August is already upon us but the Festival season has not slacked off. This coming weekend (8/10-12), the
Litchfield Jazz Festival returns to the Goshen Fairgrounds (yes, in Goshen CT) with a lineup that is sure to please fans of many different styles of jazz.
The festivities open on Friday night with
The Four Freshmen (7:30) followed by a live "Auction" at 8:30. The headlining act is
Vince Giordano and The Nighthawks and they take the stage at 9:30 p.m.
Saturday's full day of music begins at 12 noon with the
Helen Sung Trio featuring the indispensable bassist
Reuben Rogers and the fine young drummer
Obed Calvaire. At 1:45, the
Sojourner Truth Project, a tribute to the 19th Century free African American women created by bassist
Avery Sharpe, brings a most accomplished group to the stage including pianist
Onaje Alan Gumbs and saxophonist
Craig Handy. Following them at 3:30 p.m. is the brilliant young trumpeter
Ambrose Akinmusire (pictured above) . and his
Quintet featuring saxophonist
Walter Smith III. Saxophonists
Gary Smulyan (the baritone player is this year's Artist-in-Residence) and
Eric Alexander will be joined by fellow saxophonists
Jeff Lederer, Kris Allen and long-time Festival Music Camp director
Don Braden in a "
Salute to George Coleman" at 5:15. The rhythm section boasts of bassist
Marcus McLaurine, drummer
Matt Wilson and, in a quick turnaround, pianist Gumbs. Mr. Smulyan gets right back up on stage at 7 p.m. as part of pianist
Benny Green's
Quartet (supported by the superb rhythm section of bassist
Peter Washington and drummer
Kenny Washington.) The evening closes on a high note (most assuredly a whole slew of high notes as well as many well-placed low notes) in the form of the
Dirty Dozen Brass Band. The New Orleans-based septet hits the stage at 8:45 p.m.
The fine sounds do not let up on Sunday. Harmonica virtuoso
Gregoire Maret opens the afternoon of music at 12 noon with a Quartet featuring the excellent rhythm section of drummer
Clarence Penn and bassist
James Genus as well as the young pianist
Federico Pena. Saxophonist
Donny McCaslin makes his Litchfield Festival debut with his "electric"
Quartet, showcasing drummer
Mark Giuliana, bassist
Tim Lefebvre and the fine keybaord work of
Jason Lindner. They do their "thing" at 1:30 to be followed at 3:30 by the classic sounds of flutist extraordinare
Hubert Laws and his
Quintet. At 5:15, the
Miguel Zenón Quartet takes over the stage - the fine composer and alto saxophonist (pictured above) is joined by his longtime crew of
Luis Perdomo (piano),
Hans Glawischnig (bass) and the splendid young drummer,
Henry Cole. The Festival comes to a rousing finale with
Kevin Mahogany & Dave Stryker's "Kansas City Swing." The vocalist and guitarist lead a band that features organist
Jared Gold, drummer
McLenty Hunter and Connecticut native
Mike DiRubbo on alto saxophone. The last set starts at 7 p.m.
Great lineup - for more information, go to
litchfieldjazzfest.com or call 860-361-6285.
On Saturday (August 11), JazzHaven presents the
New Haven Jazz Festival on the
New Haven Green from 4:30 - 9 p.m. The event, free and open to the public, features
Co-Op and High School Jazz Band of New Haven, young alto saxophonist
Godwin Louis & his Quartet, percussionist
Annette Aguilar's Latin Jazz Sextet and is headlined by the
T.S. Monk Sextet. The son of the great iconic pianist/composer, T.S. Monk (pictured left) has worked very hard keeping his father's legacy alive as well as creating his own music from behind the drum kit. He's played jazz and blues, soul music and r'n'b and brings a fine sense of rhythmic excitement to the stage. For more information about the concert, go to
jazzhaven.org where you will find the listings for many events in the Elm City area - you can also choose to support the ongoing efforts of the jazzhaven folks.
Firehouse 12 in New Haven has just announced its
Fall 2012 Jazz Series and, as expected, there are 13 fine concerts planned for the recording studio/performance space. Over the course of 13 Fridays (starting September 14 and running through December 14, with a week off for Thanksgiving), Nick Lloyd has brought back some favorites such as the
Taylor Ho Bynum Sextet (December 7) and cellist
Daniel Levin's Quartet (December 14) as well as fine young musicians such as pianist
Dan Tepfer (his Trio will be in town on October 12), vibraphonist
Tyler Blanton with saxophonist
Joel Frahm (October 5) and drummer
E.J. Strickland, who opens the Series. Among the surprises are the
Fred Hersch Trio on October 26 (undoubtedly celebrating the release of their splendid new 2-CD set, "
Live at The Village Vanguard" coming in September from Palmetto Records) and, on September 28, pianist
Jamie Saft with his
New Zion Trio (the Connecticut native has played twice in the past as a member of saxophonist Jeff Lederer's ensembles) will play a unique blend of reggae, jazz, trance music and Jewish mysticism.
There's more, so you should go to
firehouse12.com and look at the rest of the offerings (for instance,
Donny McCaslin comes back to CT on November 16.) The consistency of this series and the wide variety of artists from across the creative music spectrum that comes to New Haven continues to impress audiences that come from across the state and its borders. Just seeing the lineup gives me hope of getting through the continuing election madness and the incessant craziness in the world.
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