The Jazz Voyager
This week I caught a plane to the home of country music where jazz has taken a footing. This Jazz Voyager is at the Nashville Jazz Workshop to hear Lizzie Thomas sing her heart out. The New Yorker will be unveiling unconventional and adventurous songs that she has recorded with some of her favorite artists as a duo.
Reminiscent of Tony Bennett’s endeavors, however, instead of vocalists, this vocalist has chosen to pair with a few of the finest instrumentalists in the business. They are Russell Malone, Helio Alves, Ron Carter, Cafe Da Silva, Ron Affif, Dezron Douglas, Wayne Escoffery, Rossano Sportiello, Guilherme Monteiro, Noriko Ueda, Mairi Dorman-Phaneuf and John Di Martino.
The organization was founded in 1998 as the Nashville Jazz Institute by Lori Mechem and Roger Spencer, and opened with a handful of students. The program was based on a workshop model developed by Mechem and Spencer growing out of their dissatisfaction with traditional academic jazz education. The workshop model is based on a journeyman/apprentice approach.
The club’s number is 615-242-5299. For more information on days and time of sets visit https://notoriousjazz.com/event/lizzie-thomas.
More Posts: adventure,album,club,festival,genius,jazz,museum,music,preserving,restaurant,travel,vocal
JULIE DEXTER
Julie Dexter is a world-renowned, award-winning British singer-songwriter and producer. She has shared the spotlight with a host of cutting-edge artists, including Mint Condition, Caron Wheeler, Jill Scott, Lalah Hathaway, Omar, Ledisi, Doug Carn, Third World, and Maxi Priest, to name a few. Influenced by such legends as Nancy Wilson, Abbey Lincoln, and Bob Marley, as well as popular icons Omar and Sade, Dexter takes classic soul to the heart of her artistry.
In 1999, Dexter moved to Atlanta, where she now resides. She launched her label, Ketch A Vibe Records, and in 2000 released her critically acclaimed EP Peace of Mind, followed by Dexterity (2002), Conscious (2005), and New Again (2011). She released Moon Bossa, a collaboration with Khari Simmons, in 2007. Her single “Ketch A Vibe” was featured in national radio ads for President Obama’s election campaign. She has also sung for five Atlanta mayors, including mayor Andre Dickens.
Dexter was honored at the Black Women in Jazz Awards with the Afro Caribbean Soul of Jazz Award in 2017. Her music transcends genres, and fans and critics across the globe have followed her journey through the circles of jazz, broken-beat, bossa nova, reggae, Afro-beat, and soul. Her latest album, Déjà Vu (2019), takes listeners on a journey from bossa to reggae. She is an audaciously independent artist with an undeniable connection to her audience.
More Posts: adventure,album,club,festival,genius,jazz,museum,music,preserving,restaurant,travel,vocal
The Jazz Voyager
Staying in the northern part of the States, the Jazz Voyager is returning to New York City and heading to Broadway to a well known venue called Smoke. It’s an intimate jazz spot where Buster Willaims will be unveiling his latest album.
Opened in 1999 by co-founders Paul Stache and Frank Christopher, the jazz and supper club is currently owned by Stache and his wife and partner Molly Sparrow Johnson. Located at 2751 Broadway 10025 on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, it’s at the junction of 106th. The venue hosts local and renowned jazz artists and has launched an associated record label, Smoke Sessions Records.
Bassist Buster Williams brings with him the talents of alto saxophonist Bruce Williams, Stefon Harris on vibraphone, pianist George Colligan and drummer Lenny White. This engagement is his celebration of the release of his new album, Unalome.
The club’s number is 212-864-6662. For more information on days and time of sets visit https://notoriousjazz.com/event/buster-williams-something-more-2.
More Posts: adventure,album,bass,club,festival,genius,jazz,museum,music,preserving,restaurant,travel
INTERNATIONAL JAZZ DAY
Jazz Day Celebration at The Palm, Los Cabos, Mexico
Jazz musicians of Los Cabos, Baja California Sur, Mexico will celebrate International Jazz Day at the area’s most beautiful new venue, The Palm. \
The event will showcase:
The Daline & Diego Group with composer/pianist/musical director, Diego Ramirez, on grand piano and keyboard and vocalist, Daline Jones. Joining them on stage: all-stars Victor Cosio on guitar, Tzoru Cruz on drums, and Christopher Torres on bass.
Arturo Ramirez, (violin and piano) performs with his Quartet featuring vocalist, Valeria Garcia. The talented Ignacio Chavez on guitar and Howard Clifton on saxophone are also performing.
Special guest appearance by Jazz Duo Kathy & Marty
More Posts: adventure,album,club,festival,genius,jazz,museum,music,preserving,restaurant,travel
BIG CHIEF DONALD HARRISON
New Orleans born saxophonist and composer Donald Harrison is a master in every era and style of jazz, soul, funk, and as a composer of orchestral classical music.
An NEA Jazz Master, he has appeared as an actor and/or musician in HBO’s Treme, Jonathan Demme’s film Rachel Getting Married, Marvel’s Luke Cage and Spike Lee’s When The Levee Broke. He’s recorded and performed with jazz artists such as Roy Haynes, Art Blakey, Eddie Palmieri, Lena Horne, McCoy Tyner, Miles Davis, Ron Carter, Billy Cobham and Dr. Lonnie Smith.
He has been a mentor to artists as diverse as The Notorious Big, Jon Batiste, Trombone Shorty, and Esperanza Spaulding. Descending from a long lineage of Afro-New Orleans’ Mardi Gras Indians, he is the official Big Chief of Congo Square and was made a Chief in 2019 by Queen Diambi Kabatusuila in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa.
We guarantee that a show with Chief Harrison won’t just be great music, it will be a highly entertaining educational experience on the roots and journey of American jazz with New Orleans as its cradle and source.
More Posts: adventure,album,club,festival,genius,jazz,museum,music,preserving,restaurant,saxophone,travel