TOM ROGERS AND SALLY ANDERSON WITH THE BARCLAY PRESENT
 GERSHWIN SWINGS

THE BARCLAY JAZZ & BEYOND ORCHESTRA
Shelly Berg - The Tom and Mayumi Adams Music Director

Featuring PATTI AUSTIN AND PAQUITO D’RIVERA

Friday, September 12, 2025 at 8pm

Media Sponsor
KJazz

This performance will include a 15-minute intermission.

Shelly Berg: Music Director/Piano

Patti Austin: Vocals

Paquito D’Rivera: Trombone

Saxophones

Sal Lozano

Michael Czają

Alex Johnson

Frank Fontaine

Tim Mckay

Trombones

Ryan Dragon

Joey Sellers

Charlie Morillas

Tiffany Johns

Trumpets

Ryan Deweese

Miles Mcallister

Harry Ostrander

Sarah Bauza

Rhythm Section

Adam Alessi: Drums

Nick Schaadt: Bass

Will Brahm: Guitar

Danny Taylor: Percussion

All Songs composed by George and Ira Gershwin, unless otherwise noted

Set One

S’Wonderful: Arranged by Shelly Berg

Featuring Shelly Berg, Paquito D’Rivera and The Barclay Jazz & Beyond Orchestra

Funny Face: Arranged by Michael Abene

Featuring Patti Austin and The Barclay Jazz & Beyond Orchestra

But Not For Me: Arranged by Patrick Williams

Featuring Patti Austin, Paquito D’Rivera, and The Barclay Jazz & Beyond Orchestra

Fascinating Rhythm: Arranged by Shelly Berg

Featuring Shelly Berg, Paquito D’Rivera, and the Barclay Jazz & Beyond Orchestra

The Man I Love: Featuring Patti Austin and Shelly Berg

Nice Work If You Can Get It: Arranged by Shelly Berg

Featuring Shelly Berg and Paquito D’Rivera

Lady Be Good: Arranged by Michael Abene

Featuring Patti Austin, Paquito D’Rivera, and The Barclay Jazz & Beyond Orchestra

Set Two

Rhapsody In Blue: Arranged by Shelly Berg

Featuring Shelly Berg, Paquito D’Rivera, and The Barclay Jazz & Beyond Orchestra

Who Cares: Arranged by Michael Abene

Featuring Patti Austin, Paquito D’Rivera, and The Barclay Jazz & Beyond Orchestra

Slap That Bass: Arranged by Michael Abene

Featuring Patti Austin and The Barclay Jazz & Beyond Orchestra

Summertime: George Gershwin and Dubose Heyward

Arranged by Gil Evans

Featuring Paquito D’Rivera and the Barclay Jazz & Beyond Orchestra

Bess, You Is My Woman Now: George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin, Dubose Heyward

Featuring Shelly Berg and Paquito D’Rivera

I Got Rhythm: Arranged by Shelly Berg

Featuring Patti Austin, Paquito D’Rivera, Shelly Berg and The Barclay Jazz &Beyond Orchestra

George Gershwin, the son of Eastern European immigrants, was born Jacob Gershwine in Brooklyn. At age fifteen, he took a job as a song plugger on Tin Pan Alley, absorbing the sounds of America and the “City That Never Sleeps.” He studied classical piano and composition and reveled in the music of Maurice Ravel and contemporary classical composers. He had a hit song before he was twenty and amassed a catalog of timeless classics in the Great American Songbook. That alone would have been enough, but he also wrote the opera Porgy and Bess, An American in Paris, Rhapsody in Blue, Concerto in F, and other long-form pieces, creating a completely distinctive and American style that fused classical music and impressionism with the rhythms, harmonies, and melodies of his native jazz. It is hard to imagine Gershwin’s vast imprint—all of which occurred before his untimely death at age 38.

Gershwin Swings features Patti Austin and Paquito D’Rivera joining Shelly Berg and The Barclay Jazz & Beyond Orchestra, which is made up entirely of Orange County musicians!

Act One opens with a George and Ira Gershwin classic, “S’Wonderful,” composed for Fred Astaire in the Broadway musical and subsequent film Funny Face. This arrangement features Shelly Berg and clarinetist, saxophonist, and composer Paquito D’Rivera, who has won Grammys in both Latin and classical music. Next, Patti Austin takes the stage to sing the musical’s title number, “Funny Face,” masterfully arranged by Michael Abene. Patti, a Grammy winner for her aptly titled album Avant Gershwin, continues with The Barclay Jazz & Beyond Orchestra on “But Not For Me,” a heartbreaking account of love passing someone by—a theme true to George Gershwin himself, who never married.

Shelly Berg’s arrangement of “Fascinating Rhythm” follows, from his Billboard Top Ten album Gershwin Reimagined: An American in London. This humorous piece captures the chaos of someone unable to focus because of irresistible jazz rhythms invading his psyche. Patti Austin then returns for a duet with Berg on “The Man I Love,” a poignant ballad pining for a lover who may never appear. “Nice Work If You Can Get It” spotlights D’Rivera and Berg with the rhythm section; this song regained popularity as the theme of the hit TV series Cybill. Set One closes with a barn burner, featuring all of the guest artists and the orchestra on “Lady Be Good.”

Act Two opens with Shelly Berg’s jazz arrangement of “Rhapsody in Blue,” also featuring the brilliant Paquito D‘Rivera. George Gershwin composed this iconic work—one of the most popular compositions of all time—in just 20 days, at the age of 26. Patti Austin then returns to join the orchestra in a thrilling samba version of “Who Cares?,” an upbeat Depression-era anthem declaring, “Let a million firms go under” because “Who cares? I love you and you love me.”

“Slap That Bass” shows off the bluesy, funky side of Patti Austin, complete with a few double entendres embedded in Ira Gershwin’s clever lyric. Paquito D’Rivera follows with “Summertime” from the groundbreaking opera Porgy and Bess, a tragic story of poverty and suffering along the docks of Charleston. This arrangement, originally recorded by Miles Davis in collaboration with the innovative arranger Gil Evans, remains one of the most iconic interpretations of the piece. Continuing with music from Porgy and Bess, Berg and D’Rivera team up for “Bess, You Is My Woman Now,” one of the most beautiful songs in the Gershwin catalog.

Gershwin Swings closes with all of our artists and the orchestra performing perhaps the most famous George and Ira Gershwin song of all: “I’ve Got Rhythm,” featured in the film An American in Paris with Gene Kelly and a group of adorable kids.

The Barclay Jazz & Beyond Orchestra is a premier ensemble comprised of Orange County musicians that is dedicated to exploring jazz and popular music through the creation and presentation of unique and entertaining concert programs. Led by Music Director Shelly Berg, The Barclay Jazz & Beyond Orchestra brings a fresh approach to the genre through new compositions, compelling arrangements of jazz classics, and collaboration with world-class guest soloists.