SUPERBLUE: KURT ELLING & CHARLIE HUNTER WITH SPECIAL GUEST SCOTT MULVAHILL
Renowned for his singular combination of robust swing and poetic insight, two-time GRAMMY winner Kurt Elling has secured his place among the world’s foremost jazz vocalists. The New York Times proclaimed Elling, “the standout male vocalist of our time”. Over a twenty-five year career of touring and recording, Elling has won three Prix du Jazz Vocal (France), two German Echo Awards, two Dutch Edison Awards, and has been nominated for a GRAMMY award fifteen times. He has had a 14-year run atop the DownBeat Critics and Readers polls, and has won twelve Jazz Journalists Awards for “Male Vocalist of the Year”.
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KAMASI WASHINGTON FEATURING AMI TAF RA
He is a founding member of the jazz collective West Coast Get Down. Washington joined the Gerald Wilson Orchestra for its 2005 album In My Time. He played saxophone on Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly. His debut solo recording, The Epic, was released in May 2015. The mini-album/EP Harmony of Difference followed in September 2017. His second full-length studio album, Heaven and Earth, was released in June 2018, with a companion EP titled The Choice released a week later.
Washington has played along with a diverse group of musicians including Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Horace Tapscott, Lauryn Hill, Nas, Snoop Dogg, George Duke, Chaka Khan, Flying Lotus, Mike Muir, Francisco Aguabella, St. Vincent, the Pan Afrikaan People’s Orchestra, Run the Jewels and Raphael Saadiq.
Ami Taf Ra | Moroccan~Dutch Artist
Growing up in the Netherlands, Arabic music was always present in her home. From Middle East Icons such as: Um Khaltoum,Warda, Asmahan to name a few. At the age of 14 her mother gave her the album of the legendary Lebanese singer Fairuz as a birthday present. She fell in love with Fairuz’s sound. Especially the sound of the fusion compositions with Jazz.This is when Ami Taf Ra knew that she doesn’t have to choose for one music style. but can combine her both backgrounds, the western music that she grew up with in Europe and her background with the Arabic music in the East. Ami Taf Ra enrolled at the Music School of Amsterdam. There, she was a member of the Gospel world choir and member of local bands that she performed with. At the age of 18, she went to the Hollywood center of Arabic music in Cairo, Egypt. She recorded her first Arabic song (in Egyptian dialect). The song was recorded in the same studio where the Egyptian legend Abdelhalim Hafez recorded some of his songs (studio Sout El Hob). Since then, Ami Taf Ra has been performing in different countries around the world. From Denmark to Turkey, Morocco,Belgium,Israel, Cairo, Lebanon, Jordan to name a few. Ami taf Ra recorded her debut album EastWest in Amsterdam in 2018. She collaborated with musicians from the Netherlands, Bulgaria,Spain,Slovenia and Turkey. On the album there are 6 original compositions by Ami Taf Ra and 3 covers. https://amitafra.com/bio
Showtimes ~ 6:30pm | 9:30pm
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ELIANE ELIAS
Hot off her 2022 GRAMMY® win for Best Latin Jazz Album for Mirror Mirror, (also recently nominated for a Latin GRAMMY®) internationally acclaimed recording artist, pianist, singer, composer and arranger Eliane Elias’ distinctive musical style and artistry is one of the most celebrated and recognizable sounds in jazz and Brazilian music. She blends her Brazilian roots and alluring voice with her virtuosic instrumental jazz, her classical and compositional skills, while she consistently displays her pianistic mastery and ability to integrate the many artistic roles she takes on.
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The Jazz Voyager
The Jazz Voyager is criss-crossing North America once more on a flight to the nation’s capital to take his seat in Studio K at The Kennedy Center for a command performance by vocalist Rene Marie. Opening in 1971 on the east bank of the Potomac River, this voyager first experienced the luxury and superb acoustics at the 1972 homecoming performance of Marvin Gaye as he unleashed his What’s Going On album on his adoring public. It was a magical night in the concert hall. Since then, I have had the pleasure to see a variety of jazz and soul performances like the one I will be privy to this evening. There’s a 7:30pm at 9:30pm tonight.
I met Rene in Atlanta in the Nineties and witnessed her meteoric rise in the city and then the world first hand as she captivated small and large audiences with her style and class. Most intriguing were her original compositions from which she took from life. Imaginative storytelling will take you on a journey within yourself as she relates the similarities we have in common as human beings. Listen carefully and you will reflect upon your own life.
The Kennedy Center is located at 2700 F Street NW, Washington, DC 20566. For more info 202-467-4600 or visit notoriousjazz.com/event/rene-marie-experiment-in-truth.
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JEFF JENKINS
Jeff Jenkins – Piano | Darryl White – Trumpet, Flugelhorn | Dale Black – Acoustic Bass | Jeffrey Johnson – Drums
Omaha-based jazz pianist, composer, and educator Jeff Jenkins was recently a professor of music in the Thompson Jazz Studies Program at the University of Colorado at Boulder.Grounded in a wide range of jazz styles, he has released seven original CDs in the last 15 years, while appearing as a featured player on dozens more. Throughout his career Jenkins has appeared locally, nationally and internationally in festivals and clubs with his eponymous ensembles, or as a guest artist with jazz greats including Freddie Hubbard, Eddie Harris, Clark Terry, The New York Voices, Bobby Hutcherson, and John Abercrombie, among others. A product of the acclaimed jazz program at the University of North Texas, Jenkins continued his piano studies in the New York City studios of Fred Hirsch, Richie Beirach, and Kenny Barron. Based in Manhattan in the 1980s, Jenkins performed in noted jazz venues throughout the city, and appeared as principal pianist forseveral Broadway musicals. A gifted bandleader and in-demand sideman across Colorado, Omaha, and the western region, Jenkins also mixes and produces music professionally in his Mixdown Sound recording studio.
Darryl White’s performance experiences include a wide range of idioms. He has appeared as guest soloist with the Omaha Symphony, Lincoln Symphony, Colorado Symphony, Mesa Chamber Orchestra, Grand Junction Symphony, Lake Forest Chamber Orchestra and many other solo appearances across the nation. He has also appeared as guest soloist for several international festivals including the International Brass Conference in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Montreux Jazz Festival, the International Women’s Brass Conference, the International Trumpet Guild Conference, the Brandon Jazz Festival, the New Mexico Jazz Festival, Monterey Jazz Festival and Roaring Fork Jazz Festival in Aspen, Colorado as well as with college jazz bands and high schools across the continent. He can be heard on several recordings including performances with the Denver Brass, “Rhapsody in Red, White & Blue” on Centaur Records, 1997; and “America, The Golden Dream” on Delos International, 1996. He can also be heard on the Capri Record Label with jazz tenor saxophonist Keith Oxman on a 1997 release entitled “Out on a Whim and a 1999 release entitled “Hard Times”. White currently has three solo recordings released. The first is a 1999 release entitled, “Ancient Memories,” and a 2002 release entitled “In the Fullness of Time”. The 2002 release features several original compositions including “Lil I” featured on the PBS special “New Beginnings”. Lastly, White released his first classical recording, “Resonance” (2007) which features ECM recording artist/pianist Art Lande.
Born in Wichita Kansas Dale began playing the clarinet at 8 years old and later became interested in string instruments taking on the upright bass and later the electric bass in church. In 2008 Dale moved to Los Angeles California where he was embraced for his contributions to the west coast scene and beyond. Working with a myriad of artist including Terence Blanchard, Kamasi Washington, Marcus Belgrave, Terrace Martin, Kenny Burrell and the Late Solomon Burke to name a few. Dale continues to record as well as tour and has currently been working on releasing his much-antisipated debut album this fall.
A native of Fayetteville, North Carolina and a recent transplant to the Omaha area, Jeffery Johnson is a soulful, swinging presence on the scene. Steeped in the tradition of gospel music as a child, Johnson eventually attended the University of North Carolina at Pembroke to pursue a B.A. in Music with a concentration in Jazz Studies. During his undergraduate program, Jeffery played R&B, Gospel, and Jazz throughout North Carolina, and embarked on another musical journey to obtain his M.M. in Jazz Studies at North Carolina Central University under the direction of Dr. Ira Wiggins, where he was fortunate to learn from Branford Marsalis and Joey Calderazzo.
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