The Spokane Jazz Orchestra's "Somldering Swing" with Kathleen and Gary Gemberling
When, where: Saturday at 8 p.m. at The Bing Crosby Theater, 901 W. Riverside Ave.
Tickets: $26, $23 for military, students and seniors, through TicketsWest, www.ticketswest.rdln.com
Kathleen and Gary Gemberling are in sync when it comes to music.
The Lewiston-based wife and husband performing duo first when when they were playing the same show at a Busch Gardens Theme Park in Virginia and they've been performing together ever since.
They both sing and Gary plays trumpet, sharing the stage with various jazz big bands around the region.
On Friday, they're the featured guests for the Spokane Jazz Orchestra's "Smoldering Swing" concert at The Bing Crosby Theater, 901 W. Sprague.
The Gemberlings will be singing together and separately during the second half of the SJO's concert, performing charts arranged by retired Washington State University professor Charles Argersinger and University of Idaho educator and arranger, composer, conductor and percussionist Dan Bukvich.
"I love singing in a big band, unfortunately there's not a lot of opportunities to play as much as I'd like. I mean, who wants to hire a 22-piece band?" Kathleen said during a telephone interview. "Most of what I'm doing is concert fundraisers where I'm donating my time so it's very exciting to come up to Spokane and play with the SJO."
Gary is the more experienced of the two, having performed with the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, Lou Rawls, and The Temptations, among others, and he's toured nationally with Broadway musicals.
Kathleen tours around the Northwest as a member of big band vocal quartet The Hamptones, alongside their song, Kyle, who sings and studies trumpet at the University of Idaho.
The Gemberlings' daughter, Hanna, also plays trumpet as well as piano plus she is the stage manager for a musical at her high school.
"She won't be joining us (at the SJO show) because she has another gig," Kathleen said.
She and Gary have been married for 21 years, and have played music together the whole time.
"It's good, but it's not full time. We \ have day jobs. I work at a law office and Gary teaches high school. The gigs -- those are our dates," Kathleen said. "I'm so in awe of him musically, everything is a good idea. When we're grocery shopping it's a different story."
Young Giants of Jazz
The "Smoldering Swing" show will also feature winners of the Giants of Jazz competition for high school students.
This year's winners are Ferris High School bassist Ben Vogel; Riverside High School alto saxophonist Caleb Brown; and Oaksdale High School tenor saxophonist Michael Conklin.
The Spokane Jazz Orchestra's "Somldering Swing" with Kathleen and Gary Gemberling When, where: Saturday at 8 p.m. at The Bing Crosby Theater, 901 W. Riverside Ave. Tickets: $26, $23 for military, students and seniors, through TicketsWest, www.ticketswest.rdln.com A version of this story appeared in The Spokesman-Review Newspaper.
