Jazz greats reunite for swing through Flathead Valley

Legendary jazz musicians Billy Wallace and Floyd Standifer play four dates in the Flathead Valley in September.

Wallace offers a harmonically rich piano style, developed in the heyday of jazz in Chicago and New York City. Wallace has accompanied such jazz greats as Carmen McRae, Johnny Hartman, Anita O'Day, Lou Rawls and Arthur Prysock. He was in the house band for the first Playboy Club to open in Chicago in 1960; he moved to Denvre in 1971, where he worked in nightclubs and performed with Maya Angelouw.

He moved to Seattle in the 90s, where he and Standifer discovered their musical compatability. His world tours have included performances in Japan, Norway, Finland and Germany. He currently lives and performs in Las Vegas.

Standifer, on saxophone, trumpet and flugelhorn, has toured with Quincy Jones and Elmer Gill, and performed with Joe Williams, Diane Schuur, Ernestine Anderson, Joe Venuttie and Shelly Manne.

He's been a soloist with the Seattle Symphony and a member of the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra. Standifer is a rnowned teacher and has taught at the Cornish College of the Arts, Olympia Junior College and the Northwest School, as well as numerous festivals and jazz camps.

Standifer has been performing at the New Orleans Restaurant in Seattle every Wednesday night for the past 20 years, several of those with Wallace on piano.

Joining Wallace and Standifer will be bassist Michael Barnett. He has played professionaly for almost 50 years, playing in clubs and jazz festivals throughout the United States and Canada.

He has performed with Carmen McRae, Mel Torme, Joe Williams, Pearl Bailey and Anita O'Day. For the last 20 years, he has toured with conductor/composer Peter Nero, playing trio and duo concerts and with major symphonies in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

There is no cover charge for any of the performances. The concerts are Singer & Simpson productions.