Jazz

‘…(Iphigenia)’ opera at Kennedy Center pushes musical boundaries

The creators have thrown away the rulebook. It’s not jazz exactly and certainly not classical contemporary.

Lakecia Benjamin takes the DC JazzFest stage like a rock star

Her High Priestess of the Sax persona with a Miles Davis sense of cool riveted the pumped-up crowd.

DC Jazz Fest’s blockbuster weekend at The Wharf

September 4 and 5, an eclectic multi-musician lineup from mid-day to midnight.

Jazzmeia Horn makes her return in the new jazz club at the REACH

Jazz vocalist, Jazzmeia Horn, returned to her home at the Kennedy Center on Saturday evening to deliver the first performance in the REACH’s jazz club, Studio K. Perhaps there is no better artist to...

‘A Jazz New Year’s Eve’ brought Branford Marsalis’ innovative style to the Kennedy Center

The Grand Foyer at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts teemed with patrons sporting gowns swirling against the carpeted floor and tuxedos announcing an auspicious occasion, signifying...

REACH Report: ‘Spotlight on Jazz’ Events at The REACH at The Kennedy Center

DCMTA joined the teeming crowd at the Kennedy Center’s “unprecedented new expansion,” the REACH, on the second day of a 16-day multi-genre festival to check out the spotlight on jazz. From the morning...

A New Home For Soulful Symphony at Merriweather Post Pavilion

Top-rated Columbia amphitheater Merriweather Post Pavilion has forged a new partnership with Maryland’s Soulful Symphony, a visionary orchestra that celebrates, elevates, and reimagines American music...

Renowned Organist Dr. Lonnie Smith To Bring His Signature Sound to Sixth & I

These days, it is rare to hear an organ in a jazz ensemble. The exception is Dr. Lonnie Smith who not only remains the master of the Hammond B-3 organ but also has had a career that spans more than...

Review: ‘NEA Jazz Master Archie Shepp’s All-Star Tribute to John Coltrane’ at the Kennedy Center

Moments in jazz performances punctuate the annals of jazz history. There are some performances that you wished you had attended because they will be talked about for years. “Archie Shepp’s All-Star...

Vocalist Vuyo Sotashe with Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Wynton Marsalis

South African jazz singer Vuyo Sotashe returns to Strathmore this week on December 14 and 15 to perform holiday standards with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and Wynton Marsalis. Following the...

Review: ‘KC Jazz Club: Myra Melford with Snowy Egret’ at The Kennedy Center

Myra Melford’s avant garde approach to music is filled with moments of intensity and light. Melford’s career is an illustrious one, with a Fulbright scholarship, a 2013 Guggenheim Fellowship, and an...

In the Moment: ‘Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill’ at Creative Cauldron

“Don’t threaten me with love, baby. Let’s just go walking in the rain,” is a quote attributed to the late, and lost-too-soon, singer Billie Holiday (1915-1959). Creative Cauldron’s production of Lady...

Review: ‘All The Things You Are: Jerome Kern’ at The In Series

As the Great American Songbook continues to recede from its long-held prominence, productions such as the In Series All the Things You Are: Jerome Kern are priceless for those who want to hear the...

In the Moment: ‘Passport to the World Festival’ at The Creative Cauldron

In the midst of its ninth year producing and presenting live theater and music at its ArtSpace Fall Church venue, the Creative Cauldron has just opened its annual, mid-winter Passport to the World...

Interview: Jazz Singer Sara Jones

“I don’t perform ‘You Don’t Know What Love Is’ that often,” jazz singer Sara Jones admits. “I mean, the song’s a real downer. You have lyrics in that song like ‘lips that taste like tears’ or ‘lose...

Review: ‘Duke Ellington’s Neighborhood’ from The In Series performing at Gala Hispanic Theatre

Engaging, sophisticated entertainment and education that didn’t talk down to the intended audience; children who may not have been familiar with the grand musical and cultural figure, DC’s very own...

Review: Christian Sands in Discovery Artist at the KC Jazz Club

Jazz pianist Christian Sands appeared at the KC Jazz Club last Friday evening with drummer Jerome Jennings and bassist Eric Wheeler: together, the pulse and rifts and energy lifted both heart and...

Review: NEA Jazz Master Ron Carter Trio at The Kennedy Center

The Ron Carter Trio visited The Kennedy Center this Friday night. Consisting of bassist Carter, pianist Donald Vega, and guitarist Russell Malone, the harmonics couldn’t have been sweeter; the...

Review: Dizzy Gillespie Centennial Celebration at The Kennedy Center

Dizzy Gillespie’s 100th birthday celebration at The Kennedy Center jazzed the Eisenhower Theatre last night. I’m sure the rooftop is still aglow this morning. Dizzy Gillespie (1917-1993)...

In the Moment: ‘Jazz4Justice’ at Center for the Arts

Hardy, inspiring community engagement is vital for the continuing health of the performing arts. That is a given. With challenging times for arts funding; the changes in the acceptance of the...

Review: NEA Jazz Master Lee Konitz’s Birthday Celebration at The Kennedy Center

Nonagenarian jazz–what is it? It’s Lee Konitz leading a quartet that includes George Schuller on drums, Jeremy Stratton on bass, and Dan Tepfer on piano. And in his Kennedy Center’s Birthday...

Interview: Jazz Chanteuse Changamiré

I met jazz chanteuse Changamire’ at a networking event. She quickly warmed up to me and gave me her latest jazz album “Love” to listen to. I was blown away. In our interview she shared how she got...

Review: Geoffrey Keezer Trio with Special Guest Gillian Margot at the KC Jazz Club

As soon as the Trio finished Thelonius Monk’s “Brilliant Corners, the KC Jazz Club exploded in applause. Some music is not listened to: it is experienced, your body vibrating like a window to the...

Review: ‘Steel Magnolias’ at The Heritage Players

Steel Magnolias by the Heritage Players opened Friday, March 24, 2017, at the Thomas-Rice Auditorium written by Robert Harling and directed by Kevin James Logan and Katie Sheldon. This production...

Review: Discovery Artist in The Kennedy Center Jazz Club: Elena and Samora Pinderhughes

Siblings Elena and Samora Pinderhughes are young, both in their early 20s. Samora is a composer and pianist and sister Elena is a vocalist and flutist. Despite their youth, the pair has been creating...

Review: Dionne Warwick: The 4th Anniversary Celebration of the Bethesda Blues & Jazz Supper Club

One of the natural vocal wonders of the world, the legendary entertainer and vocal artist Dionne Warwick beguiled the audience at the Bethesda Blues & Jazz Supper Club. The occasion to celebrate was...

Review: LiveConnections Presents Harlem Quartet + Arturo Stable

Once again, LiveConnections Presents (“LCP”) curator Mary Wheelock Javian’s musical matchmaking has produced a lively evening of musical discovery. This time it was the pairing of the Harlem Quartet...

Review: Regina Carter: ‘Simply Ella’ at The Kennedy Center

Regina Carter and her violin: a human voice has never sounded so true. If you get a chance to experience Regina Carter: Simply Ella, the jazz quintet composed of Regina Carter (violin), Marvin Sewell...

Review: Jazzmeia Horn at the Kennedy Center Jazz Club

To understand the voice of Jazzmeia Horn — whether it’s embodying her own ballad, the cleverly romantic, soft “Legs and Arms,” or taking on the role of an instrumentalist — is to understand what it...

Review: NPR’s ‘A Jazz Piano Christmas’ at The Kennedy Center

It was a family affair last night at The Kennedy Center’s Family Theater for the annual NPR’s A Jazz Piano Christmas. With performances by first a father and daughter team, Bethany and Willie Pickens;...

Review: ‘Metropolis’ at Constellation Theatre Company

Percussion and film enthusiasts, listen up! For five nights only, Constellation Theatre Company presents a unique combination of the silent-film Metropolis set to a new score by renowned percussionist...

Review: ‘Doc Severinsen and Friends – The Art of the Big Band’ at Strathmore

Five BRASS Stars! Doc Severinsen may have not appeared on your screen since Johnny Carson turned the keys to The Tonight Show over to Jay Leno in 1992, but he hasn’t slowed down. Hired as a musician...

Interview: Tom Teasley on his Percussion Composition for ‘Metropolis’ playing at Constellation Theatre Company through November 19th

For five nights only, world renowned percussionist Tom Teasley is performing an original composition set to Fritz Lang’s 1927 sci-fi film Metropolis. I saw the first performance at Constellation...

Review: Sheila Jordan at the KC Jazz Club

Sheila Jordan loves jazz. Sheila Jordan loves singing. Sheila Jordan really loves jazz singing. And we feel truly blessed to have spent an evening in the presence of that love. For those who have not...

Review: ‘City of Angels’ at The Catholic University of America

The 1989 musical City of Angels opened last night at Catholic University’s Hartke Theatre, offering its appreciative audience a glimpse into the past through its double filtered lens. There’s no doubt...

Review #2: ‘An Evening with Chris Botti’ at Strathmore

World-renowned, Grammy Award-winning trumpet superstar Chris Botti returned to Bethesda’s Strathmore Music Center Thursday night to serenade a packed crowd to an elegantly enlivening evening of...

Review: ‘Wild Lines: Jane Ira Bloom Plays Emily Dickinson’ at the KC Jazz Club

There is nothing quite like “a vast morsel.” When Jane Ira Bloom plays her soprano saxophone, her wiry body jutting and jagging to the notes popping out of her horn, vastness of her petite frame...

Review: Joey Alexander at the Bethesda Blues & Jazz Supper Club

To say that 13-year-old jazz pianist Joey Alexander is a child prodigy is an understatement. He is the future of jazz. According to his bio on his website, he has appeared in performance with Wayne...

Review: The Gary Bartz Quartet at The Kennedy Center Jazz Club

The KC Jazz Club opened its 14th season last Friday with a soul-tossing river of jazz. Gary Bartz starts the evening with a prayer: “Sadness must leave this room,” as Paul Bollenback’s guitar, James...

Review: Melba Moore at Bethesda Blues & Jazz Supper Club

The indefatigable legendary singer and actress, Melba Moore, dazzled the crowd at the Bethesda Blues & Jazz Supper Club on Sunday evening. With a very strong family background in music and an early...

An Interview with Tony Award Winner Melba Moore-Appearing at Bethesda Blues and Jazz Supper Club-Tomorrow, October 2nd at 8 PM Night

Tonight I had the great pleasure of a brief but extremely rewarding and stimulating telephone interview with the Tony Award-winning (Purlie) and Grammy and Emmy –Award nominated singer and actress...

Review: ‘Tappin’ Thru Life’ at the Penn’s Landing Playhouse in Philadelphia, PA

About half the audience was standing and moving to the rhythm of the music. A few patrons remained in their seats and clapped while the Diva Orchestra played one last piece. There were no dancers on...

2016 Capital Fringe Review: ‘Paul Gonsalves on the Road’

The Arthur Luby-penned illustration of jazz’s legendary, tenor saxophonist, Paul Gonsalves is a novelistic approach at conveying Duke Ellington’s troubled, selfish – sultry – musical wingman. One of...

2016 Capital Fringe Preview #17: ‘Paul Gonsalves on the Road’ by Arthur Luby and Andy Wassenich

Paul Gonsalves (1920-1974) was an immensely talented tenor saxophonist with the Duke Ellington Orchestra from 1950 until his death in 1974. He is best known as the creator of one of the most memorable...

Review: Buddy Guy and The Damn Right Blues Band at The State Theatre

Buddy Guy is a man who does not act his age of 79 years young! He is a cool cat and an American blues legend. He played to an enthusiastic capacity crowd Wednesday night at the State Theatre and the...

Review: ‘Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill’ at Spotlighters Theatre

Picture yourself sitting in a dive bar in south Philadelphia in March of 1959. You’re spending an evening listening to Billie Holiday’s soulful voice as she sings her music and regales us with stories...

Review: Ramsey Lewis and John Pizzarelli: ‘Straighten Up and Fly Right-The Nat King Cole Tribute’ at the Merriam Theater

There are few artists who have honored the legacy of Nat King Cole into the modern era the way singer/guitarist John Pizzarelli has. Early in his career he recorded two Cole tribute albums, Dear Mr....

‘Shaking It Loose With Tom Jones’ at MetroStage

The genesis of this production says much about the innovative creative process at MetroStage. The idea that a new musical could be developed from Tom Jones’ productions was a spark in the mind of the...

Review: ‘A Jazz New Year’s Eve: Diane Schuur and Strings’ at The Kennedy Center

Having been a fan of Diane Schuur’s since college, I was excited to have the opportunity finally to see her in concert. In fact, the sense of excitement was palpable throughout the audience. I met...

‘Javon Jackson and Sax Appeal’ at the KC Jazz Club at the Kennedy Center

With Sax Appeal, no other “appeal” is necessary. The soul is satisfied. What happens when you bring four world-class saxophone players, a phenomenal pianist, a fingers-flying bass player, and a young...