2011 Tanglewood Labor Day Weekend Jazz Festival, September 2-4
The 24th annual Tanglewood Jazz Festival runs from Friday, September 2 to Sunday, September 4 at Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Held for the first time in conjunction with the Tanglewood Food and Wine Festival, the Labor Day weekend event will feature some of some of the greatest living artists of Jazz in the intimate Ozawa Hall, and introduce the rising stars of the musical genre in a Jazz Café on the 500-acre Tanglewood grounds in Lenox, Massachusetts.
2011 TANGLEWOOD JAZZ FESTIVAL WILL KICK IT OFF WITH A KICK DRUM...
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2011 Tanglewood Labor Day Weekend Jazz Festival, September 2-4
The 24th annual Tanglewood Jazz Festival runs from Friday, September 2 to Sunday, September 4 at Tanglewood, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Held for the first time in conjunction with the Tanglewood Food and Wine Festival, the Labor Day weekend event will feature some of some of the greatest living artists of Jazz in the intimate Ozawa Hall, and introduce the rising stars of the musical genre in a Jazz Café on the 500-acre Tanglewood grounds in Lenox, Massachusetts.
2011 TANGLEWOOD JAZZ FESTIVAL WILL KICK IT OFF WITH A KICK DRUM
On Friday, September 4, at 6:30 pm, the 2011 Tanglewood Jazz Festival will open with the percussive Ulysses Owens Quintet in the Jazz Café. Owens is a Julliard-trained drums and percussion master whose classical background weds his comprehension of melody and harmony to his Jazz sensitivity. Currently touring with Grammy Award-winning vocalist Kurt Elling and bassist Christian McBride, Ulysses’s latest CD, “It’s Time For U,” was released in 2009 by BSOBold Media.
CAFÉ ON MAIN – DEBUT CONCERT BRINGS JAZZ CAFÉ PERFORMERS TO THE OZAWA HALL STAGE
This year a debut concert dubbed “Café on Main” invites Jazz Café performers of previous years, to the much larger Ozawa Hall venue. On Friday, September 2 at 8 pm, Café on Main will feature a double bill with vocalist Robin McKelle and pianist/vocalist Michael Kaeshammer. Vocalist Robin McKelle is comfortable singing not only jazz tunes, but also soul, blues, pop, and rock. She earned her chops singing in R&B groups and touring with pop icons Michael McDonald and Bebe Winans. Her second CD, “Modern Antique” was ranked among the top jazz albums of 2008 and her latest CD, “Mess Around,” features McKelle in a soul/blues setting. Michael Kaeshammer’s boogie-woogie piano and lush vocals were first featured in the Jazz Café in 2009 and his acclaimed reception earned him a slot in this year’s Café on Main. Since Kaeshammer’s 2009 appearance, he has been touring extensively and just recorded his new CD, “Kaeshammer,” which will be released in Canada in April. Kaeshammer’s energy and enthusiasm are infectious, and his performances memorable.
NATIONAL ENDOWMENT OF THE ARTS BRINGS NEA JAZZ MASTERS TO TANGLEWOOD JAZZ FESTIVAL
After nearly a quarter century presenting the best of the genre, the Tanglewood Jazz Festival was honored to be selected as a participant in NEA Jazz Masters Live for the first time in 2011. The National Endowment for the Arts program has drawn NEA Jazz Masters Jimmy Cobb and Gunther Schuller to the Tanglewood grounds for a program of performances and residencies. These programs will include a master class for young drummers on Sunday, September 4 at 12:30 pm led by Jimmy Cobb and the rhythm section of the Coast to Coast Septet. At the same time across campus, NEA Jazz Masters Live will present a screening of the famed Charles Mingus concert “Epitaph,” conducted by NEA Jazz Master Gunther Schuller. The monumental Mingus movie, never presented in full during Mingus’ lifetime, lasts two and one-half hours and was performed at Tanglewood in 1990.
Also part of the Jazz Masters program, Jazz journalist Bob Blumenthal will conduct an intimate and rare interview with Jimmy Cobb and Gunther Schuller at 4:15 pm on Saturday in the Jazz Cafe. Schuller, who has been a presence at Tanglewood for decades, will discuss his work and relationship with legendary bassist Charles Mingus. Jimmy Cobb, the last surviving member of the Miles Davis masterpiece, “Kind of Blue,” the most popular jazz recording in history, will discuss his prolific jazz career.
NEA JAZZ MASTER JIMMY COBB JAMS WITH MARY STALLINGS AND THE COAST TO COAST SEPTET
NEA Jazz Master Jimmy Cobb will also headline Ozawa Hall at the 2 pm Sunday-afternoon concert, with his Coast to Coast Septet and special guest vocalist Mary Stallings. Cobb, an elder statesman of the art, will perform with an all-star band including guitarist Peter Bernstein; trumpeter Sean Jones; trumpeter and flugelhornist Freddie Hendrix; tenor saxophonist Doug Lawrence; pianist Llew Matthews; and bassist John Weber.
Bay Area musician Mary Stallings has been entertaining audiences since the 1960’s when Dizzy Gillespie once plucked her out of an audience to sing with his band. Stallings latest recording, “Dream,” was released on High Note last year. Named “The Best Kept Secret in Vocal Jazz” by Jazz Times in December 2010, Stallings will perform music from the legendary career of Jimmy Cobb and his musical association with Dinah Washington, Billie Holiday, and Sarah Vaughan.
NEA JAZZ MASTER GUNTHER SCHULLER CARRIES ON CHARLES MINGUS LEGECY IN OZAWA HALL
Following the Coast to Coast Septet on Sunday afternoon will be the Mingus Orchestra conducted by NEA Jazz Master and all-around music guru Gunther Schuller. The Mingus Orchestra was formed in 1999 to carry on the legacy of jazz great Charles Mingus. Its distinctive sound emerges from an expanded repertory and exotic instrumentation, including bassoon, bass clarinet, French horn, and guitar. Columbian harpist Edmar Castaneda will be among the personnel and the performance will include Taurus in the Arena of Life; Half Mast Inhibition; Noon Night; all arranged by Schuller for the event. Mr. Schuller will also present a world premiere of his arrangement of Chill of Death.
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