Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Lembit Saarsalu was born July 8, 1948 in Roosna-Alliku, Estonia. He started playing jazz at an early age. He debuted at the Tallinn International Jazz Festival at the age of 16. He worked for many years in the State Philharmonic of the Estonian SSR , where as a paid musician he gave numerous concerts both at home and abroad. In the 1980s, Saarsalu devoted himself completely to jazz.

For decades, he has led local and international ensembles. He worked in a duo with Leonid Vintskevich, started a new international jazz festival Rainbow Jazz with music producer Merle Kollom and a competition for young musicians in Tartu.

As an educator Saarsalu introduced jazz in schools and has performed together with Olav Ehala and other well-known Estonian musicians for more than 40,000 students. Since the fall of 2016, he has been working as a saxophone and ensemble teacher in the rhythm music department of the Tartu Music School.

In the 1980s Eesti Televisioon made two films about Lembit, he has performed on Finnish and Spanish television and has made numerous recordings, numbering 200 recordings for Estonian Radio. His style ranges from blues and swing to free forms of jazz.

He has been repeatedly chosen as the best tenor saxophonist, awarded the annual prize of the Sound Art Endowment Fund of the Estonian Cultural Capital.

Saxophonist , bandleader and composer Lembit Saarsalu, who has been called the saxophone king and the calling card of Estonian jazz, continues to perform, compose and teach.

GRIOTS GALLERY

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MINGUS DYNASTY

Mingus Dynasty was the first band Sue Mingus organized after Charles Mingus’ death in 1979, collaborating with his own sidemen to honor his life and work. Although Mingus was an iconic and trailblazing bassist, he always said he was first and foremost a composer, and he left behind over 300 composition that deserved to be played. So a band carrying on his music became a natural, if unanticipated, mission. Today, four decades later, the powerful legacy of Mingus Music ignites bandstands as new generations of musicians express their individual voices and musical personalities, and celebrate and explore this rich and varied musical legacy. 

Please arrive 30 minutes before the show your attending. Call for ticket information.

Philip Harper | Trumpet

Mark Gross | Alto Saxophone

Abraham Burton | Tenor Saxophone

Robin Eubanks | Trombone

Miki Yamanaka | Piano

Barry Stephenson | Bass

Donald Edwards | Drums

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JANE BUNNETT & MAQUEQUE

With Maqueque, Jane Bunnett has created something new and phenomenal in the world of jazz. What started out five years ago as a project to record and mentor young brilliant Cuban female musicians, has become one of the top groups on the North American jazz scene. Since 2015, they have played in major jazz festivals like Newport and Monterey, been featured on NPR’s program Jazz Night in America, won a Juno Award for their first album, Jane Bunnett and Maqueque, were nominated for a Grammy Award for their second release, Oddara and were nominated for a Juno Award for their latest release, On Firm Ground/Tierra Firme. Most recently, were voted as one the top ten jazz groups by the prestigious DownBeat magazine’s critics poll.

An internationally acclaimed musician, Bunnett is known for her creative integrity, improvisational daring, and courageous artistry. Her exploration of Afro-Cuban melodies expresses the universality of music, and her ability to embrace and showcase the rhythms and culture of Cuba has been ground-breaking. She has toured the world bringing her own special sound to numerous jazz festivals, displaying her versatility as a flutist, saxophone player, and pianist.

Jane Bunnett ~ Soprano Saxophone & Flute
Daniela Olano ~ Vocals & Violin
Mary Paz ~ Vocals & Congas
Dánae Olano ~ Piano
Tailin Marrero ~ Acoustic & electric bass
Ivanna Gonzalez ~ Drums

One Show:
Thursday 7/25 ~ 7:30 pm w/Live Stream

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AN EVENING WITH KENNY GARRET & SOUNDS FROM THE ANCESTORS

Newly named an NEA Jazz Master in 2023, saxophonist Kenny Garrett is one of the most powerfully expressive, uplifting, and influential instrumentalists and bandleaders of our time. Kenny’s fiery quintet swings into Keystone Korner Baltimore for 3 nights, Friday-Sunday, July 19-21st to celebrate his latest release, Sounds From The Ancestors, which reflects the rich jazz, R&B, and gospel history of his hometown of Detroit and deeply resonates with the Afro-Caribbean rhythms of Cuba, Nigeria and Guadeloupe.

With his illustrious career that includes hallmark stints with Miles Davis, Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers, Donald Byrd, Freddie Hubbard, Woody Shaw and the Duke Ellington Orchestra, as well as a heralded career as a solo artist that began more than 30 years ago, Kenny Garrett is easily recognized as one of modern jazz’s brightest and most influential living masters. And with the marvelous Sounds From The Ancestors, the GRAMMY® Award-winning Garrett shows no signs of resting on his laurels.

Kenny Garrett’s latest release, Sounds From The Ancestorsis a multi-faceted album. Similar to how Miles Davis’ seminal LP, On the Corner, subverted its main guiding lights – James Brown, Jimi Hendrix and Sly Stone – then crafted its own unique, polyrhythmic, groove-laden, improv-heavy universe, Sounds From The Ancestors occupies its own space with intellectual clarity, sonic ingenuity and emotional heft.

Kenny Garrett ~ Saxophones
Keith Brown ~ Piano
Jeremiah Edwards ~ Bass
Rudy Bird ~ Percussion
Ronald Bruner ~ Drums
Melvin Santa ~ Vocals & Keys

Friday 7/19  ~ 7:00 pm w/Live Stream | 9:30 pm
Saturday 7/20 ~ 6:00 pm w/Live Stream | 8:30 pm
Sunday 7/21 ~ 5:00 pm w/Live Stream | 7:30 pm

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CHARLES MCPHERSON QUINTET

85th Birthday Celebration with Terrell Stafford

For more than 60 years, alto saxophonist Charles McPherson has been one of the most expressive and highly regarded voices in jazz. His rich musical style, rooted in the blues and bebop, has influenced and inspired generations of musicians and listeners. Wynton Marsalis, a longtime admirer says: “Charles is the very definition of excellence in our music. He is the definitive master on this instrument. He plays with exceptional harmonic accuracy and sophistication. He performs free-flowing, melodic and thematically developed solos with unbelievable fire and an unparalleled depth of soul.”

Terell Stafford, acclaimed trumpet player based in New York, has been hailed as “one of the great players of our time, a fabulous trumpet player” by piano legend McCoy Tyner. Stafford is recognized as an incredibly gifted and versatile player, he combines a deep love of melody with his own brand of spirited and adventurous lyricism.

Jeb Patton, described as both a “young phenomon… on piano” and an “absolute great,” has earned a well-regarded reputation in the international jazz community. The multi-talented Patton is known as a “player of great expression.”

Billy Drummond is acclaimed by Downbeat as one of the hippest and versatile bandleaders now at work, his thrilling, powerful and highly musical playing has also made him one of the most called-for sidemen of his generation.

Bassist David Wong has studied classical bass with Orin O’Brien of the New York Philharmonic, and jazz bass with legends Ron Carter, Ben Wolfe, and John Clayton.

Charles McPherson ~ Also Saxophone
Terell Stafford ~ Trumpet
Jeb Patton ~ piano
David Wong ~ Bass
Billy Drummond ~ Drums

Friday 7/12  ~ 7:00 pm w/Live Stream | 9:30 pm
Saturday 7/13 ~ 6:00 pm w/Live Stream | 8:30 pm
Sunday 7/14 ~ 5:00 pm w/Live Stream | 7:30 pm

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