The Jazz Voyager
Gotta love the friendly skies for another cross-country flight that returns me to the Big Apple where the Jazz Voyager will be hanging at some of the city and my favorite haunts from Midtown to the Village, Rockerfeller Center, Tiffany and Broadway.
In the evening I’ll be heading to the Upper West Side of Manhattan to one of my favorite haunts in the city that is outside of Harlem. The music and the evening will be well spent at Smoke Jazz & Supper Club. The cozy atmosphere, sans smoke, except for the musicians playing adds to the ambience of the venue.
This week another vocalist will be entertaining me and her name is Jane Monheit. This is her highly anticipated debut at the club and will celebrate the release of her new album. Her mastery of the Great American Songbook lends to a wonderful night of music.
The venue is located at 2751 Broadway New York, NY 10025. For tickets and more info go to https://notoriousjazz.com/event/jane-monheit-2.
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The Jazz Voyager
Criss-crossing the country once again, the Jazz Voyager is on a six hour flight to that Golden Gate city where many a heart has been left. This trip will be to honor the seventy year career of the extraordinary vocalist Patti Austin and her contributions to the music industry that began on the Apollo stage at the age of four.
The fun will be had when all congregate in the Miner Auditorium of the SFJazz Center for this gala tribute. Opened in 2013, the center is located in the heart of the city’s arts district, and includes two performance spaces, multiple music practice rooms, a digital lab, and the B-Side restaurant and bar.
This evening will feature performances not only by the honoree but by Terence Blanchard, PJ Morton, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Siedah Garrett, Dumpstaphunk, SFJAZZ Collective, and more.
The center is located at 201 Franklin Street, San Francisco, CA 94102. For tickets and more info go to https://notoriousjazz.com/event/patti-austin.
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The Jazz Voyager
The Jazz Voyager is back in sunny Miami, Florida for a visit to the Koubek Center that sits on the campus of Miami Dade College. This historic landmark remains true to its pioneering heritage, the celebration of its multicultural community with workshops, art exhibitions, theater performances, literary readings, concerts and more.
This evening I will have the pleasure of hearing vocalist Leesa Richards, who has performed with Gerald Austin, Peabo Bryson, and Dionne Farris as well as toured worldwide with Whitney Houston. Also on the night’s ticket is trumpeter Jean Caze, who has worked with Herbie Hancock, Aretha Franklin, Mariah Carey, Al Jarreau, Roy Hargrove, Arturo Sandoval, and George Duke, to name a few. Both Leesa and Jean bring with them their own quartets.
The venue location is 2705 SW 3rd Street, 33135. For tickets and more information go to https://notoriousjazz.com/event/leesa-richards-quartet-jean-caze-quartet.
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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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NNENNA FREELON
Vocalist, composer, producer, arranger and 7 time Grammy nominee Nnenna Freelon brings her talent to the Hayti Heritage Center on the campus of North Carolina Central University.
She is joined by her ensemble including bassist John Brown, the NCCU Jazz Ensemble under the direction of Robert Trowers, and the NCCU Vocal Jazz Ensemble directed by Dr. Lenora Helms Hammonds.
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