STANLEY CLARKE & RON CARTER

Listeners can expect to hear a lot of the “right notes” as two of the true legends of low-end meet for these momentous evenings over four nights. Between them, 2022 NEA Jazz Master Stanley Clarke and 1998 NEA Jazz Master Ron Carter have defined and redefined the bass’s role in modern jazz, from the hard bop innovations of the early 1960s to the jazz-fusion revolution of the 1970s and 1980s.

The four-time GRAMMY winning Clarke achieved worldwide fame as a pioneer of jazz fusion with Chick Corea and Return to Forever, and his subsequent career as a bandleader. The Philadelphia native has recorded 24 albums as a leader, leading a procession of masterful bands, and collaborating with George Duke, McCoy Tyner, Dexter Gordon, Freddie Hubbard, Al Di Meola, Paul McCartney, Keith Richards, Stewart Copeland, and dozens more.

Ron Carter is, quite simply, the face of jazz bass. A towering figure, he was already a creative force on the roiling early ‘60s scene when he joined Miles Davis in 1962, the first piece of what became the trumpeter’s second great quintet.

With more than 2,300 albums to his credit, including over 60 as a leader, “The Maestro” holds the Guinness World Record as jazz’s most recorded bassist.Clarke and Carter collaborated in a trio with guitarist Russell Malone as part of the recent PBS documentary on Carter’s life, Ron Carter: Finding the Right Notes.

Tickets: $75.00 ~ $175.00

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TOMI BERRY

, Wherever Tomi Berry sings, she spreads joy.  Whether singing swinging jazzsmooth R&B, or sultry ballads, she holds an audience in rapt attention.  A spiritual song-stylist, she engages her listeners in musical conversation. An accomplished, classically trained singer, Tomi has performed most of her life in multiple music genres, starting formally in gospel and spiritual church choirs in her hometown of Montclair, NJ.

The 2016 42nd Annual Lawrence Award Winner for “Best Seasoned Performer” and the runner up for the 2016’s inaugural Atlanta’s Top Vocalist competition, Susan “Tomi” Berry has an extensive background in  performing. She performed with the Hillside Chapel and Truth Center Choir and Jubilee Singers and was a member of the “neo-spiritual” group I Am Unlimite

She has been a member and briefly  served on the board of Southeastern Organization for Jazz Arts (SOJA) where she performed a two-woman show with vocalist Nina Carl, with support from Terry Harper on piano, Danny Harper on trumpet and Delbert Felix on contrabass.

Tomi was the featured performer at The Velvet Note Acoustic Living Room where she performed two shows featuring Grammy Award winning producer/keyboardist Phil Davis, along with bassist Trey Gilbert, and drummer Joey Williams.

The Band
Getty Goodwin: Keys
Roland Beard: Bass
Harold Olinger: Guitar
Tracey Williams: Drums

Cover: Free

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JEAN CAZE TRIO

Haitian-American trumpeter and composer Jean Caze has emerged as one of the most beautiful voices in modern jazz. Renowned for blending his Haitian heritage with American jazz, Caze crafts an Afro-Caribbean instrumental sound reminiscent of icons such as Hugh Masekela, Fela Kuti and Caribbean Jazz Project.

A captivating performer, Caze has shared the stage with Herbie Hancock, Aretha Franklin, Mariah Carey, Arturo Sandoval and Michael Bublé. The Jean Caze Trio promise to deliver infectious Haitian rhythms, catchy melodies, brilliant improvisation and lively audience interaction.

Tickets: $29.25 | Fees included

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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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