The 6th annual Pittsfield CityJazz Festival takes place from October 8-21, 2010 in restaurants, clubs, and concert venues around the city of Pittsfield in western Massachusetts.
Lionel Loueke, one of the most innovative new guitarists on the jazz scene today, is performing with his Trio at Bower Auditorium at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst on Thursday, October 7, at 7:30 p.m.
Born in Benin, West Africa, Loueke was named Up and Coming Jazz Musician of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association and Downbeat Magazine, and has performed with jazz legends Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and Terence Blanchard.
The concert at UMass is part of a year round series of events hosted by the Fine Arts Center and the university's Music Department. For a complete schedule of jazz concerts and other musical events, click here.
For year round jazz in Massachusetts, visit MassJazz.com.
Jazz bassist and vocalist Esperanza Spalding is performing at Sanders Theater in Harvard Square, Cambridge, on Saturday, October 2, 2010 at 8:00 p.m.
A graduate of the Berklee College of Music, Spalding is an inventive composer and performer whose latest recording, Chamber Music Society, is influenced by classical, jazz, folk and world music.
The concert is presented by World Music/CRASHarts, the region's premier presenter of quality music from around the world. For a full schedule of upcoming events from World Music, click here.
For year round jazz events in Massachusetts, visit MassJazz.com.
Headlining this year's event are two great bands: Wally's Stepchildren, the legendary house band from Wally's Jazz Cafe in Boston's South End, playing a mix of jazz, funk and fusion.
They're followed by Boston Horns, a seven piece funk/jazz/soul band that's been together for over 20 years, touring with Tower of Power, Susan Tedschi and others. Joining the Horns at the event is Nephtaliem McCrary on vocals.
Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door, and are available online.
In addition to the music, a number of valuable prizes are being auctioned, including a Fender Stratocaster guitar, a Dahon Curve 3 bicycle and a dining package.
For year round jazz in Massachusetts, visit MassJazz.com.
Japanese trumpet player Tiger Okoshi is conducting a benefit concert for the Boston Higashi School jazz band on Sunday, October 3, from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. at the Center for the Arts, Thayer Academy in Braintree.
Okoshi is being joined by Ryu Goto, Soichi Muraji, Pei-Shan Lee and Joinatsuru Yanai. For more details on these accomplished musicians, click here.
Based in Randolph, Massachusetts, the Boston Higashi School is an international program for children and young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder. The educational goal of the school is for children to achieve society independence and dignity.
The jazz band has been one of the school's most public and popular programs. It performs regularly at Ryles Jazz Club in Cambridge, and last spring the band traveled to Japan to perform. The band was featured in the summer issue of MassJazz Travel Guide.
The performance also benefits the Japan Society of Boston, which promotes cultural exchange between the United States and Japan.
Tickets to the concert range from $15 to $100 - click here to order tickets online; call the school at 781 961-0800; or contact Bhaird Campbell at campbell@japansocietyboston.org.
For year round jazz in Massachusetts, visit MassJazz.com.
(Boston) - Jazz pianist and composer Jason Moran has been named a 2010 MacArthur Fellow, it was announced today.
The unrestricted fellowship encourages "people of outstanding talent to pursue their own creative, intellectual and professional inclinations," according to the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Moran is one of 23 recipients of this year's so-called genius award, and recieves a stipend of $500,000.
Born and raised in Texas, Moran is a newly appointed member of the faculty at the New England Conservatory in Boston, where he does studio teaching, ensemble coaching and master classes. He has hailed NEC's "distinctiveness" for welcoming the many forms and styles of jazz.
This past summer in Boston, the Roxbury International Film Festival featured Moran's film documentary, In My Mind, which pays tribute to legendary pianist and composer Thelonius Monk and his historic concert at New York City's Town Hall in 1959.
Patrick Jarenwattananon of NPR Jazz/ A Blog Supreme reports that the MacArthur Foundation "has a history of granting awards to innovative improvising musicians," citing Regina Carter, Ornette Coleman, George Russell, Ran Blake and others.
For year round jazz in Massachusetts, visit MassJazz.com.
