Jazz

The soul and jazz singer Ledisi will perform twice this summer at The Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, New York.This weekend she’ll take the amphitheater stage at SPAC as part of the 2022 Freihofer's Saratoga Jazz Festival on Sunday, June 26th. She’ll return on August 3 with the Philadelphia Orchestra with her renowned “Ledisi Sings Nina” concert - a tribute to Nina Simone, which she’s also released as an album and a version was filmed for PBS as “Ledisi Live: A Tribute to Nina Simone.”Ledisi is an acclaimed and award-winning musician and actor and she joins us to talk about her career, her music, and her philosophy.

The Freihofer's Saratoga Jazz Festival returns to the Saratoga Performing Arts Center with two full days of programming on two stages – this Saturday and Sunday, June 25 and 26, the festival is celebrating its 45th year at SPAC. Wynton Marsalis - managing and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center and a world-renowned trumpeter and composer will be headlining Sunday’s show with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. Wynton Marsalis joins us.

Chicago-based composer, clarinetist, singer, and educator Angel Bat Dawid is one of the many artists flocking to North Adams, Massachusetts next weekend for the first Solid Sound Festival since 2019.

Pianist-composer Armen Donelian will be performing Friday night at Hudson Hall. He emerges from the COVID-inspired shutdowns with a newly refined conception on both instrument and pen on the soon-to-be released album "Fresh Start." Healing and stimulating, it’s music that both soothes the soul and sparks the imagination. "Fresh Start" evolved mysteriously over many years. At times, exciting compositional ideas emerged from nowhere, only to lead back there. Inspiration came equally from Standards, great composers, doing gigs with other musicians, teaching and from the roller coaster of life, but these moments were separated by months and at times years of fruitlessness.

The 10×10 Upstreet Arts Festival is an annual Pittsfield, Massachusetts event, spanning 10 days and featuring events with a theme of “10.”As part of this year’s festivities, Berkshires Jazz will present a special edition of the Ted Rosenthal Trio on Feb. 26 at the Berkshire Museum with a repertoire that focuses on music about New York. The title of the 7:30pm concert, "Ten by Tin Pan Alley.” In addition to the repertoire, the performers, Ted Rosenthal, Martin Jaffe, and Connor Meehan, all have roots in both New York and the Berkshires.Ted Rosenthal is one of the leading jazz pianist/composers of his generation. He actively tours worldwide with his trio, as a soloist, and has performed with many jazz greats. Winner of the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Competition, Rosenthal has released numerous CDs as a leader. He’s been a featured soloist with major orchestras including the Detroit Symphony and Phoenix Symphony. An active composer and the recipient of three NEA grants, Rosenthal has been commissioned by New York City Opera, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, The Park Avenue Chamber Symphony, and Dallas Black Dance Theatre. He is on the faculties of The Juilliard School and Manhattan School of Music.

Open Sesame merges the two worlds of Joe Fiedler, those being: music director for "Sesame Street" for the past twelve seasons and an internationally recognized jazz trombonist, by presenting his unique and slightly edgy arrangements of Sesame Street classics. In support of their new release, "Fuzzy and Blue," the band showcases a working quartet of seasoned New York improvisers. On November 21st at 3PM, Fielder will perform with the band and also present an inside multi-media look with Q&A of just how the musical direction for the beloved children’s educational program comes together.

Hudson Hall in Hudson, New York will celebrate the enduring vision of Alice and John Coltrane with one talk and three concerts taking place September 14 - November 20. The concerts are as follows: Brandee Younger Trio on September 18, Orrin Evans Trio on October 16, and the JD Allen Trio on November 20. The series, entitled A Love Supreme: Celebrating the Legacy of Alice & John Coltrane is curated by Hudson Jazz Festival Curator Cat Henry. She joins us along with Ashley Kahn.

Since his Carnegie Hall debut with Skitch Henderson and the New York Pops, Trumpeter and Conductor Byron Stripling has become a Pops orchestra favorite,…

Shawn Stone joins us to talk about what he's seen lately and what cultural events are coming up this week in our region.Seen: "Downhill"Upcoming:"Magic" -…

Hudson Hall will hold their 3rd Annual Hudson Jazz Festival February 14-16 in Hudson, New York.The festival will begin with an evening of amour with a…