The Healdsburg Jazz Festival is a non-profit organization that promotes performances of, and education in, the American art form of jazz. Founded in 1999, the Festival has flourished into a week long annual event.
Schedule:
Healdsburg Jazz Festival opens with a free community Juneteenth Celebration in Healdsburg Plaza (corner of Healdsburg Avenue and Matheson Street) on June 17 with the Charles McPherson Quintet featuring Terell Stafford, Randy Porter, Akira Tana, Marcus Shelby, Martin Luther the Real McCoy, The Robin Hodge Williams Gospel Choir, MJ's Brass Boppers, Healdsburg Jazz Poet Laureate Enid Pickett, and KCSM's Greg Bridges. For more than 50 years, saxophonist Charles McPherson has been one of the most highly regarded voices in jazz. His rich musical style, rooted in the blues and bebop, has influenced and inspired generations of musicians and listeners. Oakland tenor saxophonist Howard Wiley returns to the Festival with his soul-charged quartet, a potent ensemble that blends jazz, gospel, and funk with state-of-the-art grooves for an evening club show at Elephant in the Room at 9pm.
Bring the whole family out for a special Father's Day Celebration on Sunday, June 18 with once-in-a-lifetime singer Samara Joy, who just won "Best New Artist" and "Best Jazz Vocal Album" at this year's 2023 GRAMMY Awards for her Verve debut album, Linger Awhile. At only 23, Samara Joy has established herself as jazz's most exciting new talent with her lush, extravagantly beautiful voice. The hottest new artist in America today comes directly from the Hollywood Bowl to perform just for Healdsburg audiences at Bacchus Landing with delicious wood-fired pizza from the Market at Bacchus Landing and Chef Mateo Granados Father's Day BBQ in the picnic area.
Artist-in-Residence John Santos presents the Filosofía Caribeña concert and a screening of his new documentary film, Santos: Skin to Skin, at The Raven Performing Arts Center on Monday, June 19. Master percussionist John Santos is an invaluable educator and cultural activist, a keeper of the Caribbean flame steeped in folkloric traditions of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Haiti, as well as Latin jazz and salsa. Santos performs music from his 2023 album, Filosofía caribeña Vol.3: A Puerto Rico del alma, and leads a blazing set of Latin jazz centered on Puerto Rican and Cuban dance rhythms featuring band members Dr. John Calloway on flute and piano, Marco Díaz on piano and trumpet, bassist Saul Sierra, drummer David Flores, saxophonist Charlie Gurke, and special guest vocalists José Roberto Hernández and Juan Luis Pérez, violinist Anthony Blea, and legendary timbalero Orestes Vilató.
The evening opens with a screening of his documentary, Santos: Skin to Skin, by Kathryn Golden and Ashley James, followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers. Filmed over the course of a decade, Santos: Skin to Skin offers an intimate look at the percussionist on and off the bandstand. Very much a family portrait, the film situates Santos amidst a dense web of relationships, including his wife, award-winning author Aida Salazar, and their two children. There's no shortage of musical peers singing his praises as an inspirational force responsible for expanding the international reach of the Bay Area's Latin jazz scene.
Grupo Falso Baiano featuring Natalie Cressman perform a lunch concert on the lawn of the newly remodeled The Madrona hotel on Tuesday, June 20. After nearly 20 years together as Grupo Falso Baiano, the Bay Area choro and jazz group shares the intersection between Brazil's first national music with classical roots giving birth to Brazilian jazz, samba and more. Rising star Natalie Cressman performs on trombone and vocals. Enjoy Michelin-starred Executive Chef Jesse Mallgren's iconic fried chicken picnic lunch while luxuriating outdoors on the garden lawn. In the Healdsburg Plaza that evening, Carlitos Medrano performs his Sabor de mi Cuba Concert for free from 6pm - 8pm.
Vocalist Stella Heath brings The Billie Holiday Project to Healdsburg Hotel Garden Courtyard on Wednesday, June 21. The band features Stella Heath, invoking the vocal stylings of Billie Holiday; Neil Fontano, piano virtuoso from Sonoma County; Robby Elfman, inventive tenor saxophonist and clarinetist; Trevor Kinsel, interchanging between upright bass and cornet; and Spike Klein on the drum kit. A three-course dinner is available from Dry Creek Kitchen.
Bill Frisell Trio comes to Bacchus Landing on Thursday, June 22. Among today's most prolific guitarists, Bill Frisell is a sonic sculptor who planes away every extraneous note to reveal the luminous beauty within even the most familiar songs. A long-time Healdsburg favorite whose past appearances include thrilling duo encounters with saxophone seeker Charles Lloyd (2016) and fellow guitar virtuoso Julian Lage (2018), Frisell performs with his trio featuring bassist Thomas Morgan and drummer Rudy Royston. The ensemble's debut album, 2020's Valentine (Blue Note), was hailed by Downbeat as capturing Frisell at "his most inquiring, rhythmically inventive, and lyrical. Given his voluminous discography, that's saying plenty." Camille Thurman with the Darrell Green Quartet opens the show.
Later that evening (June 22), vocalist Amy D and vibraphonist Dillon Vado perform a quartet late-night set at the Elephant in the Room. With a unique ensemble of voice, vibraphone, bass and drums, the music is both virtuosic and uplifting. Lorca Hart Bridges Quartet plays a late set at the same venue on Friday June 23, 2023 (9 pm) featuring Tony Peebles (tenor), Brian Ho (organ), Mike Scott (guitar), and Lorca Hart Bridges (drums). Lorca is renowned for performing with the likes of Bobby Hutcherson, Freddie Hubbard, Stanley Jordan, Julian Lage, and many others.
The Healdsburg Jazz Future All-Stars perform a free show at the Healdsburg Farmers' Market on Saturday, June 24 from 9am - 12pm. The Healdsburg Jazz Future All-Stars is a select ensemble of young musicians who are based in and around Sonoma County. The group consists of high school and college level students and perform at Healdsburg Jazz events, including the annual summer Festival. The music director for the ensemble is led by the extraordinary pianist Neil Fontano.
The Healdsburg Freedom Jazz Choir, led by Music Director Tiffany Austin, will perform an exciting program that represents compositions and arrangements by Tiffany Austin and Artistic Director Marcus Shelby that have been part of the choir's repertoire for the past decade. On Saturday, June 24 at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, The Freedom Jazz Choir featuring powerhouse jazz vocalist Tiffany Austin brings the community together through singing spirituals, freedom songs, music made popular by Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington, and a funky rhythm and blues medley arranged by Austin. Gaea Schell Quartet opens the show.
NEA Jazz Master Dianne Reeves with Brazilian jazz guitarist Romero Lubambo take the stage at Bacchus Landing on Saturday, June 24. With five "Best Jazz Vocal Album" GRAMMYs to her name, Reeves has an illustrious career as one of today's foremost women jazz singers. Drawing on her love of Brazilian music, Afro-Caribeean grooves, R&B, and pop, she applies her infectious and embracing jazz vision to songs by the likes of Bob Marley, Marvin Gaye, Joni Mitchell and Ani DiFranco. In this rare duo performance, she's accompanied by Rio-born guitar master and frequent Healdsburg Jazz performer, Latin GRAMMY Award-winner Romero Lubambo, who's widely hailed as his generation's finest Brazilian jazz guitarist. A true heir to the legacy of Billie, Ella, Sarah and Carmen, Dianne is no doubt a jazz legend.
Sylvia Cuenca Trio performs later that night on June 24 at Hotel Healdsburg Spirit Bar. A deft bandleader in her own right, drummer Cuenca plays a trio set of hard swinging blues-tinged modern jazz featuring Peter Horvath (piano) and Gary Brown (bass) before her group hosts an exciting all-star jam session featuring musicians in town for the Festival.
Closing the festival in true New Orleans-style, Dr. Michael White and the Original Liberty Jazz Band pay tribute to Sidney Bechet with special guest Big Chief Donald Harrison at Ferrari-Carano Vineyards and Winery on Sunday, June 25. Dr. Michael White, a clarinetist and dynamic force on the traditional New Orleans jazz scene for more than four decades, brings the Original Liberty Jazz Band featuring Big Chief Donald Harrison to celebrate Sidney Bechet's music and legacy. Louis Armstrong usually gets the credit as jazz's first great soloist, but before Satchmo, there was soprano saxophonist and clarinetist Sidney Bechet (1897-1959), a player so commandingly virtuosic that until the mid-1920s only Armstrong could contend with him as an equal. Renowned accordion player Rob Reich opens the show with a special Sunday brunch (10 am - 2pm) with tickets available at https://www.ferrari-carano.com.
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Schedule:
Healdsburg Jazz Festival opens with a free community Juneteenth Celebration in Healdsburg Plaza (corner of Healdsburg Avenue and Matheson Street) on June 17 with the Charles McPherson Quintet featuring Terell Stafford, Randy Porter, Akira Tana, Marcus Shelby, Martin Luther the Real McCoy, The Robin Hodge Williams Gospel Choir, MJ's Brass Boppers, Healdsburg Jazz Poet Laureate Enid Pickett, and KCSM's Greg Bridges. For more than 50 years, saxophonist Charles McPherson has been one of the most highly regarded voices in jazz. His rich musical style, rooted in the blues and bebop, has influenced and inspired generations of musicians and listeners. Oakland tenor saxophonist Howard Wiley returns to the Festival with his soul-charged quartet, a potent ensemble that blends jazz, gospel, and funk with state-of-the-art grooves for an evening club show at Elephant in the Room at 9pm.
Bring the whole family out for a special Father's Day Celebration on Sunday, June 18 with once-in-a-lifetime singer Samara Joy, who just won "Best New Artist" and "Best Jazz Vocal Album" at this year's 2023 GRAMMY Awards for her Verve debut album, Linger Awhile. At only 23, Samara Joy has established herself as jazz's most exciting new talent with her lush, extravagantly beautiful voice. The hottest new artist in America today comes directly from the Hollywood Bowl to perform just for Healdsburg audiences at Bacchus Landing with delicious wood-fired pizza from the Market at Bacchus Landing and Chef Mateo Granados Father's Day BBQ in the picnic area.
Artist-in-Residence John Santos presents the Filosofía Caribeña concert and a screening of his new documentary film, Santos: Skin to Skin, at The Raven Performing Arts Center on Monday, June 19. Master percussionist John Santos is an invaluable educator and cultural activist, a keeper of the Caribbean flame steeped in folkloric traditions of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Haiti, as well as Latin jazz and salsa. Santos performs music from his 2023 album, Filosofía caribeña Vol.3: A Puerto Rico del alma, and leads a blazing set of Latin jazz centered on Puerto Rican and Cuban dance rhythms featuring band members Dr. John Calloway on flute and piano, Marco Díaz on piano and trumpet, bassist Saul Sierra, drummer David Flores, saxophonist Charlie Gurke, and special guest vocalists José Roberto Hernández and Juan Luis Pérez, violinist Anthony Blea, and legendary timbalero Orestes Vilató.
The evening opens with a screening of his documentary, Santos: Skin to Skin, by Kathryn Golden and Ashley James, followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers. Filmed over the course of a decade, Santos: Skin to Skin offers an intimate look at the percussionist on and off the bandstand. Very much a family portrait, the film situates Santos amidst a dense web of relationships, including his wife, award-winning author Aida Salazar, and their two children. There's no shortage of musical peers singing his praises as an inspirational force responsible for expanding the international reach of the Bay Area's Latin jazz scene.
Grupo Falso Baiano featuring Natalie Cressman perform a lunch concert on the lawn of the newly remodeled The Madrona hotel on Tuesday, June 20. After nearly 20 years together as Grupo Falso Baiano, the Bay Area choro and jazz group shares the intersection between Brazil's first national music with classical roots giving birth to Brazilian jazz, samba and more. Rising star Natalie Cressman performs on trombone and vocals. Enjoy Michelin-starred Executive Chef Jesse Mallgren's iconic fried chicken picnic lunch while luxuriating outdoors on the garden lawn. In the Healdsburg Plaza that evening, Carlitos Medrano performs his Sabor de mi Cuba Concert for free from 6pm - 8pm.
Vocalist Stella Heath brings The Billie Holiday Project to Healdsburg Hotel Garden Courtyard on Wednesday, June 21. The band features Stella Heath, invoking the vocal stylings of Billie Holiday; Neil Fontano, piano virtuoso from Sonoma County; Robby Elfman, inventive tenor saxophonist and clarinetist; Trevor Kinsel, interchanging between upright bass and cornet; and Spike Klein on the drum kit. A three-course dinner is available from Dry Creek Kitchen.
Bill Frisell Trio comes to Bacchus Landing on Thursday, June 22. Among today's most prolific guitarists, Bill Frisell is a sonic sculptor who planes away every extraneous note to reveal the luminous beauty within even the most familiar songs. A long-time Healdsburg favorite whose past appearances include thrilling duo encounters with saxophone seeker Charles Lloyd (2016) and fellow guitar virtuoso Julian Lage (2018), Frisell performs with his trio featuring bassist Thomas Morgan and drummer Rudy Royston. The ensemble's debut album, 2020's Valentine (Blue Note), was hailed by Downbeat as capturing Frisell at "his most inquiring, rhythmically inventive, and lyrical. Given his voluminous discography, that's saying plenty." Camille Thurman with the Darrell Green Quartet opens the show.
Later that evening (June 22), vocalist Amy D and vibraphonist Dillon Vado perform a quartet late-night set at the Elephant in the Room. With a unique ensemble of voice, vibraphone, bass and drums, the music is both virtuosic and uplifting. Lorca Hart Bridges Quartet plays a late set at the same venue on Friday June 23, 2023 (9 pm) featuring Tony Peebles (tenor), Brian Ho (organ), Mike Scott (guitar), and Lorca Hart Bridges (drums). Lorca is renowned for performing with the likes of Bobby Hutcherson, Freddie Hubbard, Stanley Jordan, Julian Lage, and many others.
The Healdsburg Jazz Future All-Stars perform a free show at the Healdsburg Farmers' Market on Saturday, June 24 from 9am - 12pm. The Healdsburg Jazz Future All-Stars is a select ensemble of young musicians who are based in and around Sonoma County. The group consists of high school and college level students and perform at Healdsburg Jazz events, including the annual summer Festival. The music director for the ensemble is led by the extraordinary pianist Neil Fontano.
The Healdsburg Freedom Jazz Choir, led by Music Director Tiffany Austin, will perform an exciting program that represents compositions and arrangements by Tiffany Austin and Artistic Director Marcus Shelby that have been part of the choir's repertoire for the past decade. On Saturday, June 24 at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, The Freedom Jazz Choir featuring powerhouse jazz vocalist Tiffany Austin brings the community together through singing spirituals, freedom songs, music made popular by Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington, and a funky rhythm and blues medley arranged by Austin. Gaea Schell Quartet opens the show.
NEA Jazz Master Dianne Reeves with Brazilian jazz guitarist Romero Lubambo take the stage at Bacchus Landing on Saturday, June 24. With five "Best Jazz Vocal Album" GRAMMYs to her name, Reeves has an illustrious career as one of today's foremost women jazz singers. Drawing on her love of Brazilian music, Afro-Caribeean grooves, R&B, and pop, she applies her infectious and embracing jazz vision to songs by the likes of Bob Marley, Marvin Gaye, Joni Mitchell and Ani DiFranco. In this rare duo performance, she's accompanied by Rio-born guitar master and frequent Healdsburg Jazz performer, Latin GRAMMY Award-winner Romero Lubambo, who's widely hailed as his generation's finest Brazilian jazz guitarist. A true heir to the legacy of Billie, Ella, Sarah and Carmen, Dianne is no doubt a jazz legend.
Sylvia Cuenca Trio performs later that night on June 24 at Hotel Healdsburg Spirit Bar. A deft bandleader in her own right, drummer Cuenca plays a trio set of hard swinging blues-tinged modern jazz featuring Peter Horvath (piano) and Gary Brown (bass) before her group hosts an exciting all-star jam session featuring musicians in town for the Festival.
Closing the festival in true New Orleans-style, Dr. Michael White and the Original Liberty Jazz Band pay tribute to Sidney Bechet with special guest Big Chief Donald Harrison at Ferrari-Carano Vineyards and Winery on Sunday, June 25. Dr. Michael White, a clarinetist and dynamic force on the traditional New Orleans jazz scene for more than four decades, brings the Original Liberty Jazz Band featuring Big Chief Donald Harrison to celebrate Sidney Bechet's music and legacy. Louis Armstrong usually gets the credit as jazz's first great soloist, but before Satchmo, there was soprano saxophonist and clarinetist Sidney Bechet (1897-1959), a player so commandingly virtuosic that until the mid-1920s only Armstrong could contend with him as an equal. Renowned accordion player Rob Reich opens the show with a special Sunday brunch (10 am - 2pm) with tickets available at https://www.ferrari-carano.com.
The Healdsburg Jazz Festival is a non-profit organization that promotes performances of, and education in, the American art form of jazz. Founded in 1999, the Festival has flourished into a week long annual event.
Schedule:
Healdsburg Jazz Festival opens with a free community Juneteenth Celebration in Healdsburg Plaza (corner of Healdsburg Avenue and Matheson Street) on June 17 with the Charles McPherson Quintet featuring Terell Stafford, Randy Porter, Akira Tana, Marcus Shelby, Martin Luther the Real McCoy, The Robin Hodge Williams Gospel Choir, MJ's Brass Boppers, Healdsburg Jazz Poet Laureate Enid Pickett, and KCSM's Greg Bridges. For more than 50 years, saxophonist Charles McPherson has been one of the most highly regarded voices in jazz. His rich musical style, rooted in the blues and bebop, has influenced and inspired generations of musicians and listeners. Oakland tenor saxophonist Howard Wiley returns to the Festival with his soul-charged quartet, a potent ensemble that blends jazz, gospel, and funk with state-of-the-art grooves for an evening club show at Elephant in the Room at 9pm.
Bring the whole family out for a special Father's Day Celebration on Sunday, June 18 with once-in-a-lifetime singer Samara Joy, who just won "Best New Artist" and "Best Jazz Vocal Album" at this year's 2023 GRAMMY Awards for her Verve debut album, Linger Awhile. At only 23, Samara Joy has established herself as jazz's most exciting new talent with her lush, extravagantly beautiful voice. The hottest new artist in America today comes directly from the Hollywood Bowl to perform just for Healdsburg audiences at Bacchus Landing with delicious wood-fired pizza from the Market at Bacchus Landing and Chef Mateo Granados Father's Day BBQ in the picnic area.
Artist-in-Residence John Santos presents the Filosofía Caribeña concert and a screening of his new documentary film, Santos: Skin to Skin, at The Raven Performing Arts Center on Monday, June 19. Master percussionist John Santos is an invaluable educator and cultural activist, a keeper of the Caribbean flame steeped in folkloric traditions of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Haiti, as well as Latin jazz and salsa. Santos performs music from his 2023 album, Filosofía caribeña Vol.3: A Puerto Rico del alma, and leads a blazing set of Latin jazz centered on Puerto Rican and Cuban dance rhythms featuring band members Dr. John Calloway on flute and piano, Marco Díaz on piano and trumpet, bassist Saul Sierra, drummer David Flores, saxophonist Charlie Gurke, and special guest vocalists José Roberto Hernández and Juan Luis Pérez, violinist Anthony Blea, and legendary timbalero Orestes Vilató.
The evening opens with a screening of his documentary, Santos: Skin to Skin, by Kathryn Golden and Ashley James, followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers. Filmed over the course of a decade, Santos: Skin to Skin offers an intimate look at the percussionist on and off the bandstand. Very much a family portrait, the film situates Santos amidst a dense web of relationships, including his wife, award-winning author Aida Salazar, and their two children. There's no shortage of musical peers singing his praises as an inspirational force responsible for expanding the international reach of the Bay Area's Latin jazz scene.
Grupo Falso Baiano featuring Natalie Cressman perform a lunch concert on the lawn of the newly remodeled The Madrona hotel on Tuesday, June 20. After nearly 20 years together as Grupo Falso Baiano, the Bay Area choro and jazz group shares the intersection between Brazil's first national music with classical roots giving birth to Brazilian jazz, samba and more. Rising star Natalie Cressman performs on trombone and vocals. Enjoy Michelin-starred Executive Chef Jesse Mallgren's iconic fried chicken picnic lunch while luxuriating outdoors on the garden lawn. In the Healdsburg Plaza that evening, Carlitos Medrano performs his Sabor de mi Cuba Concert for free from 6pm - 8pm.
Vocalist Stella Heath brings The Billie Holiday Project to Healdsburg Hotel Garden Courtyard on Wednesday, June 21. The band features Stella Heath, invoking the vocal stylings of Billie Holiday; Neil Fontano, piano virtuoso from Sonoma County; Robby Elfman, inventive tenor saxophonist and clarinetist; Trevor Kinsel, interchanging between upright bass and cornet; and Spike Klein on the drum kit. A three-course dinner is available from Dry Creek Kitchen.
Bill Frisell Trio comes to Bacchus Landing on Thursday, June 22. Among today's most prolific guitarists, Bill Frisell is a sonic sculptor who planes away every extraneous note to reveal the luminous beauty within even the most familiar songs. A long-time Healdsburg favorite whose past appearances include thrilling duo encounters with saxophone seeker Charles Lloyd (2016) and fellow guitar virtuoso Julian Lage (2018), Frisell performs with his trio featuring bassist Thomas Morgan and drummer Rudy Royston. The ensemble's debut album, 2020's Valentine (Blue Note), was hailed by Downbeat as capturing Frisell at "his most inquiring, rhythmically inventive, and lyrical. Given his voluminous discography, that's saying plenty." Camille Thurman with the Darrell Green Quartet opens the show.
Later that evening (June 22), vocalist Amy D and vibraphonist Dillon Vado perform a quartet late-night set at the Elephant in the Room. With a unique ensemble of voice, vibraphone, bass and drums, the music is both virtuosic and uplifting. Lorca Hart Bridges Quartet plays a late set at the same venue on Friday June 23, 2023 (9 pm) featuring Tony Peebles (tenor), Brian Ho (organ), Mike Scott (guitar), and Lorca Hart Bridges (drums). Lorca is renowned for performing with the likes of Bobby Hutcherson, Freddie Hubbard, Stanley Jordan, Julian Lage, and many others.
The Healdsburg Jazz Future All-Stars perform a free show at the Healdsburg Farmers' Market on Saturday, June 24 from 9am - 12pm. The Healdsburg Jazz Future All-Stars is a select ensemble of young musicians who are based in and around Sonoma County. The group consists of high school and college level students and perform at Healdsburg Jazz events, including the annual summer Festival. The music director for the ensemble is led by the extraordinary pianist Neil Fontano.
The Healdsburg Freedom Jazz Choir, led by Music Director Tiffany Austin, will perform an exciting program that represents compositions and arrangements by Tiffany Austin and Artistic Director Marcus Shelby that have been part of the choir's repertoire for the past decade. On Saturday, June 24 at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, The Freedom Jazz Choir featuring powerhouse jazz vocalist Tiffany Austin brings the community together through singing spirituals, freedom songs, music made popular by Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington, and a funky rhythm and blues medley arranged by Austin. Gaea Schell Quartet opens the show.
NEA Jazz Master Dianne Reeves with Brazilian jazz guitarist Romero Lubambo take the stage at Bacchus Landing on Saturday, June 24. With five "Best Jazz Vocal Album" GRAMMYs to her name, Reeves has an illustrious career as one of today's foremost women jazz singers. Drawing on her love of Brazilian music, Afro-Caribeean grooves, R&B, and pop, she applies her infectious and embracing jazz vision to songs by the likes of Bob Marley, Marvin Gaye, Joni Mitchell and Ani DiFranco. In this rare duo performance, she's accompanied by Rio-born guitar master and frequent Healdsburg Jazz performer, Latin GRAMMY Award-winner Romero Lubambo, who's widely hailed as his generation's finest Brazilian jazz guitarist. A true heir to the legacy of Billie, Ella, Sarah and Carmen, Dianne is no doubt a jazz legend.
Sylvia Cuenca Trio performs later that night on June 24 at Hotel Healdsburg Spirit Bar. A deft bandleader in her own right, drummer Cuenca plays a trio set of hard swinging blues-tinged modern jazz featuring Peter Horvath (piano) and Gary Brown (bass) before her group hosts an exciting all-star jam session featuring musicians in town for the Festival.
Closing the festival in true New Orleans-style, Dr. Michael White and the Original Liberty Jazz Band pay tribute to Sidney Bechet with special guest Big Chief Donald Harrison at Ferrari-Carano Vineyards and Winery on Sunday, June 25. Dr. Michael White, a clarinetist and dynamic force on the traditional New Orleans jazz scene for more than four decades, brings the Original Liberty Jazz Band featuring Big Chief Donald Harrison to celebrate Sidney Bechet's music and legacy. Louis Armstrong usually gets the credit as jazz's first great soloist, but before Satchmo, there was soprano saxophonist and clarinetist Sidney Bechet (1897-1959), a player so commandingly virtuosic that until the mid-1920s only Armstrong could contend with him as an equal. Renowned accordion player Rob Reich opens the show with a special Sunday brunch (10 am - 2pm) with tickets available at https://www.ferrari-carano.com.
read more
Schedule:
Healdsburg Jazz Festival opens with a free community Juneteenth Celebration in Healdsburg Plaza (corner of Healdsburg Avenue and Matheson Street) on June 17 with the Charles McPherson Quintet featuring Terell Stafford, Randy Porter, Akira Tana, Marcus Shelby, Martin Luther the Real McCoy, The Robin Hodge Williams Gospel Choir, MJ's Brass Boppers, Healdsburg Jazz Poet Laureate Enid Pickett, and KCSM's Greg Bridges. For more than 50 years, saxophonist Charles McPherson has been one of the most highly regarded voices in jazz. His rich musical style, rooted in the blues and bebop, has influenced and inspired generations of musicians and listeners. Oakland tenor saxophonist Howard Wiley returns to the Festival with his soul-charged quartet, a potent ensemble that blends jazz, gospel, and funk with state-of-the-art grooves for an evening club show at Elephant in the Room at 9pm.
Bring the whole family out for a special Father's Day Celebration on Sunday, June 18 with once-in-a-lifetime singer Samara Joy, who just won "Best New Artist" and "Best Jazz Vocal Album" at this year's 2023 GRAMMY Awards for her Verve debut album, Linger Awhile. At only 23, Samara Joy has established herself as jazz's most exciting new talent with her lush, extravagantly beautiful voice. The hottest new artist in America today comes directly from the Hollywood Bowl to perform just for Healdsburg audiences at Bacchus Landing with delicious wood-fired pizza from the Market at Bacchus Landing and Chef Mateo Granados Father's Day BBQ in the picnic area.
Artist-in-Residence John Santos presents the Filosofía Caribeña concert and a screening of his new documentary film, Santos: Skin to Skin, at The Raven Performing Arts Center on Monday, June 19. Master percussionist John Santos is an invaluable educator and cultural activist, a keeper of the Caribbean flame steeped in folkloric traditions of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Haiti, as well as Latin jazz and salsa. Santos performs music from his 2023 album, Filosofía caribeña Vol.3: A Puerto Rico del alma, and leads a blazing set of Latin jazz centered on Puerto Rican and Cuban dance rhythms featuring band members Dr. John Calloway on flute and piano, Marco Díaz on piano and trumpet, bassist Saul Sierra, drummer David Flores, saxophonist Charlie Gurke, and special guest vocalists José Roberto Hernández and Juan Luis Pérez, violinist Anthony Blea, and legendary timbalero Orestes Vilató.
The evening opens with a screening of his documentary, Santos: Skin to Skin, by Kathryn Golden and Ashley James, followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers. Filmed over the course of a decade, Santos: Skin to Skin offers an intimate look at the percussionist on and off the bandstand. Very much a family portrait, the film situates Santos amidst a dense web of relationships, including his wife, award-winning author Aida Salazar, and their two children. There's no shortage of musical peers singing his praises as an inspirational force responsible for expanding the international reach of the Bay Area's Latin jazz scene.
Grupo Falso Baiano featuring Natalie Cressman perform a lunch concert on the lawn of the newly remodeled The Madrona hotel on Tuesday, June 20. After nearly 20 years together as Grupo Falso Baiano, the Bay Area choro and jazz group shares the intersection between Brazil's first national music with classical roots giving birth to Brazilian jazz, samba and more. Rising star Natalie Cressman performs on trombone and vocals. Enjoy Michelin-starred Executive Chef Jesse Mallgren's iconic fried chicken picnic lunch while luxuriating outdoors on the garden lawn. In the Healdsburg Plaza that evening, Carlitos Medrano performs his Sabor de mi Cuba Concert for free from 6pm - 8pm.
Vocalist Stella Heath brings The Billie Holiday Project to Healdsburg Hotel Garden Courtyard on Wednesday, June 21. The band features Stella Heath, invoking the vocal stylings of Billie Holiday; Neil Fontano, piano virtuoso from Sonoma County; Robby Elfman, inventive tenor saxophonist and clarinetist; Trevor Kinsel, interchanging between upright bass and cornet; and Spike Klein on the drum kit. A three-course dinner is available from Dry Creek Kitchen.
Bill Frisell Trio comes to Bacchus Landing on Thursday, June 22. Among today's most prolific guitarists, Bill Frisell is a sonic sculptor who planes away every extraneous note to reveal the luminous beauty within even the most familiar songs. A long-time Healdsburg favorite whose past appearances include thrilling duo encounters with saxophone seeker Charles Lloyd (2016) and fellow guitar virtuoso Julian Lage (2018), Frisell performs with his trio featuring bassist Thomas Morgan and drummer Rudy Royston. The ensemble's debut album, 2020's Valentine (Blue Note), was hailed by Downbeat as capturing Frisell at "his most inquiring, rhythmically inventive, and lyrical. Given his voluminous discography, that's saying plenty." Camille Thurman with the Darrell Green Quartet opens the show.
Later that evening (June 22), vocalist Amy D and vibraphonist Dillon Vado perform a quartet late-night set at the Elephant in the Room. With a unique ensemble of voice, vibraphone, bass and drums, the music is both virtuosic and uplifting. Lorca Hart Bridges Quartet plays a late set at the same venue on Friday June 23, 2023 (9 pm) featuring Tony Peebles (tenor), Brian Ho (organ), Mike Scott (guitar), and Lorca Hart Bridges (drums). Lorca is renowned for performing with the likes of Bobby Hutcherson, Freddie Hubbard, Stanley Jordan, Julian Lage, and many others.
The Healdsburg Jazz Future All-Stars perform a free show at the Healdsburg Farmers' Market on Saturday, June 24 from 9am - 12pm. The Healdsburg Jazz Future All-Stars is a select ensemble of young musicians who are based in and around Sonoma County. The group consists of high school and college level students and perform at Healdsburg Jazz events, including the annual summer Festival. The music director for the ensemble is led by the extraordinary pianist Neil Fontano.
The Healdsburg Freedom Jazz Choir, led by Music Director Tiffany Austin, will perform an exciting program that represents compositions and arrangements by Tiffany Austin and Artistic Director Marcus Shelby that have been part of the choir's repertoire for the past decade. On Saturday, June 24 at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, The Freedom Jazz Choir featuring powerhouse jazz vocalist Tiffany Austin brings the community together through singing spirituals, freedom songs, music made popular by Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington, and a funky rhythm and blues medley arranged by Austin. Gaea Schell Quartet opens the show.
NEA Jazz Master Dianne Reeves with Brazilian jazz guitarist Romero Lubambo take the stage at Bacchus Landing on Saturday, June 24. With five "Best Jazz Vocal Album" GRAMMYs to her name, Reeves has an illustrious career as one of today's foremost women jazz singers. Drawing on her love of Brazilian music, Afro-Caribeean grooves, R&B, and pop, she applies her infectious and embracing jazz vision to songs by the likes of Bob Marley, Marvin Gaye, Joni Mitchell and Ani DiFranco. In this rare duo performance, she's accompanied by Rio-born guitar master and frequent Healdsburg Jazz performer, Latin GRAMMY Award-winner Romero Lubambo, who's widely hailed as his generation's finest Brazilian jazz guitarist. A true heir to the legacy of Billie, Ella, Sarah and Carmen, Dianne is no doubt a jazz legend.
Sylvia Cuenca Trio performs later that night on June 24 at Hotel Healdsburg Spirit Bar. A deft bandleader in her own right, drummer Cuenca plays a trio set of hard swinging blues-tinged modern jazz featuring Peter Horvath (piano) and Gary Brown (bass) before her group hosts an exciting all-star jam session featuring musicians in town for the Festival.
Closing the festival in true New Orleans-style, Dr. Michael White and the Original Liberty Jazz Band pay tribute to Sidney Bechet with special guest Big Chief Donald Harrison at Ferrari-Carano Vineyards and Winery on Sunday, June 25. Dr. Michael White, a clarinetist and dynamic force on the traditional New Orleans jazz scene for more than four decades, brings the Original Liberty Jazz Band featuring Big Chief Donald Harrison to celebrate Sidney Bechet's music and legacy. Louis Armstrong usually gets the credit as jazz's first great soloist, but before Satchmo, there was soprano saxophonist and clarinetist Sidney Bechet (1897-1959), a player so commandingly virtuosic that until the mid-1920s only Armstrong could contend with him as an equal. Renowned accordion player Rob Reich opens the show with a special Sunday brunch (10 am - 2pm) with tickets available at https://www.ferrari-carano.com.
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217 Healdsburg Avenue, Healdsburg, CA 95448
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