Noel Freidline - piano, vocals

Maria Howell - vocals                                  

Juan Rollan - saxophone                                  

Billy Thornton - bass

Al Sergel - drumset   

 

Formed in 1992, the Noel Freidline Quintet is celebrating 26 years together

 

From humble beginnings as a house band at a small restaurant in Jacksonville, FL, they have graced stages all over the US and Europe. 

 

Their credits include:

 

House band at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, 2000 - 2003

 

Actress Julia Roberts’ surprise 35th Birthday Party, New York, NY

 

8 CD’s

 

17 appearances at the Jacksonville Jazz Festival

 

The Montreux Jazz Festival, Montreux, Switzerland

 

New York’s famed Birdland jazz club

 

and festivals, theatres, schools and church performances too numerous to list here.  Please see full list below. 

 

Their repertoire has always mined the best of every genre, from the swing of Duke Ellington and Frank Sinatra, to the gritty sincerity of Bonnie Rait and Otis Redding, from soulful and edgy reinterpretations of Patti Page and The Doors to Africanized arrangements of Simon & Garfunkel.  Vocally driven, their sound is characterized by heavy grooves and sophisticated arrangements that always retain an element of spontaneity. 

 

The Noel Freidline Quintet is a group of artists who know how to entertain.  With no one “star” in the group, they are a “band” in the true sense of the word.

 

“You won’t find another band that swings as hard as Noel Freidline’s.  Their exhuberant set flows through fresh interpretations of mainstream jazz standards, blues and pop tunes so effortlessly that audiences not only are left tapping their toes, but standing and cheering for more.  That’s one reason why this immensely talented ensemble has built up a following that returns night after night.” 

Vic DiGenti, eight-year executive producer, Jacksonville Jazz Festival 

 

+          Noel Freidline's most recent release is with his quartet and features vocalist Maria Howell.  "Old Devil Moon" was released in February, 2018.   The NFQ’s national debut release was a double CD entitled "Four Nights at the Slammer." Recorded at the home of Penn Jillette ("Penn & Teller") and released in February 2002, "Four Nights at the Slammer" spent ten weeks on the national jazz radio Top 50 charts, peaking at #31. The NFQ's other releases include: “Carry Me Home,” a collection of ‘sacred jazz” release in 2003, "One for Maxcene" in '94, "The Stranger is Me," in '96, a Christmas CD entitled "Noël" in 1999, and an EP, "CD 2000" in 2000, and their live CD, “Live at the Jazz Corner,” released in 2007. All of the NFQ’s music is available for immediate download through Itunes.com, Amazon.com, Rhapsody.com and many other web retailers. 

 

+          In July, 2003 the band finished up a three-year engagement at Las Vegas’ most exclusive hotel and casino, The Bellagio.  In September 2002, the Noel Freidline Quintet was presented with the “Rising Star Award” of Las Vegas, as the top up-and-coming group in the city.

 

+          The members of the Noel Freidline Quintet are experienced educators and clinicians and firmly believe that to keep something you have to give it away.  As clinicians they have spread their wealth of knowledge and experience from the University of North Florida, the University of North Carolina in Charlotte, to an artist-in-residency program at the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind.  They have developed several series of educational programs, ranging from interactive presentations for school-age children, to lecture/concerts for collegiate and community audiences, to workshops for fine arts performers and clinics and workshops specifically geared toward musicians. 

 

+          The Noel Freidline Quintet has appeared at:

 

Festival appearances:

The NorthSea Jazz Festival, The Hague, The Netherlands   

The Montreux Jazz Festival, Montreux,Switzerland                         

The Brissago Jazz Festival, Brissago, Switzerland                            

The Jacksonville Jazz Festival, Jacksonville, FL                 

The Clearwater Jazz Holiday, Clearwater, FL                        

The Riverbend Festival, Chattanooga, TN                            

Musikfest, Bethlehem, PA                                                     

City Verve Jazz & Heritage Festival, Charlotte, NC              

The Sarasota Jazz Festival, Sarasota, FL                             

The Nashville Summer Lights Festival, Nashville, TN                      

SpringFest, Charlotte, NC                                                                  

LakeFest, Charlotte, NC                                                                     

The Worth Avenue Jazz Festival, Palm Beach, FL   

Cullowhee Arts Fest, Cullowhee, NC                                     

The Coconut Grove Arts Festival, Coconut Grove, FL                      

The Panama City Jazz Festival, Panama City, FL

The Dizzy Gillespie Jazz Festival, Cheraw, SC

 

Concert appearances:

Hilton Head Jazz Society, Hilton Head Is., SC                                   

Palm Beach Four Seasons Ocean Grand Concert Series, Palm Beach, FL            

Gold Coast Jazz Society, Ft. Lauderdale, FL                                     

Florida Theatre, Jacksonville, FL                                            

Naples Jazz Society, Naples, FL 

Savannah Coastal Jazz Association, Savannah, GA           

Las Vegas Jazz Society, Las Vegas, NV                                

Hollywood Friends of Jazz, Hollywood, FL                            

JAMS, Palm Beach Jazz Society, West Palm Beach, FL      

Macon Jazz Association, Macon, GA           

Charlotte County Jazz Society, Port Charlotte, FL                 

Clematis St. Theatre, West Palm Beach, FL                          

The Ritz Theatre, Jacksonville, FL                                                      

ORCA, Vidalia, GA                 

St. Augustine Jazz Society, St. Augustine, FL                                   

Jazz Club of Sarasota, Sarasota, FL                          

Gainesville Friends of Jazz, Gainesville, FL                         

Treasure Coast Jazz Society, Vero Beach, FL                                  

Big Arts Concert Series, Sanibel Is., FL                    

Blowing Rock Jazz Society, Blowing Rock, NC                     

Diana Wortham Theatre, Asheville, NC

Arts United for Davidson County, Lexington, NC

Jazz at the Bechtler, Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, Charlotte, NC

 

Their club appearances are too numerous to mention, but do include regular shows at:

The Bellagio Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, NV

Walt Disney's exclusive Pleasure Island Jazz Company, Orlando, FL

Heidi’s Jazz Club, Cocoa Beach, FL 

The Jazz Corner, Hilton Head Island, SC

The Van Dyke Café, Miami Beach, FL 

Twins Jazz, Washington, DC

Churchill Grounds, Atlanta GA

Birdland, New York, NY

 

Church appearances:

 

Willow Creek, Chicago, IL

Central Christian Church, Las Vegas, NV

Palms Presbyterian Church, Jacksonville Beach, FL

First Baptist of Decatur, Decatur, GA

Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church, Jacksonville, FL

Church by the Sea, St. Petersburg Beach, FL

Neptune Baptist Church, Neptune Beach, FL

Riverside Presbyterian Church, Jacksonville, FL

St. Francis in the Field Episcopal Church, Palm Valley, FL 

Temple Ahavath Chesed, Jacksonville, FL

Park Road Baptist Church, Charlotte, NC

Evangelical Free Church, Clearwater, KS

Lutheran Social Services, Jacoby Hall, Times-Union Center, Jacksonville, FL

First Christian Church, Huntington Beach, CA

United Methodist Church, Orange Park, FL

Mecklenburg Community Church, Charlotte, NC

Providence Baptist Church, Charlotte, NC  

Quail Hollow Presbyterian Church, Charlotte, NC 

Hickory Grove Baptist Church, Charlotte, NC 

 

School concerts and educational presentations:

 

University of North Florida, Jacksonville, FL

Florida School for the Deaf and Blind, Artist in Residency, St. Augustine, FL

Basic High School, Las Vegas, NV

Hilton Head Middle and High School, Hilton Head Is., SC

Brigham Young University, Salt Lake City, UT

Florida Community College Jacksonville, all four campuses, Jacksonville, FL

Independence Hill Preschool, Charlotte, NC

Blythe Elementary School, Huntersville, NC

Clearwater High, Middle and Elementary School, Clearwater KS

Episcopal High School, Jacksonville, FL

Friends University, Wichita, KS

Rappahannock Community College, Warsaw, VA

Miami-Dade Community College, Miami, FL

Holy Family Catholic School, Jacksonville, FL

Davidson Day School, Davidson, NC 

Winterfield Elementary, Charlotte, NC

First Ward Elementary, Charlotte, NC

Cornelius Elementary, Cornelius, NC 

Northwest School of the Arts, Artist in Residency, Charlotte, NC

University of North Carolina at Charlotte, NC

Davidson Day School, Davidson, NC

Upcoming Performancs

Previous events

Keith David's Jazz Cabaret with the Noel Freidline Quartet

 —  —

The Jazz Corner, 1000 William HIlton Parkway, Hilton Head Is., SC

6:30 PM SHOW - DINNER RESERVATIONS FROM 5:15 PM 9:00 PM SHOW - DINNER RESERVATIONS FROM 8:00 PM

Keith David is a classically trained, multiple Emmy award winning actor.

In addition to his versatile acting and voiceover work, Keith is also a remarkable singer. He has presented “Too Marvelous for Words”, in which he portrays the legendary singer Nat King Cole, at venues around the country. He is developing a show about the legendary Blues singer Joe Williams, “Here’s to Life.”

He is currently on hiatus from shooting a new series for producer JJ Abrams and HBO Max entitled “Duster.” He recently shot “The Gray House,” a drama series produced by Kevin Costner and Morgan Freeman, in Romania. Previously Keith starred alongside Zoe Saldana in the Netflix limited series “From Scratch,” for which he won the NAACP Image Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series. Keith was featured in Jordan Peele’s latest film “Nope.” He starred in the TV series "Greenleaf" for Oprah Winfrey's OWN network for 5 seasons. He also recently starred in “Black As Night” for Blumhouse / Amazon.

In “Greenleaf” Keith portrayed ‘Bishop James Greenleaf’, the charismatic and God-fearing leader of the Calvary Fellowship and the patriarch of the family. The series followed the unscrupulous world of the Greenleaf family, their scandalous secrets and lies, and their sprawling Memphis megachurch. The series was praised for its push and pull dynamic, its hypocrisy, and its compelling characters. Keith's stellar performance was best stated by The Hollywood Reporter, “... Keith David ...is perfectly cast as Bishop Greenleaf. Whether he's playing to the congregation at the altar or getting conspiratorial in a smaller venue, this is an unusually great and meaty role for David.”

Other big screen credits include Keith co-starring in Chadwick Boseman’s last film "21 Bridges". Prior appearances include “Night School” with Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish and “Tales from the Hood 2”. Other highlights from Keith’s movie career include the Academy award-winning films “Crash” and “Platoon.” He is widely recognized for appearing in Disney’s “The Princess and the Frog”, “Requiem for a Dream”, “Men at Work”, “They Live”, “There’s Something About Mary”, and “The Thing.”

Other recent TV credits include "Leverage: Redemption," “Creepshow,” “NCIS: New Orleans,” “Blackish,” and “MacGyver”. Earlier credits include “Community”, “Enlisted”, “ER”, and “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood”. On Broadway, Keith starred in August Wilson’s “Seven Guitars” and “Jelly’s Last Jam” for which he garnered a Tony Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical.

Keith’s work as a voice actor has made him a household name. His rich and powerful voice has been featured in national commercials, award shows, documentaries, video games, and animation. By virtue of his long collaboration with award winning documentarian Ken Burns, Keith has earned three Emmys for narrating “Jackie Robinson”, “The War”, and “Unforgivable Blackness – The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson”. His most recent narration was for “Muhammad Ali: A Documentary by Ken Burns.” Other voice acting credits include countless fan favorites such as “Adventure Time”, “Bojack Horseman,” “Rick & Morty”, “Spawn”, and “Gargoyles”. Keith has lent his voice to many videogame titles. Recently he portrayed the character “Spawn” in the reboot of “Mortal Kombat”. Other appearances include the “Halo” series (games 2, 3, and 5), the “Saint’s Row” series (games 1, 2, and 4), as well as the “Mass Effect” series (games 1,2, and 3).

Born and raised in New York by his parents Lester and Dolores, Keith became interested in the arts at a very young age. After appearing in his school’s production of “The Wizard of Oz”, he knew this was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. He enrolled in New York's High School of the Performing Arts and continued his studies at The Juilliard School. After graduation, he was immediately hired by Joseph Papp as an understudy for the role of Tullus Aufidius in William Shakespeare's "Coriolanus." His work with Mr. Papp and the New York Shakespeare Festival launched his incredible career.

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Noel & Maria return to the Blumenthal Booth Playhouse for their 4th annual Home for the Holidays concert! This event has become the "MUST SEE" of the season. Featuring Noel Freidline, Maria Howell and their amazing all-star band. Also featuring special guest violinist KAREN BRIGGS (Spyro Gyra, SFX, Yanni, John Mayer)!

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