The Jazz Futures

Join JazzBeat Promotions in presenting the ‘Jazz Futures” featuring some of the greatest Award Winning young talent in the Country. Terence Harper, Trumpet (legendary Jazz family) , Andre Rovira Piano (Roberts Glasper award winner), James Robertson, Sax (Robert Glasper Award winner), Dishan Harper (Legendary Jazz Family) Bass, and Justice Michael, drums (3 time Apollo Winner).

This event is one of the official 31 days of Jazz events.
Get tickets online @eventbrite.com. Call 678-938-3861 for more information and group rates.

Thursday, May 23, 2013 7:30pm until 10:30pm in EDT

Acoustix Jazz (Restaurant & Lounge), 840 Marietta Street NW, Atlanta, Georgia 30318

Smoky Hill River Festival 2013

 

Make your plans now to discover the Smoky Hill River Festival — the midwest’s premier arts festival.

Revelers young and old gather each June in shaded, historic Oakdale Park, near the banks of the river, to enjoy the Smoky Hill River Festival.

Now in its 37th year, the River Festival spans three-and-a-half days in early June. The Festival is best known nationally for its excellent art and cultural programming, its relaxed, family-friend atmosphere, and the organic way in which many vibrant art installations and other key elements mingle, to challenge returning and new visitors in surprising and delightful ways.

Featuring a rainbow of artistic offerings for the senses, the River Festival offers a veritable symphony of fine art and crafts, children’s activities, Festival food, and more. Four stages of top-notch musical and roving entertainment round out the menu for this ‘create your own’ event that officially kicks off the summer season for thousands of residents and out-of-town guests. The Festival is scheduled for Thursday through Sunday, June 6-9, 2013.

The River Festival begins on Thursday evening with the Festival Jam concert on June 6, at 6 p.m. Festival gates open that night at 4, come early to stake out your spot and enjoy supper on the grounds from more than 30 outstanding Festival food vendors. That’s just the beginning, as the Festival evolves over the weekend with special events including a fun run, Big Band Dance, children’s art activities, artisan craft demonstrations and more, highlighted by time to browse each fine art and craft booth and enjoy entertainment on the hour on the Festival stages.

Admission to the Smoky Hill River Festival is by Festival Button only, which are $10 in advance or $15 at the Gate. Gates of the River Festival open at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday for patrons to enter, with activities running from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, the Festival’s final day. So, grab your lawn chair, blanket, and cooler and plan to join your friends and loved ones for a time of relaxation and discovery at the Smoky Hill River Festival.

Oakdale Park, Oakdale 730, Salina, Kansas 67401

The 36th Annual Atlanta Jazz Festival

“The 36th Annual Atlanta Jazz Festival will shine a spotlight on the wealth of emerging talent in the jazz world as we celebrate Generation Next,” states Camille Russell Love, Director of the City of Atlanta Office of Cultural Affairs. “We have always presented the best and brightest on the scene and this year we continue that mission with a focus on where jazz is right now and where it’s heading. Audiences will enjoy a wide spectrum of styles from traditional straight-ahead, Latin jazz and swing to jazz flavored with neo-soul, hip-hop, R&B and world music. As technology brings us closer, musicians are collaborating from all corners of the globe and we’re entering a new age of jazz. Join us as we present some of todays’ most vibrant and innovative jazz artists including Cécile McLorin Salvant, Dominick Farinacci, Meshell Ndegeocello, José James, Tia Fuller, Aruán Ortiz, Gretchen Parlato, and Rudresh Mahanthappa. Come experience three exhilarating days of FREE music over Memorial Day Weekend (May 25-27) in historic Piedmont Park.”

Here’s information on eight of the incredible artists who’ll be performing in Piedmont Park from May 25-27:

The men of BWB (Rick Braun, Kirk Whalum and Norman Brown) are reuniting with a new album and tour this summer. They will appear with special guest Chrisette Michele, Friday, May 24 at Chastain Park Amphitheatre. Their musical passion and groove intensity defines the truest heart and soul of today’s contemporary jazz. Look for their new album to be released on Concord Records later this summer.

On her latest CD, BETTER, Chrisette Michele sounds confident and composed even when laying her heart on the line. Michele showcases her renewed faith in love. “Being able to sing these songs is about the ability to love again,” she says.

Singer Cécile McLorin Salvant was born and raised in Miami of a French mother and a Haitian father. She started classical piano studies at 5, and began singing in the Miami Choral Society at 8. In 2007, Cécile moved to France to study law, classical and baroque voice at the Darius Milhaud Conservatory. It was with reedist and teacher Jean-François Bonnel that she started learning improvisation and expanded her vocal repertoire from the 1910’s onward. In 2009, after a series of concerts in Paris, she recorded her first album, Cécile. A year later, she won the Thelonious Monk competition in Washington D.C. Cécile sings jazz standards and original songs. She has performed at numerous festivals such as Jazz à Vienne, Whitley Bay in England, Montauban in France, the Spoleto Jazz Festival and the Detroit Jazz Festival, and with Wynton Marsalis at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York, at Chicago’s Symphony Center, as well as with her own band at the Kennedy Center.

Trumpeter Dominick Farinacci is a world-class musician with nine recordings and countless U.S. and international tours to his credit. His repertoire includes fresh interpretations of classics by Ornette Coleman, Astor Piazzolla and Billie Holiday and well as self-penned originals.

A bass player above all else, Meshell Ndegeocello brings her signature warmth and groove to everything she does and has appeared alongside the Rolling Stones, Madonna, Alanis Morrisette, James Blood Ulmer, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Tony Allen, John Medeski, John Mellencamp, Billy Preston, and Chaka Khan. As for her own bass-playing influences, she credits Sting, Jaco Pastorius, Family Man Barrett, and Stevie Wonder. Meshell was the first woman to be featured on the cover of Bass Player Magazine and is one of few women who write the music and lead the band.

Singer José James has established himself as a trailblazer for his intoxicating blend of jazz, hip-hop, R&B and electronica. His 2008 debut The Dreamer and its 2010 follow-up, BlackMagic – both produced by the world-renowned DJ Gilles Peterson – transformed the Minneapolis-born, New York-based singer into an underground sensation in both the modern jazz and DJ culture scenes.

Saxophonist, composer and bandleader Tia Fuller’s third release on Mack Avenue Records, Angelic Warrior, marks her musical evolution. After five years in Beyoncé’s band, the pop diva’s attention to detail in the studio rubbed off on Fuller. And as the Assistant Musical Director for Esperanza Spalding’s Radio Music Society touring band, Fuller fully applies pop and jazz chops.

Aruán Ortiz is a critically acclaimed Cuban pianist, an award-winning composer, and a solid producer and educator, both on the New York scene and internationally. Named “the latest Cuban wunderkind to arrive in the United States” by BET Jazz, the classically trained violist and pianist from Santiago de Cuba simply considers himself “a curious person who loves music.” His music is an architectural structure of sounds, incorporating contemporary classical music, Afro-Cuban rhythms and improvisation. Since arriving in New York in 2008, Aruán has made five recordings, all well received by the critics. Alameda (2010), received four stars in Jazzwise Magazine (U.K.), and was reviewed as “a sophisticated outing of modern jazz.” The modern jazz effort, Orbiting (2012) received 4.5 stars from Downbeat Magazine. His latest CD is Banned in London (2012). Bill Milkowski from JazzTimes Magazine recently proclaimed Aruán’s work as “the arrival of a major new talent.”

Tickets go on sale this Friday, April 5 at 10 a.m. at http://www.ticketmaster.com or charge by phone at (800) 745-3000.

 

New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival

Mahalia Jackson, often called the greatest gospel singer, returned to her hometown to appear at the first New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival in April of 1970. While attending the Louisiana Heritage Fair in Congo Square (then known as Beauregard Square), she and Duke Ellington, who also appeared at the event, came upon the Eureka Brass Band leading a crowd of second-line revelers through the Festival grounds. George Wein, producer of the Festival, handed Ms. Jackson a microphone, she sang along with the band and joined the parade…and the spirit of Jazz Fest was born.

Inspired by the spirit of Mahalia Jackson and the Eureka Brass Band back in 1970, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival continues to celebrate the culture of Louisiana with the combined fervor of a gospel hymn and the joy of a jazz parade.

These artists will perform on the festival:

•
Bill Miller
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Pura Fé
A Tribe Called Red
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Yellow Bird Indian Dancers
Stoney Creek Singers
Oneida Longhouse Singers and Dancers
Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue
•
Aaron Neville

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•
Dr. John
Allen Toussaint
•
Irma Thomas
•
Preservation Hall Jazz Band
Pete Fountain
•
The Nevilles
•
Rebirth Brass Band
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Galactic
Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk
•
Better Than Ezra
The Meter Men featuring Zigaboo Modeliste, Leo Nocentelli and George Porter, Jr. with special Guest Page McConnell
Kermit Ruffins & the Barbecue Swingers
Vernel Bagneris presents The 35th Anniversary Celebration of “One Mo’ Time”
Marc Broussard
Chris Owens backed by Her Hot Rhythms Band
Amanda Shaw & the Cute Guys
•
Papa Grows Funk
Cowboy Mouth
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Tab Benoit
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Anders Osborne
Theresa Andersson
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Big Sam’s Funky Nation
Jon Cleary & the Diabolical Fandangos
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John Boutté
Sonny Landreth
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The Dirty Dozen Brass Band
Irvin Mayfield & the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra with special guest Dee Dee Bridgewater
Jeremy Davenport
•
Davell Crawford
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Terence Blanchard
Deacon John
•
Rockin’ Dopsie, Jr. & the Zydeco Twisters
Donald Harrison, Jr.
•
Henry Butler & Friends
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Bonerama
Shamarr Allen & the Underdawgs
The Soul Rebels
Marcia Ball
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Charmaine Neville Band
Treme Brass Band’s Tribute to Uncle Lionel Batiste
Ellis Marsalis
Nicholas Payton XXX with Vicente Archer and Lenny White
George Porter, Jr. & Runnin’ Pardners
Tucka & the Groove City Express
•
John Mooney & Bluesiana
BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet with special Guest Jo-El Sonnier
Jonathon “Boogie” Long & the Blues Revolution
Big Chief Monk Boudreaux & the Golden Eagles Mardi Gras Indians
Walter “Wolfman” Washington & the Roadmasters
Los Hombres Calientes feat. Bill Summers and Irvin Mayfield
Glen David Andrews
Terrance Simien & the Zydeco Experience with special guest Queen Ida
Raw Oyster Cult
•
Hurray For The Riff Raff
Meschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns
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The Iguanas
The Revivalists
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Creole String Beans
James Andrews & the Crescent City Allstars
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Eric Lindell
Dr. Michael White & the Original Liberty Jazz Band feat. Thais Clark
Gal Holiday & the Honky Tonk Revue
Leo Jackson & the Melody Clouds
•
Astral Project
The Zion Harmonizers
•
Nathan & the Zydeco Cha Chas
Val & Love Alive Mass Choir
Gregg Stafford and the Jazz Hounds
The Boutté Family Gospel

Fair Grounds Race Course, 1751 Gentilly Blvd, New Orleans, Louisiana 70119

Hampton Jazz Festival 2013

The annual Hampton Jazz Festival presents the opportunity for us to marvel and appreciate the many visitors who journey here to enjoy American music at its best. This annual gathering has become more of a reunion – a celebration a friends, family, culture, music, and life.

The Hampton Jazz Festival is a major musical event started in 1968, and features many of the world’s major jazz artists. It is held during the last full weekend in June each year, with the primary venue being Hampton, Virginia’s Hampton Coliseum.

Festival organizers describe it as “the best available available jazz, R&B and blues artists that are on tour during the time of the festival… packaged at a reasonable price.” The Hampton Jazz Festival began in 1968 as a way to highlight great jazz. Held in the Hampton Colliseum the last full weekend in June, the annual event has hosted virtually every major jazz artist alive.

In the inaugural year, featured artists included Count Basie, Gary Burton, Dizzy Gillespie, Ramsey Lewis, Herbie Mann Quintet, Thelonius Monk Quartet, Wes Montgomery, Dionne Warwick, and Muddy Waters. 1969, the second year, brought such notables as Booker T & the MGs, George Benson Quartet, Dave Brubeck Trio with Gerry Mulligan, Ray Charles, Miles Davis, Gary Davis, Duke Ellington Orchestra, Sly and the Family Stone, and Herbie Hancock.

This 3-day festival features primarily R&B / jazz vocalists but also on this date, George Benson. The Forte Jazz Band featuring Brian Pinner opens.

Hampton Jazz Festival set for 28 – 30 June, 2013.

Hampton Coliseum, 1000 Coliseum Dr, Hampton, Virginia 23666

Willow Waterhole Jazz Fest

Willow Waterhole Jazz Fest Info | Vocalist Caretta Bell with band | Smooth jazz & vocals from Kelly Dean Band | Saxophonist Kyle Turner with band | New Orleans style jazz from Texas Brass Band | Traditional jazz from Warren Sneed Group.

Sunday, April 28, 2013 – 12:00 – noon

Willow Waterhole Conservation reserve, 5300 Dryad Dr, Houston, Texas 77035

Jazz On The Green Yuma

Jazz On The Green Yuma, blending art, contemporary, Latin, smooth, and traditional Jazz, in one of Arizona’s greatest little cities, which has more to offer than meets the eye. Though small, it brings thousands of visitors from all over the world each year to enjoy not only the beautiful weather, but its great museums, parks, and other great amenities.

And this year there will be a little something extra. A Jazz Festival for the whole family to enjoy, this year… and many more years to come. From 10 am to 7 pm Saturday April 27th , there will be plenty of beer, soda,water and great jazz music for your listening pleasure. There will be several art, craft, and food vendors, with a variety of foods to please a multitude of taste. For one day only, there will be some of the hottest jazz your cool ears can endure,from international talent, to some of Yuma’s best local talent….including a Belly Dancer.

The day will kick off with a few of Yuma’s young local talent, then the great sounds Yuma’s own recording artist, The Yuma Jazz Company. The afternoon will give us the talents of Zarmineh and her troupe, some of the best Belly Dancers in town. Then, taking it on into the evening, the nationally acclaimed talents of Change On Three, Fo/Mo/Deep , Trippin N Rhythm recording artist Elizabeth Mis, and International recording artist Laura Fernandez, just to name a few. This will be an event that is not to be missed.

This Mini-Jazz Festival will reach a primarily family-oriented audience with mid to high levels of discretionary income, and, there is also the added income of the over one hundredthousand plus winter visitors which come to Yuma this time of year every year. Also, this year, and each year hereafter, portions of proceeds will go to benefit the Yuma Community Food Bank.

Saturday, April 27, 2013 – 10:00 am

West Wetlands Park, 2200 Water St, Yuma, Arizona 85364

THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED!

“Viva Pensacola Jazz” JazzFest 2013

Welcome to the biggest and most exciting Jazz Festival in Pensacola history–to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Pensacola JazzFest!

This seven-day event, scheduled for April 1 through 7, 2013, will be a city-wide celebration, with music in a variety of venues. All over town, as well as on Pensacola Beach, the sounds of Jazz—Big Band, Contemporary, Dixieland, Traditional, New Orleans and Latin—along with Gospel, Blues and much more, will be presented.

The “Viva Pensacola Jazz” JazzFest 2013 is one of the major events being promoted by the Florida Department of State’s “Viva Florida 500” celebration of the 500th anniversary of Juan Ponce de León’s arrival on Florida’s east coast. With national and regional advertising and publicity, the “Viva Florida 500” sponsored events, including our JazzFest, will draw thousands of out-of-town visitors from all over the country and the world. Find out more about it at fla500.com

Here is an overview of events that have been CONFIRMED:

Monday, April 1: Jazz Jam!
• 6:30 pm: Jazz Jam with trumpeter Roger Villines, pianist Dave Shelander, bassist Steve Gilmore and drummer George Neidorf, at the Unique Café, 51 Gulf Breeze Parkway, Gulf Breeze. Open to all musicians (Free for participating musicians, $8 for JSOP members, $10 for non-members,$5 for students with ID.) Shuttle service provided – park at the Wayside Park just over the 3-mile bridge on the right as you enter Gulf Breeze. Shuttles provided by sponsor Funny Cars of Pensacola Beach.
• 8:00 pm: Jody Grind Band (Blues with a high Jazz content), Lili Marlene’s in Seville Quarter, 140 E. Government St., Pensacola (No cover)

Tuesday, April 2:
• 6:00 – 9:00 pm: Vocalist Kitt Lough with pianist Gino Rosaria, bassist Tom Latenser and special guests at Lili Marlene’s in Seville Quarter, 140 E. Government St., Pensacola (No cover)
• 6:00 – 9:00 pm: Folksinger/guitarist Mike Potters presents “A Night of Traditional New Orleans, Blues & Spirituals Songs & Stories” at End of the Line Café (vegan), 610 E. Wright St., Pensacola (No cover)
• 6:00 – 9:00 pm: Westside Players (Bill Barrows, guitar; Chris Gardner, piano; and Chip Shelton, sax/flute) at Hemingways Island Grill, 400 Quietwater Beach Rd., Pensacola Beach (No cover)
• 6:00 – 9:00 pm: Jones & Company at the Shark Fin Chinese Bistro, 5912 N. Davis Hwy, Pensacola (No cover)

Wednesday, April 3:
• 6:00 – 7:00 pm: Alto saxophonist Steve Williams Improvisation Clinic at UWF Center for Performing Arts, Uuniversity of West Florida, 1100 University Parkway, Bldg. 82, Pensacola (Free, open to the public)
• 6:00 – 9:00 pm: Saxophonist/Flutist Chip Shelton Jazz-Blues Workshop with Special Guests Galore, at Five Sisters Blues Café, 421 W. Belmont St., Pensacola (No cover)
• 6:30 – 9:00 pm: Pianist Al Martin and Friends at Gregory Street Assembly Hall, 501 E. Gregory St., Pensacola (No cover)
• 6:30 – 9:00 pm: Vocalist Tara Leigh & Sound Minds at The Leisure Club, 126 Palafox Pl., Pensacola (No cover)
• 6:30 pm: Gospel Concert by Senior and Gospel Choir, at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, 140 W. Government St., Pensacola (No cover)
• 6:00 – 10:00 pm: 30 x 90, at Paradise Bar & Grill, 21 Via De Luna Dr., Pensacola Beach (No cover)
• 7:00 pm: Brad & Brenda Jorden, Mississippi Delta blues duo, at Lillo’s Tuscan Grill, 5 Via de Luna Dr., Pensacola Beach ($10 minimum)
• 7:00 pm: Swing Dance Night (Where East Coast & West Coast Swing Meet) Phineas Phoggs’s in Seville Quarter, 140 E. Government St., Pensacola ($5.00 cover)

Thursday, April 4:
• 5:00 pm: Dixieland Dandies “Take Me Out to The Ball Game” second-line parade to the Opening Day of Blue Wahoos Baseball at Maritime Park stadium, starts at Apple Annie’s in Seville Quarter, 140 E. Government St., Pensacola (No cover)
• 5:30 – 6:30 pm: Lecture, “America’s Music: Swing-Jazz,” by Norman Vickers, Downtown Public Library at Spring and Government Streets, Pensacola. Part of a six week lecture series:
Mar. 21: “Blues and Gospel” by Norman Vickers;
Mar. 28: “Harlem Renaissance” by Crystal Joy Albert;
April 11: “Country and Bluegrass” by Don Snowden;
April 18: “Rock” by Don Snowden;
April 25: “Latin – Mambo to Hip-Hop” by Don Snowden)
• 5:30 – 7:00 and 7:30 to 9:00: Palafox Quartet (Jack Zoesch, piano; Jim Green, guitar; Steve Gilmore, bass; and Sandy Spivey, sax) at Jackson’s Steakhouse, 400 S. Palafox St., Pensacola (No cover, regular menu)
• 6:00 – 8:00 pm: Vocalist Jennifer Lea and the Broke Folks at Goat Lips Beer Garden and Deli, 2811 Copter Rd., Pensacola (No cover)
• 6:00 – 9:00 pm: The Westside Players (Bill Barrows, guitar; Chris Gardner, piano; and Chip Shelton, sax/flute) at The Oar House, 1000 S. Pace Blvd, Pensacola (No cover)
• 6:30 – 9:00 pm: Vocalist Tara Leigh & Sound Minds at The Leisure Club, 126 Palafox Pl., Pensacola (No cover)
• 7:00 – 10:00 pm: Vocalist Holly Shelton and pianist Dave Shelander Band at Five Sisters Blues Café, 421 W. Belmont St., Pensacola (No cover)
• 7:30 pm: Pensacola State College presents trumpeter Marvin Stamm with the PSC Jazz and Wind Ensembles at PSC’s Ashmore Auditorium, 1000 College Blvd., Building 8, Pensacola
($11, reserved admission; $9, seniors 60-plus, students and children; $7, PSC Seniors Club, Pensacola State faculty and staff; free, PSC students with student ID.)
• 9:00 – 12:00 pm: Guitarist Greg Lyon, at the 5-1/2 Bar, 5-1/2 E. Garden St., Pensacola (No cover)

Friday, April 5: Jazz Gallery Night!
• 2:15 – 3:00 pm: University of West Florida Jazz Ensemble with saxophonist Steve Williams, “Festival on the Green,” UWF, 1100 University Parkway, Bldg. 82, Pensacola (Free)
• 5:30 pm until…: Jazz Gallery Night, with a variety of jazz music in clubs and galleries throughout downtown Pensacola
• 5:00 – 8:00 pm: The Guffman Trio (Cynthia Domulot, piano; Tom Latenser, bass; Fred Domulot, drums) from 5:00 – 6:00, then pianist Eric Doney, with Latenser and Domulot, at Dollarhide’s Music Center, 41 Palafox Pl., Pensacola (No cover)
• 5:00 – 9:00 pm: Arturo, Spanish guitar, at Gulf Coast Community Bank, 40 N. Palafox St., Pensacola (No cover)
• 6:00 – 8:00 pm: Late Nite Jazz Quartet at First United Methodist Church, 6 East Wright Street, Pensacola, FL
• 6:00 – 9:00: “El Fuego” (Steve Ferry, vibes; Steve Williams, sax; Dave Shelander, piano; Steve Gilmore, bass) at the Tin Cow, 102 S Palafox Pl Pensacola (no cover)
• 6:00 – 9:00 pm: Shades Jazz Band at Solé Inn and Suites, 200 N. Palafox St., Pensacola (No cover)
• 6:00 – 9:00 pm: The Westside Players (Bill Barrows, guitar; Chris Gardner, piano; and Chip Shelton, sax/flute) at Nick’s Boathouse, 455 West Main St., Pensacola (No cover)
• 7:00 pm: Brad & Brenda Jorden, Mississippi Delta blues duo, at Lillo’s Tuscan Grill, 5 Via de Luna Dr., Pensacola Beach ($10 minimum)
• 7:00 pm: Rosie O’Grady’s Dueling Jazz Piano Show “A Night On the Town”, at Rosie O’Grady’s in Seville Quarter, 140 E. Government St., Pensacola (Admission charge after 8:00 pm)
• 8:00 pm: Tomato, at The Cabaret, 101 S Jefferson St, Pensacola (2 drink minimum)
• 9:00 pm-2:00 am: Gallery Night Jazz Jam Session/Late Night Jazz Jam Party, at Lili Marlene’s in Seville Quarter, 140 E. Government St., Pensacola (Admission charge after 8:00 pm)

SATURDAY, APRIL 6, 10:00 AM – 6:30 PM: PENSACOLA JAZZFEST (click here to go to JazzFest Schedule)

Saturday, April 6:

• 4:45pm  Roman Street

• 7:00 – 10:00 pm: Vocalist Kathy Lyon hosts the All-Star JazzFest Jazz Jam with Eric Doney (piano), Tom Latenser (bass) and Fred Domulot (drums) at the Fish House, 600 South Barracks St., Pensacola (No cover)
• 7:00 pm: Brad & Brenda Jorden, Mississippi Delta blues duo, at Lillo’s Tuscan Grill, 5 Via de Luna Dr., Pensacola Beach ($10 minimum)
• 8:00 pm: Tomato, at The Cabaret, 101 S Jefferson St, Pensacola (2 drink minimum)
• 9:00 pm: Kristin Diable & the City “A Little Lagniappe of Jazz”, at Lili Marlene’s in Seville Quarter, 140 E. Government St., Pensacola (Admission charge after 8:00 pm)
• 9:00 pm: Big Jim Brown & The Speed Kings, at End O’the Alley in Seville Quarter, 140 E. Government St., Pensacola (Admission charge after 8:00 pm)

SUNDAY, APRIL 7, 10:30 AM – 6:30 PM: PENSACOLA JAZZFEST (click here to go to JazzFest Schedule)

Sunday, April 7:
• 11:00 am: Sunday Jazz Brunch, at Apple Annie’s in Seville Quarter, 140 E. Government St., Pensacola (Reservations not required but encouraged)
• 11:30 am: Sunday Jazz Brunch with the Palafox Quartet (Jack Zoesch on piano, Jim Green on guitar, Steve Gilmore on bass, and Brandon Warren on drums) at the Fish House, 600 South Barracks St., Pensacola (No cover)
• 9:00 pm: Jon Cowart, at End O’the Alley in Seville Quarter, 140 E. Government St., Pensacola (No cover)

Seville Square, E Government St at S Alcaniz St, Pensacola, Florida 32502

Marcus Miller @ United Nations General Assembly Hall

The United Nations will host American jazz musician and designated UNESCO Artist for Peace, Marcus Miller, in an upcoming concert to commemorate the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

The concert will take place at the United Nations General Assembly Hall on Friday, March 22, 2013 at 7:00 pm (by invitation only).  The musical program will follow the slave trade route, starting with artists from Africa, then the Caribbean and finally North America. Along with Miller, there will be performances by the National Ballet of Cameroon, Benyoro (a West African band), Somi (an American singer of Rwandan and Ugandan origins) and Steel Pulse (an English reggae band of Afro-Caribbean, Indian and Asian descent).

Marcus Miller is a two-time Grammy Award winning American jazz musician, composer, producer, and radio host who is best known for his mastery of the bass guitar and his collaboration with legendary artists Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Luther Vandross and David Sanborn. Miller began working with UNESCO in April 2012, when he participated with the first International Jazz Day organized by UNESCO with the Thelonious Monk Institute, performing with Hugh Masekela and giving master classes to young people. He will participate again this year. The official ceremony to designate him a UNESCO Artist for Peace will take place at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris on July 4, 2013. In his new capacity, Miller will work with UNESCO’s Slave Route Project and will focus on promoting peace, dialogue, and unity through music. For more information on Friday’s concert: http://www.un.org/en/events/slaveryremembranceday/index.shtml

The International Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade serves as an opportunity to honor and remember those who suffered and died at the hands of the brutal slavery system, and to raise awareness about the dangers of racism and prejudice today. For more information on events for this celebration, visit the Remember Slavery website at http://rememberslavery.un.org. The twitter feed for the event is @rememberslavery.

On August 7, 2012, Miller returned to composing and exploring new music of his own on his latest release Renaissance with a sharper focus than ever before, a new band of curious and like-minded young musicians, and a mission to travel the world – country by country, city by city, venue by venue – to take the message of this musical movement straight to the hearts, souls and minds of the people. Renaissance was nominated for a 2013 NAACP Image Award in the category of Outstanding Jazz Album. To learn more: http://mediakits.concordmusicgroup.com/33794/#/2

Ronnie Laws & Tom Browne @ The Soiled Dove Underground

Assisted by immortal Jazz great Donald Byrd, Ronnie Laws signed his first recording contract with Blue Note records, resulting in the impressive debut album Pressure Sensitive (1975), produced by family friend, Wayne Henderson, (a founding member of the contemporary jazz pioneers The Crusaders), which rapidly emerged to become the longest selling album, at that time, in the 42 year history of the label.

Pressure Sensitive, was followed up by his second album Fever (1976). Controversy quickly erupted around him, with so called Jazz “purist”, criticizing Laws’ inventive, non-traditional, “Jazz Fusion” style. Laws promptly answered his critics by also scoring unprecedented cross-over success in R&B and Pop, in addition to Jazz, and receiving multiple awards for originality in the process. Laws is a proven natural at combining the exploratory heart of Jazz with the broader reaching strains of Soul and Pop music.

His first hit, “Always There” (credited as Ronnie Laws and Pressure on the original 45), was one of the most popular, sax-driven, cross-over hits of the 70′s Jazz-Funk Fusion era. He ushered in the sensualization of the soprano sax with Quiet Storm gems such as “Grace”, “Karmen”, and “Just Love”. Pressure Sensitive, Fever, and Friends and Strangers (Blue Note 1978), the title track of his third album, all propelled to gold status.

Tom Browne began to carve a path for his musical future early on, studying via scholarship under Murray Karpilovsky (principal trumpeter with the NBC Orchestra directed by Arturo Toscanini.) A student at the co-joined High School of Music and Art / Performing Arts in New York (renowned courtesy of the motion picture entitled “Fame,”) Browne became a regular on the New York jazz scene and had the fortune of learning first hand from masters like Jimmy Nottingham, Richard Williams, Woody Shaw and Freddie Hubbard. Browne soon played his first pro level performances as sideman to jazz greats Weldon Irvine and Sonny Fortune for which he earned domestic and international recognition.

It was no surprise that Downbeat Magazine would single out his “warm trumpet” during the review of Fortunes’ 1976 “Infinity Is” album. Then in 1978, Browne led a traditional jazz quintet at the Breezin’ Lounge, an uptown New York nightclub indirectly affiliated with George Benson. Through contacts made by Jimmy Boyd, Bensons’ former and Brownes’ subsequent manager, Browne was offered several solo recording contracts and ultimately signed with Dave Grusin and Larry Rosen on the newly formed GRP Record label. There he recorded six solo projects including several hits.

His debut release “Browne Sugar” (1979) dominated the jazz charts for many weeks while “Love Approach” (1980) and “Magic” (1981) each earned gold album status and spawned hits like “Funkin’ For Jamaica,” “Thighs High” and “Secret Fantasy.” Browne went on to win prestigious Billboard honors of Best Instrumentalist, Best Jazz Cross-Over, Best Jazz Artist-Trumpet and Best Jazz Solo Album.

Saturday, January 19, 2013 – 7:00 pm

The Soiled Dove Underground, 7401 E 1st Ave, Denver, Colorado 80230