JAZZ HERITAGE ORCHESTRA w/ VANESSA RUBIN

The Jazz Heritage Orchestra performs a musical tribute to Ohio’s quiet musical genius, composer, arranger, bandleader, saxophonist and NEA Jazz Master Frank Foster. Perhaps best known for his work with the Count Basie Orchestra, Foster also wrote and arranged music for Sarah Vaughan, Frank Sinatra, and Dizzy Gillespie, and he performed with jazz greats, including Elvin Jones and Snooky Young.

The Jazz Heritage Orchestra (JHO) was formed in 1998 in residence with the Cleveland State University Black Studies Department. The mission of the JHO, under the artist direction of Dennis Bradley Reynolds, is to preserve and perpetuate the heritage of the great African American jazz masters through educational programming coupled with elite performance. This mission continues today through a partnership with Open Tone Music. Based in Akron, Ohio, the JHO has performed with many acclaimed artists, including Clark Terry, Benny Golson, Nancy Wilson, John Morton, Evelyn Wright, and Vanessa Rubin.

“In a thoroughly contemporary twist on the classic jazz lore tradition of the territory band, the Jazz Heritage Orchestra reflects the contributions of an impressive range of musicians from several points on the midwestern map.” —Willard Jenkins, Journalist (JazzTimes, DownBeat, BET on Jazz, WPFW)

Tickets:
Non-Members: $28.00 ~ $50.00
CMA Members: $25.00 ~ $47.00
Students: $10.00 | Purchase at the door, subject to availability

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LIZZ WRIGHT & KENNY BANKS SR.

The singer Lizz Wright — who owns one of the most spellbinding voices of her generation, regardless of genre —remembers the first time she heard her dear pianist Kenny Banks Sr. perform. It was at the Atlanta Jazz Festival, where Banks was onstage with the vocalist Audrey Shakir, a regional legend. Wright was a freshman at Georgia State University; the daughter of a minister, she was raised on the music of the Black American church. Banks was already a respected player on the Atlanta scene who was working toward his master’s in jazz studies from GSU.

At a jam session at the original Churchill Grounds in Atlanta, Wright sat in while Banks was on the keys and sang a couple of jazz standards — at the time, the only ones she knew. But the crowd wanted more, so the band settled on “Amazing Grace” off the cuff. “He played it as a blues, and he kind of scared me because I’d never sang like that in my life,” Wright says. “I’d never sung a blues. I’d never felt prayer and longing and lust and confusion at the same time. And the sound came out with all those things.” “It was bananas,” Banks recalls, beaming. “I think that’s why we still have that in our repertoire.”

But what of that voice —that spectacular instrument the New York Times once described as “a smooth, dark alto possessed of qualities you might associate with barrel-aged bourbon or butter-soft leather”? Was it already in place at that formative jam session? “Absolutely. One-hundred percent,” Banks says. “You know when you hear people say, ‘You’ve got that thing’? She always had that thing. She’s just got a presence that commands your attention.”

Thus began a quarter-century-long adventure in which Banks became one of Wright’s most trusted collaborators, appearing on her 2003 major-label debut, Salt, and then on such acclaimed albums as The Orchard, Fellowship, Freedom & Surrender, Grace and Shadow. Now comes Nearness, from Blues & Greens Records and Candid Records, the most thrillingly intimate expression of their kinship yet. The new LP, produced by longtime musical director and esteemed guitarist Chris Bruce, features just Wright and Banks, on piano and organ, traversing 11 jazz standards and spirituals.

Following that first Churchill Grounds jam session, Banks essentially took Wright under his wing, helping her to learn the etiquette around jazz performance, develop her repertoire and even lead a group. Wright aspired to perform within the band rather than out front, to deliver her melodies and improvisations with the same fiery spontaneity as her sidemen. “Kenny was the one who showed me how to relate to a band in a way where you could be respected,” she says. (In recent years, Wright has studied piano with Banks. His lessons, she says, allow her to find passion and enjoyment in practice, “taking joy into the depths of discipline.”)

They bonded quickly and profoundly, on the strength of their shared background in the church — including improvisation-rich testimony services — and their interests in swinging jazz, R&B and other music. In Banks, Wright found the ideal ally, whose personality and approach offered the best kinds of dualities: He was both a hyper-organized, immensely gifted arranger and a bold, wide-open performer who loved to discover new pathways on the spot.

The album title comes from the opener, Hoagy Carmichael’s “The Nearness of You,” one of Wright’s favorite standards. “I’m excited to be able to use that one word to explore concepts of love and closeness that are not often mentioned,” Wright says. “I’m celebrating not just a teacher here, but a great platonic love.”

Tickets:
Limited View Seats: $65.00
Standard Seat: $70.00
Premium Seat: $75.00
Standard Booth | Up to 6: $300.00
Premium Booth | Up to 4: $420.00

 

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DAVID SÁNCHEZ

Grammy award-winner David Sánchez is recognized around the world as one of the finest saxophonists of his generation. His mastery of the instrument is undeniable and his sound unmistakable. Combine that with Sánchez’s deep-seated knowledge of both Jazz and Latin music, and the traditions that mold them, and the results are extraordinary.

In a review, world-renowned jazz writer and critic Howard Reich saluted the bandleader, saying, “Sánchez’s prowess on saxophone is matched by the intellectual depth of his concept and compositions.” Reich has also noted, “Technically, tonally and creatively, he seems to have it all. Recordings such as “The Departure” (1994), “Sketches of Dreams” (1995), “Obsesión” (1998) and “Cultural Survival” (2008) showed Sánchez merging jazz syntax with the musical dialects of his native Puerto Rico and other Caribbean and Latin American sources.”

The Band:
David Sánchez: Saxophone
Ricky Rodriguez:  Bass and
Terreon “Tank” Gully: Drums.

Tickets:
Limited View Seats: $60.00
Standard Seat: $70.00
Premium Seat: $80.00
Standard Booth | Up to 6: $420.00
Premium Booth | Up to 4: $480.00

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WYCLIFFE GORDON

Wycliffe Gordon & Freinds presents a show featuring jazz from each era, early jazz to modern and beyond.Wycliffe G on Trombone, Trumpet and Vocals, Nery Kim on Piano, Travis Shaw on Bass, Alvin Atkinson Jr. on Drums, and Ashley “AE the Cool” Elim on Vocals.

Musical ambassador and interpreter of “America’s” music, Wycliffe Gordon is one of the world’s most renowned and award-winning jazz trombonists touring today. His signature sound and mastery of the plunger mute have helped solidify his impressive musical career. Wycliffe tours as a soloist and regularly with his quintet, headlining at legendary jazz venues and performing arts centers worldwide. In addition, Wycliffe has recorded or been featured on over 300 recordings, has composed and arranged hundreds of compositions, ranging from intimate jazz pieces to large-scale commissions for orchestra, and film. Most notably, film director Oscar Michaux’s silent films: Body and Soul (Jazz at Lincoln Center) and Within Our Gates (Jazzmobile). Gordon is also widely known for his arrangement of the theme song for NPR’s “All Things Considered.”

Critics praise his exuberance, versatility, and ability to play authentically across jazz, blues, gospel, and traditional styles. Gordon is a veteran member of the Wynton Marsalis Septet and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, and has been a featured guest artist on Billy Taylor’s “Jazz at the Kennedy Center” Series. Gordon has received numerous honors, including multiple “Best Trombone” awards in DownBeat magazine’s critics and readers polls and major recognitions from organizations such as the International

Trombone Association and the Louis Armstrong House Museum. Gordon currently serves as Director of Jazz Studies at Augusta University in Augusta, GA. He is a Yamaha Performing Artist and has his own line of Wycliffe Gordon Pro Signature Mouthpieces by Pickett Brass, the “Wybrid” Crossover Mouthpiece also by Pickett Brass, and a new plunger mute—the “Cone Tone” by Hirschman Mutes. Visit www.wycliffegordon.com.

Tickets:
Limited View Seats: $60.00
Standard Seat: $70.00
Premium Seat: $80.00
Standard Booth | Up to 6: $420.00
Premium Booth | Up to 4: $480.00

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JOE GRANSDEN BIG BAND w/RUSSELL GUNN

The Joe Gransden Big Band and Special Guest, Russell Gunn join forces to fill Churchill Grounds with and unbelievable night of swing and swagger! Both artists bring a depth of connection to the original Churchill Grounds and offer a heartfelt performance that can only be fully felt from the audience.

Joe Gransden is among the nation’s most sought after keepers of the flame of the American Songbook and Russell is among those leading (with 22 albums of his own) and writing the way into jazz/s future. Both Joe and Russell are in incredibly high demand nation wide as both leaders and artistic collaborators. Each keeps a demanding performacne schedule that makes this special night of live jazz all the more rare. This will be an evening that you want to make sure to be in the audience!

Tickets:
Limited View Seats: $35.00
Standard Seat: $45.00
Premium Seat: $55.00
Standard Booth | Up to 6: $270.00
Premium Booth | Up to 4: $220.00

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