Jazz Sax Stars Grace Kelly and Phil Woods perform in Rockport on December 11

Star jazz saxophonists Grace Kelly and Phil Woods are performing together in concert for two shows at the Shalin Liu Performance Center in Rockport on Sunday, December 11, 2011 at 2:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.

Tickets are $39-$49 and can purchased online or by calling 978 546-7391.

Kelly is an 18 year old rising jazz star in the music world, who has already toured the world and recorded several award-winning albums.  Woods is a veteran jazz legend whose illustrious career puts him in the pantheon of great saxophone players of his generation.

For more information on jazz concerts, night clubs, campus events, weekend brunches, radio programs and other jazz-related events taking place in Massachusetts year round, visit MassJazz.com.

For tourist information contact MassVacation.com. 

Massachusetts has great live jazz on Saturday, December 10

 Haily Niswanger

Looking for great live jazz in Massachusetts on Saturday, December 10?  Here are three shows to put you in the holiday spirit, recommended by MassJazz:

39th Christmas Concert

Aardvark Jazz Orchestra
Emmanuel Church
151 Newbury Street
Back Bay, Boston

Haily Niswanger Quartet
Parish Center for the Arts
10 Lincoln Street
Westford

Poetic Rhythms: Jazz and Poetry
with Robert Pinsky, former US Poet Laureate 
Leventhal-Sidman Jewish Community Center
333 Nahanton Street
Newton

Or, check out dozens of places around Massachusetts where you can catch live jazz: at hotels, night clubs, college campuses and more!

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

For tourist information visit MassVacation.com.

Women Jazz Stars Perform Benefit Concert for HOPES Music Program in Boston on December 11

Grammy Award Winner Esperanza Spalding

Geri Allen, Terri Lyne Carrington and Esperanza Spalding are performing a benefit concert  to benefit the HOPE music and art therapy program at Massachusetts General Cancer Center. 

The concert takes place at Scullers Jazz Club in Boston on Sunday December 11, 2011 at 4:00 p.m.  Tickets to the event are $75 and can be purchased online.  For more details contact Judy Roberts.

For upcoming jazz events at Scullers, click here.

For year round details on jazz clubs, campus events, concerts, lectures, hotel and brunch gigs and more, visit MassJazz.com.

For tourist information visit MassVacation.com and BostonUSA.com.

Jazz Singer Jean McKenna O'Donnell Performing at Chan's Jazz Club on December 11

Big Band jazz vocalist Jean McKenna O'Donnell is performing a concert entitled "Celebrate the Seasons" at Chan's Restaurant & Jazz Club in Woonsocket, RI on Sunday, December 11, 2011 from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. 

Tickets are $15 and reservations can be made at 401 765-1900.

O'Donnell is performing with the Mike Renzi Trio and special guest vocalist and pianist Daryl Sherman.

The sister of the late jazz pianist Dave McKenna, O'Donnell's CD, Full Circle is a tasteful and persuasive rendition of the American Songbook.

For year round details on jazz clubs, campus events, concerts, brunches and other musical events in Massachusetts, visit MassJazz.com.

Westfield Jazz Big Band Performing Free Concert on Thursday, December 8

The award-winning Westfield Jazz Big Band Band is performing at Dever Auditorium at Westfield State College on Thursday, December 8, 2011 at 7:30 p.m.

The concert is free and open to the public, and is sponsored by the Westfield State College Department of Music.  Dr. Ed Orgill, coordinator of jazz studies, is the conductor.

For more information about Westfield's jazz studies program, click here.

For year round jazz and blues events in Massachusetts, visit MassJazz.com.

For tourist information visit MassVacation.com.

Jazz Singer Tamara Usatova Performs at BOND Lounge in Boston on Wednesday, December 7

Russian-born jazz and soul vocalist Tamara Usatova is performing at the BOND Lounge | Restaurant at the Langham Boston Hotel on Wednesday, December 7, 2011 from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m.

The Berklee graduate cites influences ranging from Etta James, Aretha Franklin and Billie Holiday to Anita Baker, Whitney Houston and Chaka Khan.

The performance is part of the BOND Jazz Experiment, which highlights emerging artists and accomplished performers covering the jazz spectrum, including classic jazz from the American Songbook, rhythm and blues and funk. 

Located at the Langham Boston Hotel,  BOND Restaurant & Lounge is open seven days a week, offering gourmet sandwiches for lunch, afternoon tea, and global cuisine for dinner, plus an extensive wine list and distinctive cocktails.

A special jazz menu is available on Wednesdays. For reservations call 617 956-8765.

For a full schedule of artists through December, click here.

For year round jazz in concert halls, clubs, hotel lounges and college campuses throughout Massachusetts, visit MassJazz.com

For tourist information, visit MassVacation.com or BostonUSA.com.

Maggie Scott Tribute at Berklee on December 8 Features Esperanza Spalding, Nadia Washington and Others

Maggie Scott, jazz vocal professor at Berklee College of Music for 30 years, is being honored by the college and many of her former students at 8:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 8, 2011 at the Berklee Performance Center in Boston's Back Bay.

Tickets to the event are $20 for reserved seating and $15 for general admission and can be ordered online.

Among the performers and special guests: Antonia Bennett, Lalah Hathaway, Robin McKelle, Esperanza Spalding, and Nadia Washington.

Scott is considered a trailblazer for female musicians, being one of the first women instructors at Berklee, and the first woman named president of the Boston Musicians Association, Local 9-535.

For a year round list of jazz concerts, night clubs, campus events, radio programs, brunches, and live jazz in hotels, visit MassJazz.com.

For tourist information visit MassVacation.com and BostonUSA.com.

Vijay Iyer Trio and the Miguel Zenon Quartet Concert at Berklee Performance Center on Friday, December 9

Pianist Vijay Iyer and saxophonist Miguel Zenon are playing in concert at the Berklee Performance Center in Boston's Back Bay on Friday, December 9, 2011 at 8:00 p.m. 

Tickets to the show are $40-$50 and can be purchased online. 

The concert is part of the Celebrity Series of Boston, which has been bringing high quality music to Boston since 1938.   For a complete schedule of the 2011-2012 season, click here.

"Iyer and Zenon are two of the most startlingly original and brilliant voices in contemporary jazz," writes Celebrity Series of Boston.  "Both are fearless explorers, ably mining whatever moves them, from honored jazz traditions to hip hop culture, all with technical mastery, grit, and wisdom. In this double bill, audiences will hear the jazz of tomorrow under construction."

For year round details on jazz nightclubs, concerts, campus events, brunches and festivals throughout Massachusetts, visit MassJazz.com.

For tourist information, visit MassVacation.com or BostonUSA.com.

Jazz Christmas Concert at Scullers in Boston on December 6 & 7

A Peter White Christmas, starring smooth jazz guitarist Peter White and saxophonists Mindi Abair and Kirk Whalum takes place at Scullers Jazz Club in Boston on Tuesday, December 6 and Wednesday, December 7, 2011 at 10:00 p.m.

Tickets are $40 and can be purchased online.

For upcoming concerts at Scullers Jazz Club, click here.

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

For tourist information visit MassVacation.com and BostonUSA.com.

US Air Force Jazz Ensemble Performing Free Concert at Mechanics Hall in Worcester on Wednesday, December 7

The US Air Force jazz ensemble, Band of Liberty, is performing a free lunchtime concert at Mechanics Hall in Worcester on Wednesday, December 7, 2011 at noon.

It's part of the Brown Bag lunch series sponsored by Mechanics Hall, along with WICN 90.5 FM and Bank of America.

Made up of 13 outstanding musicians from around the country, the Band of Liberty jazz ensemble takes pride in preserving the heritage of America's true art form - jazz.  The band is based at Hanscom Air Force base in Massachusetts.

For year round jazz and blues events in Massachusetts, visit MassJazz.com.

For tourist information visit MassVacation.com. 

Tenor Sax Standout Seamus Blake Performs at Berklee's 939 Cafe on Wednesday, December 7

Jazz saxophonist Seamus Blake is performing at the Red Room at Cafe 939 in Boston on Wednesday, December 7, 2011 at 8:00 p.m.  Tickets to the performance are $10 general admission and can be purchased online.

The concert is part of a new NPR/ WBGO Jazz 88 FM concert series called The Check Out - Live at Berklee, which features New York-based critically acclaimed alumni from Berklee College of Music.  The performances is broadcast live in New York to WBGO Jazz 88.3 FM's 350,000 listeners and streamed worldwide on NPRmusic.org. The shows will also be audio podcast from Checkoutjazz.org and from NPRmusic.org.

Born in England and raised in Canada, Blake is recognized as one of the finest exponents of contemporary jazz performance and composition.

For a schedule of upcoming performances at Cafe 939, click here.

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

For tourist information visit MassVacation.com and BostonUSA.com.

Berklee College of Music Breaks Ground for 16 Story Tower in Boston

On Thursday, November 30, 2011, the Berklee College of Music broke ground  for a 16-story, $100 million new dormitory and music center for the school's student population, located at 160 Massachusetts Avenue in Boston.

Attending the groundbreaking were Roger Brown, president of Berklee, Tom Menino, mayor of Boston, and a number of local public official, school officials and neighborhood leaders.

Completion is expected in fall 2013, and will include 770 beds, a two-story dining hall, a 400-seat performance center for students, plus practice rooms, student lounges, and on-street retail shops.

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

For tourist information visit MassVacation.com and BostonUSA.com.

New Music Festival at Boston Conservatory Features German Saxophonist Phillipp Staudlin on Friday, December 2

Phillipp Staudlin

 

Day two of The Boston Conservatory's  New Music Festival features currents in contemporary composition overseas.

Entitled Jumpin into the Future: new Music Evolved From Jazz, the event takes place Friday, December 2, 2011 at 8:00 p.m.at the Boston Conservatory Theatre, located at 31 Hemenway Street.  The event is free to the public.

Guest Artists include the I/O Ensemble featuring saxophonist Philipp Stäudlin. Works include DW:16–Songbook 1 by Bernhard Lang, as well as works by Edison Denisov and others.

 For year round details on jazz nightclubs, concerts, campus events, brunches and festivals throughout Massachusetts, visit MassJazz.com.

For tourist information, visit MassVacation.com or BostonUSA.com.

Grammy Awards 2012 Jazz and Latin Nominees

Jazz and Latin nominations for the 54th annual Grammy Awards were announced last night by The Recording Academy.  Among the jazz artists nominated are Chick Corea, Terri Lyne Carrington, Kurt Elling, Tierney Sutton, Arturo O'Farrill and Christian McBride.  

For a full list of jazz nominations, click here.

For a full list of Latin nominations, click here.

The Grammy Awards take place on Sunday, February 12, 2012 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, and are televised live.  You can follow updates on the Grammys Facebook or Grammy Twitter.

To follow live jazz in Massachusetts throughout the year, visit MassJazz.com.

For tourist information visit MassVacation.com or BostonUSA.com.

Music of Charles Mingus featured at Brandeis University Jazz Ensemble Concert in Waltham on December 3

Director Bob Nieske 

The Jazz Ensemble at Brandeis University is performing the music of Charles Mingus at Slosberg Recital Hall, 415 South Street in Waltham, on Saturday, December 3, 2011, starting at 8:00 p.m.  The concert is free and open to the public.

The 20-person student ensemble is led by jazz bassist and professor Bob Nieske. 

For year round details on jazz nightclubs, concerts, campus events, brunches and festivals throughout Massachusetts, visit MassJazz.com.

For tourist information, visit MassVacation.com or BostonUSA.com.