VANESSA RUBIN & HER TRIO

Revered as both a torchbearer and a storyteller, jazz vocalist Vanessa Rubin possesses a voice hailed for crystalline clarity, hearth-like warmth and playful lioness sass. The Cleveland native brings a wealth of diverse influences to her vocal performance from both the Trinidadian/Caribbean roots of her mother and traditional jazz by way of her Louisiana-born father. Additional homespun influences include the melodic bell tone clarity of a young Capital Records recording artist, Nancy Wilson, the fire of Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, the sweet sounds of trumpeter Blue Mitchell as well as her love of the Motown Sound…especially girl groups like the Supremes.

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The Jazz Voyager

Setting down in Atlanta, Georgia after a fourteen and a half hour flight from Kyoto this Jazz Voyager is heading to friends for a shower and a lay down before heading out to indulge myself in a two stop night of jazz. My first stop is St. James Live for a little night music. Operated by husband-and-wife Ron and Evelyn St. James along with their daughter, Tiffany have established a warm, relaxing ambience for an extraordinary evening. With a menu ranging from tapas to sweet treats, salads and small bites, their culinary diversity will enchant and satisfy any palate. I’m looking at fish tacos and peach cobbler to hold me through the evening.

This week I’ll be in the audience enjoying The Baylor Project. A husband.  A wife.  An astonishing duo built on love, family, faith, culture and community. These are the things that power Jean and Marcus Baylor.  This enticing collaboration is steeped in the heart and soul of jazz.

St. James Live is located in Camp Creek Village Townhomes at 3220 Butner Rd #240, 30331. More information can be obtained by calling 404-254-3561 or by visiting stjamesliveatl.com.

I’ll wrap up my evening with a late night hit with The Hightower Harper Hang at the Handle Bar at 476 Edgewood Avenue. More info at 404-600-2639. It’s a full night of jazz in the A where this Jazz Voyager hasn’t had the opportunity to see friends and musicians not seen or heard in a few years.

CALIFORNIA JAZZ FOUNDATION

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SAMARA JOY

Concert On The Lawn presented in collaboration with Jazz At Lincoln Center.

22-year-old Samara Joy makes her case to join the likes of Sarah, Ella, and Billie as the next mononymous jazz singing sensation recorded by the venerable label. Her voice, rich and velvety yet precociously refined, has already earned her fans like Anita Baker and Regina King, appearances on the TODAY Show and millions of likes on TikTok — cementing her status as perhaps the first Gen Z jazz singing star. On Linger Awhile, Samara will introduce that massive audience to a slew of classic standards several times older than she is through her timeless, irresistible sound.

Samara is still relatively new to jazz. Growing up in the Bronx, it was music of the past — the music of her parent’s childhoods, as she put it — that she listened to most. She treasures her musical lineage, which stretches back to her grandparents Elder Goldwire and Ruth McLendon, both of whom performed with Philadelphia gospel group the Savettes, and runs through her father, who is a singer, songwriter and producer who toured with gospel artist Andraé Crouch. “Sometimes I catch myself when I’m singing — I’m like, ‘Whoa, that was a dad moment’,” Samara quips. Eventually, she did follow in the family tradition, singing in church and then with the jazz band at Fordham High School for the Arts, with whom she won Best Vocalist at JALC’s Essentially Ellington competition. That led to her enrolling in SUNY Purchase’s jazz studies program, where she fell deeply in love with the music.

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VANESSA RUBIN TRIO

Revered as both a torchbearer and a storyteller, jazz vocalist Vanessa Rubin possesses a voice hailed with crystalline clarity, hearth-like warm, emotional depth and keen burnished wisdom she can deliver with playful lioness sass. The Cleveland native brings a wealth of diverse influences to her vocal performances. From swing to bossa nova to blues, ballads and contemporary covers performed with small and large ensembles, Rubin’s interpretive ability to move through the Great American Songbook to modern jazz composers/arrangers like Tadd Dameron and Horace Silver to contemporary composers as Stevie Wonder, Bill Withers and Sting is masterful. “The Great American Songbook continues to expand with songs by outstanding composers who can paint pictures of the life of our times with their unique melodies and lyric that also stand the test of time”, Rubin asserts.

The Trio: Brandon McCune ~ piano | Kenny Davis ~ bass | Winard Harper ~ drums

Showtimes:

Saturday ~ 7:00pm | 9:30pm

Sunday ~ 6:30pm | 8:30pm

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THE HIGHTOWER HARPER HANG

Singer/Songwriter Tony Hightower is taking up the mantle to be a bridge that ushers R&B audiences into Jazz…Real Jazz. With years of experience as a musical performer and actor with familiar roots that place him firmly within the music’s firmament, Atlanta-native Hightower is still just getting started on this benevolent turn in his journey. And he is bringing a lot of young people with him.

Growing up in Atlanta with a local legend mother who was a Funk-Rock singer but could sing anything and mentored many singers coming behind her, Tony learned music first-hand from Bobby Blue Bland and the Platters to Mother’s Finest, S.O.S. Band and Brick. And as mother Theresa evolved as a first-class singer – shifting her focus to Jazz that resulted in her historic residency at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in once fiercely segregated Buckhead district of Atlanta, Georgia – so, too, did Tony’s taste begin to broaden. The artist that Theresa followed at The Ritz: Freddy Cole, Nat’s brother.

Trumpeter Terence Harper started playing the drums at the age of two and at twelve years old began playing the trumpet. While in middle school he began playing the drums for one of the Spelman College Jazz ensembles under the direction of Joe Jennings, while also being featured on a recording with the Inman Middle School jazz band on both trumpet and drums.

Harper attended North Atlanta High School Center of the Performing Arts and played trumpet in both jazz band and symphonic band under the direction of Mr. Reginald Colbert. During his high school years he started to focus more on both classical and jazz trumpet and has won numerous auditions during his high school term including the Georgia Music Educators Association All State band, principal trumpet for the district honor band, The Talent Development Program and the Atlanta Youth Wind Symphony at Emory University. Terence has also attended the prestigious Interlochen Arts camp in Michigan and has also taught trumpet performance and jazz studies at Summerbridge Atlanta at the Lovett School.

He graduated from Rutgers University as a classical trumpet major in 2009, where he studied under William Fielder, who has been regarded as one of the greatest trumpet instructors of his generation.

Every Thursday: Music from 8:00pm ~ Midnight | Hang til 2:00am

Cover: $10.000 | Musicians: $5.00 | Free parking in the lot just past slutty vegan atl

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