Connecticut is warming up to a promising new season of jazz with an array of festivals and concerts offering everything from modern mainstream combos and big bands to avant-garde explorations and a flock of high-flying vocalists.
Here’s a suggested Top Ten list of announced events that, if nothing else, shows the variety of the spring/summer’s bumper crop. It ranges from two headliners at a free festival in Hartford in July to a mom-and-pop-run swing band’s mega-tour that traipses tirelessly from town-to-town well into September, entertaining folks for free in varied venues.
>>Greater Hartford Festival of Jazz: Celebrating its 24th season from July 17 through July 19, the enormously popular festival presents multi-genre offerings that include two not-to-be-missed, hard-swinging gems featuring bands individually led by pianist Monty Alexander and bassist Dezron Douglas, performances sure to be grand highlights for the weekend of jazz in Hartford’s scenic Bushnell Park, which last summer drew more than 70,000 fans.
On opening night, July 17, Alexander, the celebrated Jamaican-born powerhouse pianist, and his Kingston Express merge classic jazz with the rhythms and vibrations of Kingston, where this master genre bender/blender was born on D-Day, June 6, 1944.
D-Day is the perfect birthdate for Alexander, a piano virtuoso who’s been storming the jazz and pop world since establishing a beachhead here in the States in 1961 when he landed a plum job accompanying Frank Sinatra. Downbeat time: 8:30 p.m. July 17.
Douglas, a wizard bassist who was born and raised in Hartford, is a longstanding member of the celebrated Cyrus Chestnut Trio and excels in such fast company as the Louis Hayes Jazz Communicators, the Ravi Coltrane Quartet and Papo Vazquez Mighty Pirates, as well as on his fine recordings as a leader. For his Hartford homecoming, the gifted native son leads an all-star band featuring Chestnut on piano, Abraham Burton, saxophone, and Victor Lewis, drums. Dezron’s dazzling quartet hits at 6 p.m. on closing night, July 19. Festival information: hartfordjazz.com.
>>The Litchfield Jazz Festival. As usual, the festival, which runs Aug. 7 through Aug. 9, at the Goshen Fairgrounds, will be loaded with heavyweight talents ranging from super drummer Matt Wilson to the classy Israeli clarinetist Anat Cohen. But, for sure, you also can’t go wrong with two of the festival’s splendid trios, led individually by bassist Christian McBride and bassist/vocalist Nicki Parrott.
McBride, a dexterous, big-toned bassist, leads his sleek trio at 5:30 p.m. on Aug. 9, as the closer for the festival, which is celebrating its 20th season. Aiding the iconic, Grammy Award-winning recording artist are two young, emerging talents, the phenomenal pianist Christian Sands, a New Haven native, and drummer Ulysses Owens Jr.
Parrott and fellow members of the Les Paul Trio — the late guitarist’s regular backup trio at his famed Monday night stint at the Big Apple’s Iridium — are joined by a special guest, the venerable, 89-year-old guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli at 1:45 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 9. Parrott, pianist John Colianni and guitarist Lou Pallo, who were members of Paul’s Iridium prime-time players, have carried on the master’s legacy since his death in 2009 with the present trio honoring his legacy. Pizzarelli, who was one of Paul’s good buddies, often sits-in with the tribute trio. Parrott, an Australian native and a Connecticut transplant, swings fluently both on bass and vocals. Information: litchfieldjazzfest.com and 860-361-6285.
>>If you’re looking for vocalists with distinctive styles and personal sounds that set them apart from everyone else, you’re in luck with scheduled appearances by Jane Monheit, Karrin Allyson and Madeleine Peyroux.
Monheit is a satin-toned singer who will show her flair for nuanced, romantic ballads at 8 p.m. on Saturday, May 16, at Infinity Hall in Norfolk. Box office: 1-866-666-6306. Allyson, a savvy interpreter of lyrics and melodies, a smart pianist, songwriter and bandleader, serves her savory talents at a jazz brunch at 1 p.m. on Sunday, May 17, at The Ridgefield Playhouse in Ridgefield. Information: 203-438-5795. Peyroux, a singer/songwriter with a chameleon-like range of shifting emotional colors, exhibits the affecting drama in her songs at 8 p.m. on June 23, also at the Ridgefield Playhouse.
>>If you’re interested in an innovative 21st-century artist’s original take on the 20th-century jazz icon Charlie Parker, Rudresh Mahanthappa, the cerebral, cutting-edge, Indian-American saxophonist/composer is the interpreter to check out.
Mahanthappa leads his quintet in a celebration of his acclaimed release, “Bird Calls,” a highly original homage to Charlie Parker, in performances at 8:30 and 10 p.m. on Friday, June 5, at Firehouse 12 in New Haven. Rather than simply revisiting Bird’s often revisited bebop classics, Mahanthappa has created new works that reimagine a Parker solo or melody as its inspiration and jumping-off point, refocusing the modern jazz material of the 1940s and ’50s through a 21st century prism. For more information, visit firehouse12.com or call 203-785-0468.
>>If you’re seeking infinitely more traditional sounds, you might want to check out the Connecticut-based Survivors Swing Band. The seven-piece, vintage ensemble, whose oldest member is 94, will play Swing Era hot tunes and mellow ballads as it performs as the opening act at 7 p.m. on Saturday, June 27, for Deven Green, the subversive comedienne, irreverent parodist, singer and plugged-in ukulele artiste at the Webster Bank Museum Center at the Mark Twain House & Museum, Hartford.
Green presents her electric ukulele lounge act, featuring versions of songs from the 1920s to today, while acting as “a human jukebox” encouraging sing-alongs and requests. The Survivors Band is expected to join the divine Deven for a number or two. For more information, visit marktwainhouse.org or call 860-280-3130.
>>If you prefer your vintage band music unmixed with comedy and mockery, you can catch up with Simply Swing, a 10-piece, Newington-based orchestra that recently launched its massive spring and summer-long series of 18 free concerts playing everything from Glenn Miller to Count Basie in venues throughout Greater Hartford.
A strictly mom-and-pop, courageous, shoe-string operation, with vocalist Vivian LaRosa as the mom, and hubby, Joe LaRosa as the pop multi-tasking as musical director, arranger/composer and drummer, the band is on the road again marching under the banner of and with the financial support of the fourth annual Farmington Bank Community Concert Series.
The whole point of the band’s juggernaut tour, Vivian LaRosa says, is to get people up and out of their lawn chairs, singing along and dancing to the music as a way to celebrate the arrival of the new season. For Simply Swing’s schedule and other information, visit simplyswingmusic.com
You can find our complete summer arts roundup here.
