Our third installment in the Art + Jazz series with local jazz legend Elena Gilliam features an exhibition of the work of musical photojournalist and Orange County California Jazz Ambassador Valerie Huffman Herring and clips from shows with jazz groups the Don Littleton Quintet and the Tony Guerrero Quintet. Elena Gilliam interviews Tony Guerrero to discuss his music and his love for the art of jazz, including items from his collection of memorabilia. The event concludes with a music video produced by Tony and a final live performance recorded at the Festival of Arts earlier this year in Laguna Beach.

This event will be premiered on MUZEO’s YouTube Channel and Facebook.

About the Artists

Tony Guerrero, musical artist

Since his first solo release in 1988, Tony Guerrero has established himself in a variety of areas. His work as a contemporary jazz flugelhornist, trumpeter, composer, and producer has garnered him both critical success and a worldwide audience. He has toured the United States and much of the world as a headliner in major jazz festivals, concert halls, and clubs and has enjoyed commercial radio success not only with his own releases but with music he’s written for other artists. To date, he has released twelve solo CDs, some of which have charted on the Billboard Top 20, as well as a variety of special releases. He has appeared on around 200 albums as either producer, composer, arranger or as a musician performing on either trumpet, flugelhorn, piano, guitar and more. Guerrero’s work as a musician and composer can also be heard in movies and on television.

Guerrero’s resume reads like a who’s who of contemporary music. He’s worked with a diverse roster of artists, including jazz legends Freddie Hubbard, Tom Scott and Joe Sample, rock icons Brian Wilson, Paul McCartney, Slash and Billy Idol, pop sensations Chance the Rapper, The Jonas Bros and the quadruple-platinum soundtrack to Disney’s High School Musical, as well as Hollywood icons Dick Van Dyke, Jane Lynch, Merv Griffin and more.

Valerie Huffman Herring, music photojournalist and Orange County Jazz Ambassador

For over a decade, Valerie has created a stunning success of works from music, theater, cultural events, natural environments while capturing the exquisite grandeur of musicians and cultural performances. Her striking and memorable images provide a prominent focus on the many things that go unnoticed by most people, as they enjoy various venues. Her goal is for the audience to feel the intensity and ultimately HEAR the music in the photographic images. It is said, ‘A great image is when you turn away and the photograph entices you to take a second look.

• Introduced to theater photography and invited to work as a Resident Photographer for the Orange Curtain Theater in San Juan Capistrano, CA.
• Photographs featured in the Los Angeles Times, Orange County Register Newspaper and Back Stage West, a weekly editorial/casting trade publication.
• Passionately completed the tasks of shooting performers’ head shots, press releases, marquee and backstage photos for both Chinese and Bejing Opera.
• Photographing a live performance of the Peony Pavilion Chinese Opera augmented a specialized skill of shooting in low-lighting, without use of LED light, flash, shutter sound, or tripod
• Subsequent involvement in culturally diverse activities lead to an emphasis on bringing people together through performing art and music photography using photojournalistic style.
• She primarily focuses on the subject’s eyes known as “the window to the soul” to invoke a spiritual and engaging image.