Staci Griesbach with John Harmon Trio

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Kim Thiel

Staci Griesbach

Vocalist Griesbach, a former member of the Wisconsin Singers, transmogrifies classic Nashville country-pop into jazz on her new album, My Patsy Cline Songbook. The recording features a long list of participants from both the jazz and country worlds; for a few Wisconsin shows, including this one, Griesbach will be joined by a trio led by a legend from closer to home: John Harmon, a talented pianist, composer and founder of Lawrence University’s groundbreaking jazz studies program.

press release: Vocalist Staci Griesbach pays tribute to Patsy Cline’s trailblazing spirit performing songs off her album “My Patsy Cline Songbook,” the first-ever, full-length jazz tribute to the country music icon. Music magazine No Depression called it "an album worthy of being added to the Great American Songbook" and Rolling Stone complemented Griesbach's work as "a gorgeous jazz interpretation."

A Wisconsin native, Staci was raised in Hortonville and performed as a singer/dancer with the University of Wisconsin Madison's "Wisconsin Singers" while living in Madison during her college years. Drawing on her country roots of growing up on a family farm, Staci's debut album takes audiences on a journey of the Nashville Songbook reinterpreted in the style of jazz, much like the traditional Great American Songbook has been done by jazz vocalists for decades. Joining Staci for this performance will be The John Harmon Trio.

John Harmon, whose professional life has deeply been involved with both music and teaching, may be one of America’s most prolific composers. Born in 1935 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Harman began playing piano at a young age. Graduating with composition degrees from Lawrence University and the State University of New York, he studied with Belgian composer Henri Pousseur and jazz pianist Oscar Peterson before creating a voice which is uniquely his. The influence of jazz is present in most of Harmon’s compositions regardless of the ensemble or performer. Titles of pieces often reflect his love of the outdoors, Native American folklore, and twentieth century literature. The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, the Foundation of New American Music on behalf of the Orchestra of Los Angeles, the Fox Valley Symphony and the Santa Fe Chamber Orchestra have all commissioned new works by Harmon. Although Harmon has traveled and performed extensively, the majority of his life’s work has taken place in his native state of Wisconsin. He founded the jazz studies program at Lawrence University in 1971 and served as co-founder of the revolutionary jazz-fusion group Matrix. For his many accomplishments and a lifelong commitment to music, Harmon was made a Fellow of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters in 2005.