Calabria Foti and Bob McChesney will perform at Sunset Jazz at Newport
She’s recorded with Barbra Streisand, Willie Nelson, Paul McCartney and Natalie Cole, but jazz vocalist and violinist Calabria Foti’s favorite person to perform with is someone she’s known closely for 30 years — her husband.
Bob McChesney has performed for audiences as large as 5,000 and can be heard on the CDs of Rod Stewart, Michael Buble and Diana Krall.
Together, Foti and McChesney will grace the stage at the sixth annual Sunset Jazz at Newport, where they will present an evening of jazz and comedy with Jimmie J.J. Walker, Tom Ranier, Chuck Berghofer and Paul Kreibich.
“This is our first time doing Sunset and we’re really excited,” said Foti. “We’re looking forward to the series this year.”
Foti and McChesney, who are based in San Fernando, were last in Newport Beach for the Newport Beach Jazz Party over Valentine’s Day weekend. Foti said the two of them wanted to make a return performance.
The summer series, hosted at the Newport Beach Marriott Hotel & Spa, will open Monday with The Four Freshmen and conclude Sept. 16 with Ken Peplowski and the Chuck Redd Quintet. The lineup will feature a number of popular jazz musicians, including the Wycliffe Gordon All-Stars, Jeff Hamilton Trio with special guest Graham Dechter, and many others.
The concert series has often celebrated special occasions, including singer Barbara Morrison’s 65th birthday last year. Morrison accepted the festival’s invitation for a return performance, and a pre-birthday party will be held for her Sept. 9.
The Four Freshmen will showcase fresh sounds with new singer Tommy Boynton, who made his earliest public performance with the three band mates at the 15th annual Newport Beach Jazz Party this past February.
Foti and McChesney, who are scheduled to perform Aug. 26, will play duets and love songs, paying homage to their 30th wedding anniversary this year.
“I adore working with Bob professionally,” she said, noting that he has been working on an album at Capitol Records. “He’s wonderful.”
The two met at State University of New York at Fredonia, where Foti was studying orchestral violin.
“I was practicing and I stopped and I heard this beautiful trombone playing,” she remembered. “I took a walk and saw this curly-head trombonist and I thought, ‘Who is this?’”
McChesney, who was then a business major, continued to play the instrument throughout his college years. After graduation, McChesney moved to Los Angeles to start a music career and Foti went to Florida. A few years later, Foti moved to Los Angeles. The couple married and raised two daughters who are musicians.
Foti has recorded two albums, created the jazz violin sound for Fox TV’s violin-playing cartoon character Lisa Simpson and performed as soloist in the 2014 movie “Muppets Most Wanted.” McChesney arranged and produced the 2014 Grammy Award-nominated single “Let’s Fall in Love,” featuring Seth MacFarlane and Foti, and he released his latest record, “Chez Sez,” in April. The CD features originals and reimagined standards.
Foti said she plans to share stories from her music career with guests, including the time she played the violin in a Frank Sinatra concert at around age 23. Foti remembered feeling intimidated and wondered if she should say hello to Ol’ Blue Eyes.
“He came up to me and said, ‘Hi ya, kid. So nice to meet you,’” she said. “It was really sweet.”
The couple has since worked with Frank Sinatra Jr. and call him a friend.
Foti, who said she particularly enjoys playing jazz pieces from the Great American Songbook, said her favorite song to perform is “Two for the Road,” composed by Henry Mancini for the film starring Audrey Hepburn and Albert Finney. She and her husband use the song name as their show title at festivals and theaters.
“It’s my most beloved song because it’s like the two of us spending our life together,” Foti said. “This is really one of the most fun things we do. We just want the audience to have a good time because this is the music that we love to sing and play.”
If You Go
What: Sunset Jazz at Newport
When: July 8 through Sept. 16; 6 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesdays
Where: Newport Beach Marriott Hotel & Spa, 900 Newport Center Drive
Cost: $23 to $458
Information: (949) 759-5003 or visit sunsetjazznewport.com