ILMINSTER Arts Centre is thrilled to be featuring acclaimed vocalist Marlene Verplanck in its spring line-up of jazz concerts.

The New York Times has said of Marlene that “she may be the most accomplished interpreter of popular material performing today”.

Marlene’s musical pedigree is certainly sprinkled with stardust – in her long career she has worked with everyone from Tommy Dorsey and Frank Sinatra to Tony Bennett and Perry Como.

She began her career as a teenager in the early 1950s, singing with the Tex Beneke and Charlie Spivak orchestras when the big dance bands were still flying high.

She moved on to sing with Tommy Dorsey’s band until his death in 1956.

She then became involved with the jazz scene, working with top pianists such as Marion McPartland and Tommy Flanagan before making her first recordings with Hank Jones and a top line group including Herbie Mann, Joe Wilder and Kenny Clarke.

Her CD In the Digital Mood, with Mel Torme and the reformed Glenn Miller Orchestra in 1990, became the first big band CD to go gold.

Her latest album, I Give Up, I’m in Love, has garnered rave reviews, including this from Rex Reed: “Polished and beautiful to listen to, she is always full of surprises and lives up to her high standards with finger-snapping panache.

“She is something of a marvel.”

Marlene always works with topnotch musicians, and at the arts centre she will be performing with the John Pearce Trio.

John Pearce is one of the top pianists in the UK, and his trio alone are worth the cost of a ticket, so the concert promises to be really something special.

Make a date at the arts centre on March 13 at 8pm. A pre-show supper at 7pm is available for £12, but must be booked in advance – call 01460-54973 to book.