The Jazz Voyager
The Jazz Voyager is leaving Philly and heading south to Durham, North Carolina for his first visit to the historic landmark, the Hayti Heritage Center. It sits on the campus of North Carolina Central University, an HBCU founded in 1909 and America’s first public liberal arts institution.
The center was named for the independent black community founded shortly after the American Civil War on the southern edge of Durham by freedmen coming to work in tobacco warehouses and related jobs in the city. By the early decades of the 20th century, African Americans prospered due to Jim Crow, owning and operating more than 200 businesses, which were located along Fayetteville, Pettigrew, and Pine Streets, the boundaries of Hayti.
I will be in the audience to witness for a second time the vocal talents of 7 time Grammy Award nominee Nnenna Freelon, who will perform with her bassist John Brown, the North Carolina Central University Jazz Ensemble, directed by Robert Trowers and the Vocal Jazz Ensemble, under the direction of Dr. Lenora Helm Hammonds, someone I have known for many years, having followed her career as a vocalist and as an educator. She continues to create wonderful accomplishments at NCCU.
The downtown location is at 801 Fayetteville Street 27705. For tickets and more information go to https://notoriousjazz.com/event/jazzmeia-horn-5
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The Jazz Voyager
In the air once more leaving Philadelphia on my way back to the Emerald City on the West Coast to see a Philly born bassist I have seen perform since the Seventies. It will take place in a little spot called Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley in downtown Seattle, Washington at the corner of 6th and Lenora. The intimate atmosphere sets everyone no more than fifty feet from the stage and I’m looking forward to some calamari and gelato.
So one of my favorite bassists is NEA Jazz Master, four-time Grammy winner and living legend Stanley Clarke will be on stage tonight. He is a virtuoso on both acoustic and electric bass and the first jazz-fusion bassist ever to headline tours. Co-founder of the seminal fusion group Return to Forever with Chick Corea and Lenny White, in 2012 Return to Forever won a Grammy Award and Latin Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Forever.
The downtown location is at 2033 6th Avenue, 98121. Reservations are recommended. For more information go to https://notoriousjazz.com/event/stanley-clarke.
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The Jazz Voyager
Hitting those friendly skies on British Airways back to the States is a fifteen hour fly time from Warsaw to Philly with a four hour layover at Heathrow, but it was fun seeing a new city, new venue and hearing Mr. Herring again up close and personal in a club setting. An old stomping ground, South Jazz Kitchen, is the destination that serves up elevated comfort food that combines America’s original music with Southern heritage cuisine.
Praised for its authentic, soulful, and orchestral sound, The String Queens (TSQ) is a dynamic group with violinist Kendall Isadore, Dawn Johnson on Viola, and cellist Élise Sharp. They create stimulating musical experiences that inspire diverse audiences to love, hope, feel, and imagine. This Jazz Voyager is anticipating the experience of a versatile repertoire and musical journey through time spanning from the Baroque era to the Jazz Age to today’s Billboard Hot 100 Chart.
Nestled in the Spring Garden neighborhood of the city, the venue is located at the intersection of Broad and Mt. Vernon, at 600 N. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19130. For more info https://notoriousjazz.com/event/the-string-queens.
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Jazz Voyager
It’s been a few years since the Jazz Voyager has been on the other side of the Atlantic but this week begins the tradition anew. I’ll be heading across the pond to experience a new city and a new venue. The city is Warsaw, the country is Poland, and the venue is Jassmine. It is an intimate place that fills the gap, embodying the history of a genre that has always neatly balanced on the thin line between elegance and freedom, concentration and element, reflection and downright ecstatic fun.
An old favorite alto saxophonist Vincent Herring will be performing tomorrow night who I haven’t seen in more years than I care to remember. With Joris Dudli the two musicians recall their long and fruitful collaboration with their latest, highly anticipated release Soul Chemistry. Together with rising star Erena Terakubo on saxophones, New York masters Gary Fisher on piano and Essiet Essiet on bass, this group has the perfect chemistry to create the intense, always soulful jazz of today.
The venue is located two floors below the intersection of Koszykowa and Wilcza, at Wilcza 7300-670. For more info go to https://notoriousjazz.com/event/vincent-herring-soul-chemistry.
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The Jazz Voyager
The Jazz Voyager is crisscrossing the country once again and this week is heading to the Emerald City for this week’s destination. The club I will be relishing to the sounds of jazz is Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley, and it is located in downtown Seattle, kitty corner to the Amazon Spheres where 40,00 plants from over thirty countries are housed. The atmosphere within this small venue is a cozy bi-level 350 seats that puts me between five to 50 fifty feet from the stage.
This evening of music entertainment is with Madeleine Peyroux, who spent her teenage years busking the busy streets of Paris, France. Befriending the city’s street musicians she made its Latin quarter her first performing stage. Years later in 1996, her breakthrough album Dreamland sold a striking 200,000 copies and Madeleine’s dusky voice was likened to that of jazz greats Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald.
The venue is located at the corner of Lenora Street at 2033 6th Avenue, Seattle, WA 98121. For those who want more info go to https://notoriousjazz.com/event/madeleine-peyroux-2.
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