Dinner Theater will feature 'best in Memphis'

The René Koopman Quartet will be the featured attraction at the upcoming Friends of Music Dinner Theater on March 7. Koopman, center, will play keyboards while Reni Simon, right, will be the featured vocalist. Also pictured is bassist Tom Goodwin, who is being replaced by Bob Sunda. Photos provided

Despite having to postpone some recent performances due to the January ice storm, the annual Friends of Music Dinner Theater will go on as planned.

"Even with all that so many have been through, after serious deliberation we think that the recovery in Kennett and the area will allow us to continue as planned," said program director Jules Mercier.

This year's event will feature "a wonderful combination of the best in Memphis, [Tenn.], as the René Koopman Quartet performs songs from such famed artists as Cole Porter, Johnny Mercer, Hoagy Carmichael, George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, and Duke Ellington.

Also part of the group will be Tom Lonardo who will be playing drums.

René Koopman has said the evening will be filled with "tunes that people know" from a long list of old favorites.

The René Koopman Quartet will showcase the talents of Koopman on keyboard, Bob Sunda on bass, Tom Lonardo on drums, and feature vocalist Reni Simon.

Koopman a native of the Netherlands, has lived in the United States since 1957 and has performed with Danny Thomas; Bob Hope; Sammy Davis, Jr.; Frank Sinatra; Tony Bennett; Margaret Whiting; Helen O'Connell; Lola Falana; Phyllis Diller; Dinah Shore; Vicky Carr; Wayne Newton; Gladys Knight; and Merle Haggard.

Sunda, who is replacing Tim Goodwin, comes from New Orleans, La., and is a refugee of Hurricane Katrina. He plays in the Memphis area and has worked as a band leader/music director, and has performed with jazz musicians Mose Allison and Charlie Byrd.

Lonardo, of Paris, Tenn., grew up in his father's 10-piece dance band, Tom Lonardo & His Orchestra. In 1991, he was elected into the Ole Miss Jazz Hall of Fame.

Starting in the late 1960's, Lonardo has worked with many local and area bands including Phase II, The Tom Ferguson Trio, The Mississippians, George Coleman, The Checkmates, The Tony Thomas Trio, Edwin Hubbard and Prana, T.O. Earnheart, Gene Rush, Hot Cotton, Dog Police, Di Anne Price and Her Boyfriends, Gary Johns & Friends, The Charlie Wood Trio, K.C. Ray, and The Jumpin' Chi-Chis.

Lonardo also teaches percussion at Southwest Tennessee Community College in Memphis and is endorsed by the Memphis Drum Shop.

Simon, who was born in Memphis, was influenced by her father, a saxophone and jazz artist. Simon's early career was in Memphis where she recorded for Stax Records. Her first solo recording contract was with famed guitarist Steve Cropper of Booker T. & the M.G.'s and the Blues Brothers. Since then, she has continued to record various projects at Inside Sounds, as well as "Memphis Belles", a CD tribute to Memphis female vocalists.

Simon later moved to San Francisco, Calif., and from there toured the United States with regular performances on music television shows in Los Angeles, Calif. She later moved to Nashville, Tenn., where she sang background and toured Canada with Roy Orbison.

This year's event will take place at 7 p.m. on Saturday, March 7, 2009, at the First United Methodist Church's Christian Life Center, located at the junction of College and Washington Streets in Kennett.

Tickets cost $20 per person and can be purchased in advance from Kennett National Bank, Friends of Music board members, or by calling Friends of Music at (573) 888-6396. Admission includes a meal catered by Pat Mitchell's Traveling Whisk of Kennett.

The Friends of Music Board of Directors includes Jack Astrachan, Anita Blackmon, Mindy Brown, Marilyn Caldwell, Glenda Deeter, Mary Lynn Jones-Wright, Thomas Kinsey, John T. McMullan, Jules Mercier, Pamela Jones Mercier, Libby Mobley, Anne Moyer, Nancy Rogers, Bill Walsh, and Joyce Walsh.