BRONX RISING! AJASS AND THE EAST

A look at two historic organizations in the Bronx (AJASS) and Brooklyn (The East) and their cultural and artistic legacies.

Discussion: Ajuba Bartlay~Grinage, George “Maliki” Robinson, Cinque Brath, T.S. Monk, David Antoine, and Basir MChawi.

Concert: Reggie Workman, Danny Mixon, George Braith, Antoinette Montague, T.K. Blue and Ronnie Burrage.

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NICOLE HENRY & LEESA RICHARDS

Nicole Henry’s versatile and emotionally driven performances have wowed audiences in 20 countries, earning her numerous accolades including a Soul Train Award for “Best Traditional Jazz Performance” and “Best New Jazz Artist” by HMV Japan. Her latest album “Time to Love Again” reached #4 on the U.S. jazz radio chart, and she completed a 35-city U.S. national tour.

Leesa Richards, a Detroit native now based in Miami, began her career as a professional dancer and gained critical acclaim for her role as Mary Magdalene in the national tour of Jesus Christ Superstar. She has performed with artists like Faith Hill, Whitney Houston, and Gloria Estefan, and recorded with Barbra Streisand and Lenny Kravitz.

Limited number of free tickets for students.

After concert jam session, musicians bring your instrument

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OMAR SOSA & QUARTETO AMERICANOS

Cuban piano maestro Omar Sosa, a longtime Healdsburg favorite, returns to town with his Quarteto Americanos featuring Cuban bassist Ernesto Mazar Kindelán, Berkeley drummer Josh Jones, and Oakland multi-reed player Sheldon Brown, who’s spent much of the past two years touring with the Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir. Though long based in Barcelona, Sosa gained fame while living in Oakland, and his musical journey from Camagüey and Havana to Ecuador and eventually the East Bay is detailed in the new documentary Omar Sosa’s 88 Well-Tuned Drums, which screens as part of this program. An omnivorously creative figure whose music encompasses Afro-Cuban folkloric chants and European Romanticism, post-bop and hip hop, West African grooves and ambient moods, he’s released more than three dozen albums documenting collaborations with an international cast of fellow sound explorers.

5:00 PM | Documentary Screening

7:30 PM | Concert

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GREGORY PORTER & NAJEE

Gregory Porter is a singer, songwriter and musician. He moved to the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, New York in 2004, along with his brother Lloyd and worked as a chef at Lloyd’s restaurant Bread-Stuy (now defunct), where he also performed. Porter performed at other neighborhood venues including Sista’s Place and Solomon’s Porch, and moved on to Harlem club St. Nick’s Pub, where he maintained a weekly residency. Out of this residency evolved what would become Porter’s touring band.He has twice won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album: first in 2014 for Liquid Spirit and then again in 2017 for Take Me to the Alley. 

Najee, is a smooth jazz saxophonist and flautist. After his studies at the New England Conservatory, Najee returned to New York City in the early 1980s. In 1983, he and his brother Fareed toured with Chaka Khan for the Ain’t Nobody Tour. His albums okyo Blue and Day by Day led to Najee winning two Soul Train Awards for Best Jazz Artist in 1991 and 1993.

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MONTY ALEXANDER

Grammy nominated pianist Monty Alexander was born on June 6, 1944 (D-Day!) in Kingston, Jamaica and is one of today’s most sought-after pianists, touring the world relentlessly with various projects, delighting a global audience drawn to his vibrant personality and soulful message. He began playing the piano at the age of four. Monty is such a virtuoso on his instrument that he can express each of his improvisational ideas at any time. Swinging style, combined with his vitality and subtlety, is defined by his creativity, rhythmic strength and clearly accentuated sounds. Even Frank Sinatra commented “this guy is like dynamite”. In a career spanning seven decades, he has built a reputation exploring the worlds of American jazz, popular song, and the music of his native Jamaica, finding in each a sincere spirit of musical expression.

His musical collaborations span multiple genres and styles. His projects have been as varied as assisting Natalie Cole in her tribute album to her father, Nat “King” Cole in 1991 (that album, “Unforgettable”, won seven Grammy awards), performing George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” under the direction of Bobby McFerrin at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland, and recording the piano track for the film score of Clint Eastwood’s “Bird”, a movie about the life of jazz titan Charlie Parker. Monty has performed and recorded with artists from every corner of the musical universe: Frank Sinatra, Ray Brown, Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, Clark Terry, Victor Gaskin, Milt Jackson, Ernie Wilkins, Herb Ellis, Jeff Hamilton, Quincy Jones, Ernest Ranglin, Barbara Hendricks, Sly Dunbar, and Robbie Shakespeare, among many others. In 2000 and 2018 Monty Alexander was awarded the title of Commander in the Order of Distinction by the Jamaican government for outstanding services to Jamaica in his capacity as worldwide music ambassador. Alexander maintains a rigorous touring schedule worldwide, from jazz clubs to concert halls and playing at Jazz Festivals from Switzerland to South Africa, Japan and Australia.

To date Monty Alexander has recorded over 75 albums as a leader. Shortly before his 80th birthday this upcoming June, Monty and his trio bring the 49th International Jazzfestival Bern to a close – on a high note!

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