Boston, MA (Top40 Charts/ Boston Symphony Orchestra) The Tanglewood Jazz Festival is a Recipient of the 2011 NEA Jazz Masters Awards. The annual Labor Day Weekend Tanglewood Jazz Festival will take place
September 2-4 at the summer home of the
Boston Symphony Orchestra in Lenox, Massachusetts. Jazz greats highlighting this year's festival include Dianne Reeves, Angelique Kidjo, Lizz Wright, NEA Jazz Master Jimmy Cobb, Mary Stallings, the Mingus Orchestra, Edmar Castaneda, NEA Jazz Master
Gunther Schuller, John Santos, Federico Britos, Geri Allen, Terri Lyne Carrington, Rumero Lubambo,
James Genus, Munyungo Jackson, Judy Carmichael, Michael Kaeshammer,
Robin McKelle, Ulysses Owens,
Sarah Manning, Rebecca Martin, Larry Grenadier, Bill McHenry, Cedric Hanriot and more. All shows will be held in Seiji Ozawa Hall and the Jazz Cafe.
For additional information, bios and photos on the performing artists, please review the electronic press kit at tanglewoodjazzfestival.org/presskit.
This year's festival offers several changes to the schedule. The Tanglewood Wine and Food Classic will also open on Friday September 2 and run through Sunday morning, September 4. Wine tastings will take place in the Hawthorne Tent and several special events will take place at Highwood and Seranak. See https://www.tanglewood.org for more information.
The 2011 Tanglewood Jazz Festival is the recipient of the NEA Jazz Masters grant and will feature performances and interviews with NEA Jazz Masters Jimmy Cobb and Gunther Schuller. In addition, Mr. Cobb will conduct a master class for young drummers, and a screening of the Charles Mingus concert, "Epitaph," conducted by NEA Jazz Master Gunther Schuller will be presented.
On Friday, September 4, at 6:30 pm, the 2011 Tanglewood Jazz Festival will open with The Ulysses Owens Quintet in the Jazz Cafe. A graduate of the Julliard School, Owens' interest in drums and percussion began at an early age and his classical training, reading and comprehension of melody and harmony give his playing a unique sensitivity and musical awareness. Owens is currently touring with Grammy winning vocalist, Kurt Elling and bassist, Christian McBride. His latest CD, "It's Time For U," was released in 2009 by BSOBold Media.
"Cafe on Main," is a presentation of jazz artists who are no longer rising stars, as featured in the Jazz Cafe, but are not yet headliners on their own at Ozawa Hall. This year's debut concert of "Cafe 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. While teaching at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, McKelle entered the Thelonious Monk competition in 2004 and placed third in the Vocal Jazz category. Her first CD, "Introducing Robin McKelle" followed and launched her career, especially in Europe. Her second CD, "Modern Antique" was ranked among the top jazz albums in 2008 and her latest CD, "Mess Around," features McKelle in a soul/blues setting.
Michael Kaeshammer's boogie woogie piano and lush vocals have been heard before at the Tanglewood Jazz Festival. He appeared in the Jazz Cafe in 2009 and was so well received that we invited him back as a perfect example of the artists to be featured in "Cafe 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, his performances memorable. We are happy to have him back on our stage.
The Saturday, Sept 3, programming will open at 11:30 am with an interview by jazz writer, Bob Blumenthal, with percussionist and Latin jazz historian, John Santos. Santos is considered a leading educator in Latin jazz and a multi percussionist. The John Santos Sextet will perform on the Ozawa Hall stage Saturday night in a double bill with the Federico Britos Sextet in "a Latin Jazz Tribute to Cachao."
The Jazz Cafe will open Saturday at 12:30 pm with alto saxophonist, Sarah Manning and her quartet. Manning has established herself as a unique voice among the young generation of jazz saxophonists. Originally from New England, Manning played in the combo at Hartford's Artist Collective founded by saxophonist Jackie McLean. She received a full scholarship at Interlochen Arts Academy, studied jazz at William Paterson College directed by bassist Rufus Reid, and studied with Dr. Yusef Lateef whose emphasis on searching for one's own voice in music gave her the courage to pursue her own path. Her latest CD, Dandelion Clock, was released in 2010 on Posi-Tone Records.
The Saturday afternoon tradition of recording a live radio program with the Tanglewood Jazz Festival audience continues this year with Judy Carmichael's Jazz Inspired. Carmichael's popular weekly radio program is broadcast on 170 stations throughout North America and abroad and on NPR NOW Channel 134 on Sirius/XM Satellite Radio. Jazz Inspired, now in its 15th year, features Carmichael at the piano with a special guest from Hollywood, Broadway or jazz. Robert Redford, Ed Bradley, John Lithgow, Leonard Maltin, Chevy Chase and Renee Fleming have all appeared on her show.
Known for her delightful sense of humor and exuberant personality, Carmichael has been nominated for a Grammy for her recording "Two Handed Stride," has served on music panels for the National Endowment for the Arts and is one of the few jazz pianists honored as a Steinway Artist. She has appeared frequently on Garrison Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion," and has been featured on NPR's Morning Edition, Entertainment Tonight and CBS Sunday Morning with Charles Osgood. To her utter surprise, Carmichael turned up in the Simon and Schuster murder mystery Murder Times Two as "the stride pianist Judy Carmichael," the main suspect's favorite piano player.
Carmichael's guest at this year's Tanglewood Jazz Festival will be announced in the near future.
Bob Blumenthal will conduct an intimate and rare interview with NEA Jazz Masters Jimmy Cobb and Gunther Schuller at 4:15 pm on Saturday in the Jazz Cafe. Both Jazz Masters will perform on Sunday afternoon. Schuller, who has been a presence at Tanglewood for decades, will discuss his work and relationship with legendary bassist, Charles Mingus. Cobb's legendary career as a jazz drummer included work with Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughan and Billie Holiday, John Coltrane, and Cannonball Adderly and is the last surviving member of the Miles Davis masterpiece, "Kind of Blue," the most popular jazz recording in history.
At 6:30 pm on Saturday, the Cedric Hanriot Trio will perform in the Jazz Cafe. Hanriot is making an encore performance since his last visit to the Jazz Cafe in 2009 with the Ben Powell Quartet. A Fullbright recipient, French pianist and composer, Hanriot has appeared at the Iridium in New York, the Shanghai Jazz Festival, and the Jazz a Vienne Festival in France. He has worked with Grammy winner Siedah Garrett, drummer Terri Lyne Carrington, bassist Me'shell NDegeocello, drummer Cindy Blackman, and saxophonist Joe Lovano. Hanriot holds a Masters Degree in Electronic Engineering from the University of Nancy, France.
A rare East Coast performance by the John Santos Sextet and by the Federico Britos Sextet will perform "A Latin Jazz Tribute to Cachao," on Saturday at 8 pm. Known as the "father of the mambo," the Cuban bassist, Israel Lopez Cachao, is revered and respected by Latin music historians, musicians and fans. A classically trained musician, Cachao would revolutionalize Cuban music during his lifetime-first in the 1930s creating and inventing the mambo from the Cuban musical form danzon-and later in the 1950's, especially at Cuban jam sessions. His love of Afro-Cuban melodies such as son and rumba influenced his playing and composing and resulted in the contemporary Latin jazz and salsa sound. Cachao was the composer of "Chanchullo," on which Tito Puente based his classic hit "Oye Como Va," later made even more famous by Carlos Santana.
Five time Grammy nominee and USA Fontanals Fellow, John Santos, and his Sextet unite the contemporary, historical and cultural significance of Latin jazz. A multi-percussionist, composer/historian/producer/educator, Santos is a prolific exponent of Afro-Latin music through the innovative use of traditional forms and instruments with contemporary music. His career spans four decades and he has worked with Dizzy Gillespie, Tito Puente, Max Roach, McCoy Tyner and Carlos Santana and dozens of other acknowledged masters. Santos toured with Maestro Cachao in the 1990's performing on bongos.
Santos' band members include Saul Sierra, bassist; Marco Diaz, pianist; John Calloway, flautist; Melecio Magdaluyo, saxophonist/flautist; and David Flores, drummer/percussionist.
Violinist Federico Britos is a jazz/classical crossover artist of the highest order. Born in Uruguay, Britos served as principal chair, soloist and Concertmaster with some of the great symphony orchestras of Uruguay, Venezuela, Peru, Cuba and the United States. He has performed with Astor Piazzolla, Cachao, and Joao Gilberto as well as with jazz legends Dizzy Gillespie, Dexter Gordon, Duke Ellington, Nat King Cole, Benny Goodman, Bucky Pizzarelli, Charlie Haden and Charlie Byrd. He has toured Europe with the Hot Club USA and Frank Vignola, and has performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival and the San Francisco Jazz Festival and was a special guest in the Grappelli Legacy at Carnegie Hall in 1998. In 1999, Maestro Britos performed at the Kennedy Center in a program called, "Americanos," with Cachao, Nestor Torres, Jose Feliciano, Juan Luis Guerra, Gloria Estefan and Paquito d'Rivera, produced by James Edward Olmos.
Maestros Santos and Britos were featured last September in the PBS/American Masters documentary "Cachao: Uno Mas," a production of DOC Film Institute of San Francisco State directed by Dikayl Rimmasch and produced by Andy Garcia, Tom Luddy, Stephen Ujlaki and Anay Tarnekar in association with THIRTEEN for American Masters and Latino Public Broadcasting for PBS.
The Sunday, September 4 lineup at the Tanglewood Jazz Festival opens at 12:30 pm with a master class with NEA Jazz Master Jimmy Cobb and the rhythm section of the Coast to Coast Septet. This class is open to everyone but will focus on young drummers and will be held in the Jazz Cafe.
Also at 12:30, a screening will begin at Highwood of "Epitaph," written by Charles Mingus and conducted by Gunther Schuller at Lincoln Center in 1989. This monumental work lasts two and one half hours and was performed at Tanglewood in 1990. It was never presented in full during Mingus' lifetime.
The Sunday afternoon concerts begin at 2 pm at Ozawa Hall, opening with the Coast to Coast Septet featuring NEA Jazz Master, Jimmy Cobb, and special guest vocalist, Mary Stallings. Cobb, an elder statesman of the art, will perform with an all star band including guitarist, Peter Bernstein; reedist, Jeff Clayton; trumpeter and flugelhornist, Freddie Hendrix; tenor saxophonist, Doug Lawrence; pianist, Llew Matthews; and bassist, John Weber.
Vocalist Mary Stallings grew up in the Bay area in a family of musicians. She began performing in night clubs like the Hungry I, the Purple Onion and El Matador with luminaries such as Ben Webster, Cal Tjader, Earl Hines, Red Mitchell, Teddy Edwards and Wes Montgomery. At one of these performances in the 1960's, Dizzy Gillespie invited her out of the audience onto the bandstand to sing, resulting in a performance with Gillespie in 1965 at the Monterey Jazz Festival. Stallings latest recording, "Dream," was released on High Note last year. Called "the best kept in vocal jazz" in 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.
Following the Coast to Coast Septet on Sunday afternoon will be the Mingus Orchestra conducted by NEA Jazz Master Gunther Schuller. Formed to carry on the legacy of jazz great Charles Mingus, this performance by the Mingus Orchestra will include four pieces from Charles Mingus' body of work that Schuller arranged for the ensemble: Taurus in the Arena of Life; Half Mast Inhibition; Noon Night; and Chill of Death (a world premiere Schuller arrangement).
Assembled in 1999 by Mingus' widow, Sue Mingus, the Mingus Orchestra places a focus on composition and less emphasis on soloing, It's distinctive sound emerges from an expanded repertory and more exotic instrumentation, including bassoon, bass clarinet, French horn and guitar. Tanglewood favorite, Colombian harpist, Edmar Castaneda, will be among the personnel.
At 4:00 pm on Sunday, Bob Blumenthal will conduct a session on vocalists called "Listen Here" in the Jazz Cafe. Designed to increase general knowledge of jazz and demystify the music for listeners who are new to jazz, "Listen Here" will focus on one CD (for example, Sarah Vaughan's "Swingin' Easy") and the audience will be encouraged to discuss specific tracks, solos, instrumentation, personnel, etc. This session will concentrate on a recording by a female vocalist who represents the musical stylings of those featured in the Sunday night concert "Sing the Truth" and will be announced in the near future.
The final Jazz Cafe performance on Sunday at 6:30 pm will feature vocalist, Rebecca Martin. Martin's spare, straightforward vocals have been heralded by the New York Times' Nate Chinen: "Rebecca Martin exudes the plainest sort of poise, almost radical in its utter lack of flash." A superb example of the new generation of jazz singers, Martin's latest CD on Sunnyside Records, "When I Was Long Ago," is praised by critics to become a classic. Martin will be joined by her husband, bassist, Larry Grenadier, and saxophonist, Bill McHenry.
The closing concert of the 2011 Tanglewood Jazz Festival on Sunday, Sept 4, at 8:00 pm is titled "Sing the Truth: Angelique Kidjo, Dianne Reeves and Lizz Wright Continue the Legacy of Great Women Vocalists at Tanglewood." This dynamic trio of today's leading jazz/world vocalists will feature the songs and music from past Tanglewood women artists including India Arie, Betty Carter, Tracy Chapman, Aretha Franklin, Shirley Horne, Mahalia Jackson, Carol King, Joni Mitchell, and Odetta.
Born in Benin, West Africa, Angelique Kidjo is a Grammy winning music recording artist referred to as "Africa's premier diva" by Time Magazine. Her internationally acclaimed repertoire includes collaborations with various recording artists such as Carlos Santana, Peter Gabriel, Alicia Keys, Josh Groban, Branford Marsalis, Joss Stone and more. Known for her dynamic and uplifting music, she has translated her distinctive work in the arts to that of philanthropy by promoting education for girls in Africa through her foundation, Batonga, and as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.
Blue Note recording artist, Dianne Reeves, is one of the leading jazz vocalists in the world today. Reeves has received the Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Performance for three consecutive recordings-a Grammy first in any category. She has recorded and performed extensively with Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by Daniel Barenboim and with Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic. Reeves was the first Creative Chair for Jazz for the LA Philharmonic and the first singer to perform at the famed Walt Disney Concert Hall. Her latest CD, "When You Know," was release in 2008.
Lizz Wright has been the recipient of non-stop critical acclaim and ever increasing audiences since her Verve debut, "Salt," in 2003. Known for topping the jazz charts, she is far from the idea of a traditional jazz singer. The daughter of a Georgia pastor, Wright grew up singing in the church. Her repertoire has included gospel, jazz and blues as well as eclectic mix of Jimi Hendrix Eric Clapton and Gladys Knight material. Aside from her music career, Ms. Wright is a dedicated gardener and recently graduated from culinary school.
General Ticket Information
Tanglewood Jazz Festival prices range from $18-77. One day jazz lawn passes are $34.
Tickets are available through Tanglewood's website, https://www.tanglewood.org, by calling SymphonyCharge at 617-266-1200 or 888-266-1200, or by visiting the Boston Symphony Orchestra Box Office at 301 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston MA. The Symphony Hall Box Office is open Monday-Friday, 10 am-6 pm and Saturday 12 pm-6 pm. Beginning June 27, it will be open Monday-Friday, 9 am-5 pm. Regular season tickets prices ranges from $11-97. Tickets for Open Rehearsals are $17. All ticket prices include a $1 Tanglewood grounds maintenance fee.
Tickets are also available for purchase in person at the Tanglewood Box Office at Tanglewood's Main Gate on West Street in Lenox, MA, as of June 17. American Express, Visa, MasterCard, Diners Club, Discover and cash are all accepted at the Tanglewood Box Office. For further information and box office hours, please call the Boston Symphony Orchestra at 617-266-1492 or visit https://www.bso.org.
NEA Jazz Masters Live is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest.
The online media partner for the Tanglewood Jazz Festival is Jazzcorner.com.
2011 Tanglewood Jazz Festival
Ticket Prices and Schedule
Friday, September 2, 6:30 pm
Ulysses Owens Quintet
Free with ticket to main stage concert
Friday, September 2, 8 pm
Robin McKelle Quartet
Michael Kaeshammer Sextet
$42-62/lawn $18
Saturday, September 3, 11:30 am
Interview: Bob Blumenthal and John Santos
Free with ticket to main stage concert or all day pass
Saturday, September 3, 12:30 pm
Sarah Manning Quartet
Free with ticket to main stage concert or all day pass
Saturday, September 3, 2 pm
Judy Carmichael's Jazz Inspired with special guest TBA
$33-56/lawn $19
Saturday, September 3, 4:15 pm
Interview: Bob Blumenthal and NEA Jazz Masters Jimmy Cobb and Gunther Schuller
Free with ticket to main stage concert or all day pass
Saturday, September 3, 6:30 pm
Cedric Hanriot Trio
Free with ticket to main stage concert or all day pass
Saturday, September 3, 8 pm
A Latin Jazz Tribute to Cachao
John Santos Sextet
Federico Britos Sextet
$45-77/lawn $19
Sunday, September 4, 12:30 pm
Master class with NEA Jazz Master Jimmy Cobb and the rhythm section of the Coast to Coast Septet
Free with ticket to main stage concert or all day pass
Screening of Charles Mingus' "Epitaph" conducted by Gunther Schuller at Lincoln Center in 1989
Free with ticket to main stage concert or all day pass
Sunday, September 4, 2 pm
Coast to Coast Septet featuring NEA Jazz Master Jimmy Cobb with special guest Mary Stallings
The Mingus Orchestra with guest conductor NEA Jazz Master Gunther Schuller
$33-56/lawn $19
Sunday, September 4, 4 pm
"Listen Here" discussion with Bob Blumenthal on a recording by a legendary jazz vocalist to be announced
Free with ticket to main stage concert or all day pass
Sunday, September 4, 6:30 pm
The Rebecca Martin Trio with Larry Grenadier and Bill McHenry
Free with ticket to main stage concert or all day pass
Sunday, September 4, 8 pm
Sing the Truth: Angelique Kidjo, Dianne Reeves and Lizz Wright Continue the Legacy of Great Women Vocalists at Tanglewood
With all-star band Geri Allen, Terri Lyne Carrington, James Genus, Munyungo Jackson and Romero Lubambo
$42-62/lawn$18
All-day pass Saturday and Sunday
$34
For additional information, bios and photos on the performing artists, please review the electronic press kit at tanglewoodjazzfestival.org/presskit or contact:
