CHUCHO VALDÉS: IRAKERE 50

Fresh off the world premiere of his epic work La Creación at the Arsht Center in 2021, Cuban pianist and composer Chucho Valdés returns to commemorate 50 years of IRAKERE, the legendary Afro-Cuban jazz band he founded that changed the face of Latin music forever.

With its audacious mix of Afro-Cuban ritual music, Cuban dance music, jazz, classical music and rock, Irakere marked a before and after in Latin jazz. The group’s self-titled debut recording in the United States won a Grammy as Best Latin Recording in 1979. In 2015, Valdés celebrated Irakere’s 40th anniversary with a world tour. Tribute to Irakere: Live at Marciac, which captured a performance on that tour, won a Grammy for Best Latin Jazz Album in 2016.

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DAVE KOZ & FRIENDS

Featuring Jonathan Butler with special guests Rebecca Jade and Marcus Anderson
And introducing Justin Lee Schultz

Dave Koz and Friends announce the 26th anniversary of the longest-running jazz-based Christmas tour!

Beginning the next era of this rich musical tradition, Koz and Friends will perform fresh renditions of timeless Christmas classics — as well as a Hanukkah medley — and hits from their respective catalogs.

The tour reunites Koz with a longtime musical partner, guitarist-singer Jonathan Butler, and will feature special guests saxophonist/flutist Marcus Anderson, making his debut, and vocalist Rebecca Jade, marking her third time with the tour. Traversing 25 cities in one month, the tour will also introduce musical prodigy Justin Lee Schultz, a 16-year-old South Africa-born, U.S.-based pianist, guitarist, vocalist and social media sensation.

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HENRY MANCINI 100TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

Starring Monica Mancini with special guests John Pizzarelli, Shelly Berg, Gregg Field and Frost School of Music’s Henry Mancini Institute

From “Moon River” to “The Pink Panther Theme,” “Baby Elephant Walk” and “Days of Wine and Roses,” Henry Mancini composed some of the most beloved music of our time, while revolutionizing the art of film scoring.

The Frost School of Music’s Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra will be joined onstage by Henry’s daughter, two-time Grammy-nominated vocalist Monica Mancini, and eight-time Grammy winner Gregg Field, plus other surprise guest artists in a multimedia event to kick off the centenary celebration of Mancini’s birth.

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DC JAZZ FESTIVAL | THE WHARF

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VANESSA RUBIN QUARTET

New York City vocalist extraordinaire and 2020 NAACP Image Awards nominee makes a one-night-only return.

Vanessa’s journey to becoming a jazz singer could be said to have begun at an early age. She was characterized by her mother as always being “a very vocal child,” and knew Vanessa would, “do something with that big ol’ mouth of hers.” Coming from parents who valued academia, discipline and hard work, that “something” was meant to be law school. Attaining a BA from the The Ohio State School of Journalism in 1979 was not a disappointment. However, her decision to pursue a career jazz singing did come as a surprise. Vanessa’s fascination with language coupled with her passion for music, especially jazz, pointed her on a collision course toward jazz performance.

Her “a-ha” moment came during a college beauty pageant at which Vanessa was accompanied by a very young, and even then, a very capable Bobby Floyd of Columbus, Ohio. Her first performance of a jazz evergreen, the Billie Holiday original “God Bless The Child,” garnered both rousing applause and the winning talent award. Most importantly though, it awakened what Vanessa describes as “her calling.” “I fell in love with the moment, the music, the audience and the effect it had on them and me,” Rubin remembers.

Vanessa’s first gigs began around 1980 in small clubs around Cleveland such as Tucker’s Place, Bob’s Toast of the Town, Lancer’s Steak House, Club Isabella, The Native Son and The Teal Lounge. Some early band mates included Wynn Bibbs, Skip Gibson, saxophonist and arranger Willie Smith, Neal Creque, Matthew “Chink” Stevenson and, later, the uniquely soulful organ quartet of The Blackshaw Brothers with Cecil Rucker on vibes. “We worked 8 days a week all over Cleveland catching the tail end of what was left over from the good old days,” Rubin recalls. After two years, Rubin was anxious to set her sights on New York where she earnestly and humbly soaked up the tutelage of many veterans like Pharaoh Sanders, Frank Foster and Barry Harris.

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