ARTISTRY & SOUL: AN EVENING WITH GREGORY PORTER

Acclaimed singer-songwriter Gregory Porter was raised in Bakersfield, California, and he cites the Bakersfield Southern gospel sound, as well as his mother’s Nat King Cole record collection, as fundamental influences on his own sound. In 2013, he released his breakout Blue Note debut Liquid Spirit, which sold more than a million albums and earned Porter his first Grammy Award, with NPR declaring him “America’s Next Great Jazz Singer.” His 2016 follow-up, Take Me to the Alley, won Porter his second Grammy for Best Vocal Jazz Album and established him as his generation’s most soulful jazz singer-songwriter. His 2021 release Still Rising collected new songs, covers, duets and a selection of his favorite songs. Concertgoers can expect to hear a selection of material from across Porter’s Grammy-nominated and Grammy-winning albums.

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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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