UNC/Greeley Jazz Festival; Shorty turns 40; festival season
This is Jazz News, a look at what’s news in jazz, music, and the arts.
UNC Greeley Jazz Festival Apr. 23-25
On the heels of the second annual Denver Jazz Fest comes the 56th annual UNC Greeley Jazz Festival, April 23 through 25. This year, director of Jazz Studies Dana Landry and the team are bringing in vocalist Alicia Olatuja, producer David Rosenthal, reed man Walter Smith III from Berklee, and Vail workshop alum trumpeter Skyler Tang. On Day 2, Cuban pianist Alfredo Rodríguez and bassist Victor Wooten. On Day 3, Jeff Hamilton, John Clayton, and Larry Fuller, with trumpeter Wayne Bergeron.
The real power of this festival is the involvement of so many students from the stellar University of Northern Colorado music program, as well as dozens of middle and high schools, academies, and other colleges from west of the Mississippi. They’re using venues all over campus to showcase these vocal ensembles, combos, and big bands at a jaw-dropping 242 daytime sessions, plus the evening shows and artist meet and greets. SOURCE: UNCO.edu/Jazz Festival
Shorty turns 40, visits Boulder in August
We just announced Trombone Shorty’s August 11 show at the Boulder Theater, presented by KUVO. This coming weekend, Troy Andrews celebrates turning 40 with his concert called Treme Threauxdown X.” It’s Shorty’s tenth showcase, this year at the historic Saenger Theatre during the first weekend of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. SOURCE: Trombone Shorty Turns 40
Festival Season Heads Up
A quick rundown of the coming festivals in Colorado includes:
- the Greeley Blues Jam on Saturday, June 6, outdoors at Island Grove Park with headliner Robert Randolph.
- the Jas Aspen Snowmass June Experience – June 25 through 28, with 30+ shows at 10 venues,
- The Winter Park Jazz Festival on July 18 and 19 is the annual gathering of contemporary jazz fans, with Patti LaBelle headlining,
- The Telluride Jazz Festival is August 7 and 8 – Lettuce and their tribute to Miles Davis’s electronic era is on Saturday night,
- And the Vail Jazz Festival (we call it the Labor Day Jazz Party), with Sean Jones, Cyrus Chestnut, saxophonist Camille Thurman, and their A-list workshop leaders and students. And a head up to teenage jazz musicians, the deadline for the coveted 12 openings for the Vail Jazz Workshop is April 30.
I happen to know there is one or more new festivals yet to be announced for the Front Range this summer.
Across the pond, North Sea Jazz in Amsterdam is from 10 July through 12 July, the 50th anniversary of that event, with 150 performances on 17 stages.
After the New Orleans Jazz Fest concludes on May 3, national landmark festivals include the Monterey Jazz Festival in September.
And Newport, now under the artistic direction of drummer Nate Smith, announces their lineup on Tuesday, April 21.
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