings, The Celebration Church Worship Team, and other Jazz Ensembles.
Kelvin works regularly as a session musician on guitar and many other string instruments throughout Wisconsin. Mr. Kaspar is the Associate Lecturer of Guitar at UW-Stevens Point.