Catskill Jazz Factory offers jam-packed concert schedule
The Catskill Jazz Factory (CJF)’s summer season of residencies and performances is yet more evidence of how well-curated, and well-connected, this Tannersville-based organization is. The CJF employs several different venues to present a wide variety of jazz, typically ranging from formidable mainstream jazz out a certain way toward the experimental fringe, with very little in the way of Golden Age nostalgia. Summer programming eases up a bit and is not afraid of a little crowdpleasing, as long as it is unassailably top-shelf stuff across the board.
Sammy Miller & the Congregation will play Born from the Blues, a set of jazz that spans 75 years and communicates “the oneness of the American musical language that…still remains intact at America’s pop-culture core.” They will be playing at the Spiegeltent on the campus of Bard College on Thursday, July 21 at 8 p.m. and the historic Hathaway House in Tannersville on July 22 at 8 p.m. Tickets for both events cost $25.
Called “virtuosos on saxophone” by The New York Times, Peter and Will Anderson will perform The Joy of Sax showcasing various jazz styles ranging from bop to swing in celebration of 175 years of the saxophone, as well as original pieces. The Peter and Will Anderson Quintet performs at the Spiegeltent on Thursday, July 28 at 8 p.m. and at the Villa Vosilla in Tannersville on Friday, July 29 at 7:30 p.m. They will end their residency with a performance at Music Mountain in Connecticut on Saturday, July 30 at 6:30 p.m. Ticket prices for July 28 range from $25 to $45, for July 29 they are $25 and for July 30 they are $27.
Catskill Jazz veteran Chris Washburne (of frequent area performers SYOTOS) will join with Brazilian pianist and composer André Mehmari, vocalists Sarah Elizabeth Charles and Candice Hoyes, New Orleans clarinetist Evan Christopher and master trumpeter Alphonso Horne to lead an all-star band for Ragtime & the Birth of Jazz at the Spiegeltent on August 4 at 8 p.m., the Orpheum Film & Performance Arts Center in Tannersville on August 5 at 7:30 p.m., Music Mountain on August 6 at 6:30 p.m. and a free performance at the All Souls’ Church in Tannersville on August 7 at 11:30 am.
Hailed by Wynton Marsalis as one of the top five jazz musicians under 30 to watch, pianist Chris Pattishall will perform Fictions: Borges in Tango, a performance of all-original compositions pulling inspiration from Argentinian literary master Jorge Luís Borges and the rich musical history of tango. The Chris Pattishall Octet will perform at the Orpheum Film & Performing Arts Center on Friday, August 12 at 7:30 p.m. and at Music Mountain on Saturday, August 13 at 6:30 p.m.
For tickets and additional information, visit www.catskilljazzfactory.org.
Wynton Marsalis to perform at Bard
Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Summer Jazz Academy at Bard College in Annandale is the premier high school program for advanced high school jazz students, and Wynton Marsalis is, as ever, on-site and hands-on. This two-week program, designed and instructed by Marsalis and a select team of faculty, serves as a rigorous training institute on the Bard campus in Annandale-on-Hudson for 42 of the most advanced and dedicated high school jazz students (grades 9-12). Students apply by audition and participate in one of two Big Bands and multiple performing small combos, receive private lessons and experience classes in aesthetics, culture, history, performance practice and pedagogy. In addition to this educational component, the institute will also present several public performances featuring the student combos and Big Bands, along with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, at Bard College during the summer of 2016.
Part of the program is showing the kids how it is done. On Saturday, July 23 at 7 p.m. and the following Sunday at 2 p.m., an all-star octet led by Marsalis performs at Bard College’s Olin Hall. The band features trumpeter Marcus Printup, saxophonist Ted Nash, trombonist Vincent Gardner, pianist Helen Sung, guitarist James Chirillo, bassist Rodney Whitaker and drummer Ali Jackson. Tickets cost $50. For tickets and more information, visit https://fishercenter.bard.edu/jazzatlincolncenter.
Vijay Iyer plays Woodstock’s Maverick on Saturday
When Maverick Concerts turn their attention to jazz, they aim high, befitting their reputation as one of the most respected and adventurously programmed chamber music series in the country. On Saturday, July 23 at 8 p.m., the decorated jazz pianist Vijay Iyer appears as part of Maverick’s New Century, New Voices series. The Grammy-nominated Iyer was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 2013 and, the following year, began his permanent appointment as the Franklin D. and Florence Rosenblatt Professor of the Arts in the Department of Music at Harvard University. This is Iyer’s Maverick debut.
Reserved seating costs $45, general admission $25. Student tickets cost just $5 with ID. For tickets and more information, visit www.maverickconcerts.org. Maverick Concerts are located at 120 Maverick Road in Woodstock.
Vince Giordano at Upstate Films Woodstock on Sunday
What does it take to keep Jazz Age music going strong in the 21st century? Apparently, little more than Vince Giordano. The bandleader, musician, historian, scholar and collector created the period music in Todd Haynes’s Carol, Martin Scorsese’s The Aviator, Francis Ford Coppola’s The Cotton Club, half a dozen Woody Allen films and HBO’s Grammy-winning series Boardwalk Empire. Giordano will appear in person at a showing of Vince Giordano: There’s a Future in the Past on Sunday, July 24 at 2 p.m. at Upstate Films in Woodstock. Speaking with Giordano will the be the film’s directors, Amber Edwards and Dave Davidson.
Tickets cost $12 general admission, $10 for seniors and $8 for members. For more information, visit https://upstatefilms.org. Upstate Films Woodstock is located at 132 Tinker Street in Woodstock. Vince Giordano: There’s a Future in the Past will also be shown at Upstate Films Rhinebeck at 6415 Montgomery Street on Wednesday, July 27 at a time still to be announced.
Sexmob plays the Falcon in Marlboro on Sunday
Silly and serious, irreverent and profound, slide trumpeter Steven Bernstein’s oddball jazz project Sexmob has been playing some of the freshest and most fun jazz around for 20 years. While they are about as free and spontaneous as a listenable jazz group can be, they are also devoted in their own strange way to repertoire, drawing their tunes from film, pop and jazz traditions and reinventing them – usually radically – on the spot.
The ensemble features Bernstein, the great rhythm section of Tony Scherr on bass and Kenny Wolleson on drums (famous for their work with guitarist Bill Frisell among others) and alto saxophonist Briggan Krauss. The inimitable Sexmob returns to the Falcon in Marlboro on Sunday, July 24 at 7 p.m. Per usual at the Falcon, there is no cover charge, but donation is strongly encouraged.
The Falcon is located at 1348 Route 9W in Marlboro. For more information, visit www.liveatthefalcon.com.
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