Nationally known musicians Jackie Marston and Dale Burke perform an evening of classic American Jazz standards at Tryon Fine Arts Center’s Peterson Amphitheater on Thursday, May 5 at 7 p.m. The concert is sponsored by the North Carolina Arts Council’s Grassroots Arts Program and the Spring Sunset Concert Series is sponsored by the Plume Family Foundation.

Tryon Fine Arts Center’s Spring Sunset Concert Series continues Thursday, May 5 at 7 p.m. in the Peterson Amphitheater with Jazz singer Jackie Marston and the Dale Burke Quartet. The show, titled Here’s to Life!, features jazz standards such as “Blue Skies,” “Wee Small Hours of the Morning,” “Come Rain or Come Shine” and other classics and is the debut North Carolina performance for the accomplished Ms. Marston.

Local resident Jackie Marston has performed on stages throughout the United States and Canada. She has opened for some of the biggest names in show business, including Frank Sinatra, George Carlin, Paul Anka, Bill Cosby and Kenny Rogers in the main show rooms in Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe.

Her original material has been heard on movie soundtracks and documentaries. Having worked as a voice over artist in Manhattan, she can be heard on several national commercials, and as narrator for the Encyclopedia Britannica’s CD Rom of Science and Technology.

She appeared in NYC nightclubs including showcases at Don’t Tell Mama’s, and opened The Paris Hotel in Las Vegas with jazz pianist Mike Jones. She is currently working at Soundtrack Studios in New York, creating musical, animated apps for a series of children’s books she has written.

An accomplished trumpeter and pianist, “The Music Man” Dale Burke sings, composes, arranges, conducts and records. Dale had his own show group on the road and appeared in many of the top nightclubs, TV shows, and hotel show rooms throughout the US, Canada, the Bahamas, and South America.

He was music and entertainment director at the Langford Resort Hotel, Winter Park, Fla., where he played and conducted shows, performing with his own quartet and big band for conventions, stage shows and concerts. Dale was arranger, conductor and musical director for the Hilton Hotel chain in Nevada, headquartered in Las Vegas.

Besides many shows and benefits at the Las Vegas Hilton, Dale has played the Flamingo Hilton, the St. Regis Hotel in NYC, San Francisco’s Fairmont Hotel, the Caribe Hotel in Puerto Rico, plus the Johnny Carson and Merv Griffin TV shows.

Dale and his wife, JoAnn, now live in Spartanburg where he directed the Spartanburg Jazz Ensemble. Dale has reformed his Saint Louis Jazz (six to eight piece group) with some of the finest local musicians. He continues to write and arrange for his groups and many clients, most recently for the string section of the Spartanburg Symphony.

“This is a concert not to be missed,” says TFAC Executive Director Marianne Carruth. The Sunset Amphitheater Series is generously sponsored by the Plume Family Foundation and this concert is sponsored by North Carolina Arts Council Grassroots Arts Program. Admission is by donation at the door. Concessions will be available for purchase. In case of rain, the event will move into the auditorium.

Information about the event is online at www.tryonarts.org or by calling 828-859-8322.

– Submitted by Marianne Carruth