Live Music
Laporta’s is committed to presenting the very best in local jazz. Bringing a variety of the best available singers and musicians to our stage nightly for over twenty years, emerging as a fixture on the local Jazz scene in the early 1990’s. Featured are regular performances by such highly acclaimed singers as Sharon Clark, Patrice Ferris and Ester Haynes. Laporta’s books a range of Jazz styles from Be Bop and Scat, vocal standards, Jazz Fusion, Dixieland and Gospel, occasionally even a hint of Bluegrass. Live performances occur nightly during dinner service and after, seven nights a week. See our calendar for scheduled performers and show times.
- Monday: 6:00 – 9:30pm David Brathwaite Straight ahead Jazz, Piano
- Tuesday: 6:30 – 9:30pm Nicholas Mack, Standards, Piano
- Wednesday: 7:00 – 10:30pm Rusty Bogart Trio
- Thursday: 7:30 – 11:00pm Satin Doll Trio
- Friday: 7:30 – 11:30pm Sandra Y. Johnson Trio
- Saturday: 7:30 – 11:30pm Sharon Clark Trio
- Sunday: 6:00 – 9:30pm Martini Red and the Dixieland Pixies
1600 Duke Street
Alexandria, Virginia
Attn: Mark Jackson
The Musicians
Sandra Y. Johnson
Sandra is a native Washingtonian and became interested in singing jazz as a student of the Elliston Jazz Studies Workshop under the direction of Ronnie Wells and Ron Elliston. She also studied privately with the late Calvin J. Jones, University of the District of Columbia's Coordinator of Jazz Studies. She has appeared annually at the Fish Middleton Jazz Scholarship (FMJS) Fund’s East Coast Jazz Festival. In February 2004, Sandra released her debut CD entitled, "Steppin' Out". Sandra was featured at the U Street Jazz Appreciation Month celebration at The Historic Lincoln Theatre in April 2004. Sandra has performed at the historic Blues Alley Club in Washington, DC (Georgetown) and Solo at the Kennedy Center. She regularly performs with well-known jazz musicians Vincent Smith, Wes Biles, DeAndrey Howard, John Nunley, Jeffrey Neal, James King, Jamal Brown, Lenny Robinson, Wayne Wilentz, Larry Willis, Steve Novosel. Sandra Y. Johnson is the 2nd Place Winner of the 2006 Billie Holiday Vocal Competition held in Baltimore, MD on July 23, 2006. Sandra still sings the first Sunday of each month at the Gospel Rescue Mission in Washington, DC.
www.sandrayjohnson.com
Satin Doll Trio
The Satin Doll Trio is an elegant ensemble that performs in the intimate "supper club" jazz style made popular by artists such as Julie London, Sarah Vaughan, and Peggy Lee during the early 1950's. They have appeared on the stages of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Corcoran Gallery’s Armand Hammer Auditorium, and have made television appearances on the BET Jazz channel programs "Jazz Central" and "Impressions". The group makes regular appearances at prestigious venues throughout the Washington D.C. area and Eastern United States and has received exceptional reviews from the Washington Post, the Washington Times, and from JazzReview.com.
www.satindolltrio.com
Sharon Clark
Sharon Clark began her professional career with the Bottle Caps doing promotional work for the Coca Cola Company. The other "Bottle Cap" was her twin sister, Sharee. Leaving Coke to fend for itself. She has since performed at such jazz and non-jazz venues as Blues Alley, the National Press Club and Twins Lounge in Washington, D.C. and Sweet Basel in New York City. Equally adept with jazz, blues, and gospel, Clark has a husky but mellow voice with good phrasing and diction. She is also a fine interpreter of lyrics. Listing Sarah Vaughan, Johnny Hartman, Ella Fitzgerald as musical influences, Clark continues to work in the Washington, D.C. area.
Nicholas Mack
Martini Red and the Dixieland Pixies
Since Martini Red first came together we've had trouble describing exactly what we do. Whatever we've decided to call it, the focus has always been on finding good, fun songs from the American repertoire and adding our own twist to them, taking vintage jazz, Western Swing, standards, and blend it with a healthy dose of blues, ragtime, even bluegrass.
The result is a unique blend that's sometimes fast and danceable, sometimes slow and listenable, but always a reflection of our honest love for the music. The band got its start in 1996 when two longtime friends, singer/guitarist Tony Brussat and bassist Nick Smiley, got together with mandolinist James Key and began exploring their fascination with improvised acoustic music. Soon the group was gigging regularly at local venues and events and receiving critical acclaim. Martini Red continues on its original mission of bringing the best of vintage jazz to a modern audience. In 1999 Martini Red was nominated for a Wammie for Best Traditional Jazz group; in 2001 Nick was nominated for Best Traditional Jazz Male Vocalist. The band recorded its first CD, entitled We Three in 2001, with the help of drummer Norm Thorne.
www.martinired.com
Esther Haynes
Esther Haynes is a vocalist and guitarist residing in Washington, DC. Her vocal styles range from vintage jazz to swing, blues, and bluegrass. She has been nominated for several Washington Area Music Awards. In 2003 she received a WAMMIE for Big Band Vocalist. Her band affiliations include Hokum Jazz, Martini Red and the Tom Cunningham Orchestra. In 2001 she recorded a cd of vintage vocal tunes in tribute early jazz vocalists such as Alberta Hunter, Billie Holiday, Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, Lil Green, Ella Fitzgerald, Memphis Minnie, and others. The cd has received favorable press as well as airplay on Hot Jazz Saturday Night and Mary Cliff's WETA program. In 2004 she released a second cd of standards, swing, and bossas entitled "Approach Note". Originally from Virginia, she learned folk and bluegrass in her youth. Later she attended Berklee College of Music in Boston where she studied voice and professional music. She spent two years in Israel where she fronted a group called "The Cotton Club Band" featuring jazz guitarist David Matarasso and drummer Ilan Katchke. Esther teaches guitar, voice and banjo in Takoma Park, MD. She holds a Master of Education Degree from Marymount University in Arlington, VA as well as a Diploma in Professional Music and Voice from Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. Contact Esther at
www.estherhaynesmusic.com