Tony Bennett performing in Cohasset and Hyannis on August 14-15

Jazz legend Tony Bennett is performing two shows in Massachusetts this weekend: at the South Shore Music Circus in Cohasset on Saturday, August 14, and at the Cape Cod Melody Tent in Hyannis on Sunday, August 14. Both shows start at 7:00 p.m.

Tickets are available online at the Music Circus and the Melody Tent or can be purchased at the gate the night of the concert.

A fifteen-time Grammy Award winner, Bennett's voice has helped define the American songbook since the late 1940s, when he began working with Pearl Bailey, Bob Hope and Frank Sinatra. In recent years he has recorded with a host of great singers, including Stevie Wonder, k.d. lang, James Taylor, Michael Buble and others.

Bennett is also a renaissance man whose reputation as a serious painter has grown over the years. He painted the image for the official poster of the 2010 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, and regularly donates his artwork to a variety of worthwhile causes.

For year round jazz in Massachusetts, visit MassJazz.com.

For tourism information in Massachusetts, visit MassVacation.com.

Jazz Singer Patti Austin Performs at Scullers Jazz Club in Boston, August 13-14

Grammy Award-winning jazz vocalist Patti Austin is performing at Scullers Jazz Club in Boston on the weekend of August 13-14, 2010. Performances are at 8:00 and 10:00 p.m. each night. Tickets are $40 and can be ordered online.

With 17 solo albums and countless collaborations with singing stars like Paul Simon, Robert Flack and Diana Ross, Austin has enjoyed a sterling career as a singer, songwriter, and interpreter of the American songbook. She also created her own one-woman show and was co-creator of several other musical showcases.

For a full schedule of upcoming concerts at Scullers, click here.

For year round jazz in Massachusetts, visit MassJazz.com.

For tourism information on visiting Massachusetts, visit MassVacation.com.

Provincetown Jazz Festival Takes Place August 13-14 on Cape Cod

The 6th annual Provincetown Jazz Festival features a tribute to New Orleans jazz this Friday and Saturday, August 13-14, 2010 on Cape Cod.

Jazz drummer and festival director Bart Weisman says this year's festival features the Big Easy's Paul Sanchez, one of the many jazz musicians whose lives were affected by Hurricane Katrina, which occurred five years ago this month. Proceeds from the Provincetown Jazz Festival are going to the New Orleans Musicians Clinic.

Other stars of the two-day festival include saxophonist Greg Abate, vocalist Dane Vannatter, pianist Janice Friendman, bassist Chris Rathburn, drummer Bart Weisman, trumpeter Steve Ahern, and Berklee Rising Stars, including sax player Clay Lyons, trumpeter Matt Joseph, pianist Suzanne Davis, bassist John Lockwood, and Bob Kaufman on drums. For a complete schedule, click here.

For tourist information on visiting Cape Cod and Massachusetts, go to MassVacation.com.

For more upcoming jazz festivals in Massachusetts, visit MassJazz.com.

Bill Harley Performs at Regattabar Kids Summer Music Series on Sunday, August 8 in Cambridge

Two-time Grammy Award winner Bill Harley brings his special brand of children's songs to the Regattabar in Harvard Square, Cambridge, this Sunday, August 8, at 4:30 p.m.

Tickets are available online for $12 or can be purchased at the door the day of show for $15.

Writer of songs like "You're in Trouble" and "Dad threw the TV out the window," Harley is a singer-songwriter whose music reaches children and adults alike. He is recipient of the Magic Penny Award from the Children's Music Network.

The Regattabar offers a series of children's music programs each summer. The final concert, featuring Flooky and the Beans, takes place on Sunday, August 15, 2010 at 4:30 p.m.

For a full schedule of upcoming jazz performances, click here.

For year round jazz in Massachusetts, visit MassJazz.com.

Jazz Pianist Herbie Hancock Performing at Lowell Summer Music Series this Saturday, August 7

Jazz legend Herbie Hancock is performing this Saturday, August 7, 2010 at the Lowell Summer Music Series in Lowell, Massachusetts at 7:30 p.m. The outdoor concert takes place at Boarding House Park, 40 French Street in Lowell.

Tickets are $35 in advance and $40 the day of the concert, and can be ordered online or by calling 978 970-5200.

Hancock began his career playing with the Miles Davis Quintet. He is a twelve-time Grammy Award winner and won an Oscar for scoring the film, Round Midnight.

For a full schedule of concerts at the Lowell Summer Music Series, click here.

For information on visiting Massachusetts, visit Massvacation.com.

For year round jazz in Massachusetts, visit MassJazz.com.

Tito Puente Latin Music Series Features Jerry Rivera at Boston City Hall Plaza

Salsa music star Jerry Rivera is performing at Boston City Hall Plaza on Saturday, July 31, at 7:00 p.m. as part of the city's Tito Puente Latin Music Series.

The Grammy-nominated singer is headining "Caliente, a celebration of Latin Music and Culture," featuring percussionist Eguie Castrillo and a hot horn section from Berklee College of Music.

The concert is sponsored by the City of Boston and is free and open to the public.

For year round jazz in Massachusetts visit MassJazz.com.

Roxbury International Film Festival features jazz film on Thelonius Monk

In My Mind

The 12th annual Roxbury International Film Festival gets underway in Boston this week, featuring a full slate of films, documentaries and workshops celebrating people of color in cinema.

One of the films featured this year is In My Mind, a documentary by jazz pianist Jason Moran that pays tribute to legendary jazz artist Theolonius Monk and his historic concert at New York's town hall in 1959. Combining rare audio and photos of Monk with Moran's own live performace in the same venue 50 years later, In My Mind has been described by Slant Magazine as "a vital document of jazz as a combined cultural heritage...(that) sets a new standard for jazz on film."

In My Mind is being shown at Mass College of Art on Saturday, July 31, at 6:00 p.m.

Presented by the Color of Film Collaborative and ACT Roxbury, the four-day festival embraces "a global community of filmmakers celebrating people of color," says Lisa Simmons, co-producer of the festival.

Screenings take place in venues throughout Boston, including the Roxbury Center for Arts at Hibernian Hall, Museum of Fine Arts, Mass College of Art, Wentworth College and the Haley House Bakery Cafe.

Full line-up of the RIFF film schedule.

Full list of RIFF workshops and panel discussions.

For year round jazz in Massachusetts, visit MassJazz.com.