SALEM JAZZ & SOUL FESTIVAL MAKES DONATION TO LOCAL MUSIC EDUCATION PROGRAMS

The Salem Jazz and Soul Festival recently donated $6,000 to music education programs throughout the city of Salem. This is the third straight year the Festival has donated funds to support music education in the community.

Recipients include The Salem High Music Program, $3,000; the Salem Academy, $1,000; the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Salem, $1,000, and the Starr Access Program, $1,000.

Additionally, the festival set aside $1,000 to bring musicians into Salem schools in 2010.

Plans are already underway for another special Spring Gala at the Peabody Essex Museum on April 17, 2010, and for the summer festival that once again will be held at the Salem Willows and in other venues across the city.

For more information, visit salemjazzsoul.org/ or contact info@salemjazzsoul.org.

For jazz events in Massachusetts, visit massjazz.com.

Boston Globe story on Jazz in Massachusetts

Travel writer Chris Klein explores the vibrant jazz scene in Massachusetts in the January 10, 2010 issue of The Boston Globe's Travel Section.

The story is titled: Jazz Vibes and Venues Add Volume: Massachusetts tourism's new repertoire plays on upbeat destinations.

There's also a sidebar entitled Get a Grove on Here All Year with a sampling of the state's jazz clubs and festivals in Massachusetts in 2010.

Anat Cohen Rings in the New Year in Boston at Berklee Performance Center

Jazz musician Anat Cohen is performing as part of Boston's First Night activities at the Berklee Performance Center.

The concert is being broadcast by WGBH 89.7 FM and kicks off NPR's annual worldwide broadcast, Toast of the Nation. She performs two sets, at 8:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m..

A native of Tel Aviv, Israel, Cohen is one of jazz's brightest young stars. The saxophonist and clarinetist was recently named Clarinetist of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association. Her quartet features Jason Linder on Piano, Joe Martin on bass, and Daniel Freema on drums.

For more information on Anet Cohen's concert in Boston, visit berklee.edu/.

Vocalist Linda Eder at Berklee Performance Center, November 28

Linda Eder, who possesses one of the great contemporary voices of our time, celebrates the release of her new album, Sound Track.

Tickets include a special meet-and-greet with the artist after the show.

Tickets: $75 Golden Circle, $50, $40, $30, reserved seating

Berklee Performance Center

136 Massachusetts Avenue

Boston MA 02115

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

Amanda Carr & Kenny Hadley Big Band Jazz Brunch

The New England Center for the Performing Arts is presenting Amanda Carr and the Kenny Hadley Big Band jazz brunch at Mechanics Hall in Worchester on Sunday, November 15 at noon.

The event is being hosted by WBZ radio personality Jordan Rich.

The event includes a culinary feast promptly at noon followed by a big ban program. Joining Ms. Carr and the band is a chorus of singers from the Franklin Performing Arts Company.

Tickets to the brunch/concert are available by contacting Mechanics Hall at 508 752-0888 or visiting mechanicshall.org.

Reserved premium seating is $55 and general seating is $45.

The concert is supported by WICN, 90.5 FM, Worchester's Jazz and Folk Station.

For more details on jazz in Massachusetts, visit massjazz.com/.

Northeastern University Reflects on Legacy of John and Alice Coltrane on November 13

Northeastern University presents a discussion entitled The Coltranes and Humanism: Spirituality, Music and Sound, on Friday, November 13. It takes place from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the John D. O’Bryant African American Institute, 40 Leon Street on campus. The event is free and open to the public.

The events starts with a roundtable discussion that includes master musician/scholar Yusef Lateef, joined by Professor Tammy Kernodle, and Northeastern professors Emmett Price and Leonard Brown. They’ll address the humanist legacy of the Coltranes, including the significance of John Coltrane’s iconic status.

According to the press release, the round-table is followed by a discussion with audience members about "the relationship between music and Black America’s struggle for freedom and equality; how the Coltranes’ music has helped shape global expressions of spirituality and politics; and how we can rethink humanism and the humanities from the perspective of music."

This event is co-sponsored by the Northeastern University Humanities Center, the John D. O’Bryant African-American Institute, and the Departments of African American Studies, Religion & Philosophy, Women's Studies, Sociology & Anthropology, and Music.

Convenient T stops are on the Green (Northeastern) and Orange (Ruggles) Lines. For more information, call 617-373-8700.

For information about Northeastern’s program on John Coltrane, visit jcmc.neu.edu/john_coltrane.php

For more details on jazz in Massachusetts year round, visit massjazz.com

Fred Ho at Harvard, November 4

Fred Ho, a one-of-a-kind revolutionary Chinese American baritone saxophonist, composer, writer, producer, political activist and leader of several music ensembles, is in concert with the Harvard Jazz Band on November 4 at Lowell Hall, 17 Kirkland Street, in Cambridge.

“Fred Ho's style is a genre unto itself, a pioneering fusion of free-jazz and traditional Chinese music that manages to combine truculence and delicacy with such natural ease that it sounds positively organic,” wrote Larry Birnbaum in Down Beat Magazine.

The concert is open to the general public. Tickets are $10.00, and for students and seniors, $8.00.

For more details, visit harvard.edu/

For details on jazz in Massachusetts, visit massjazz.com/