Jazz: 2008-2009 Season

Upcoming Events

• Ellington Voices: Classical to Jazz with Nnenna Freelon and Harolyn Blackwell

  Nov 22, 2008 at 7:30 PM | Buy Now
  Vocalists Freelon and Blackwell explore the intersection of classical music and jazz through the musical genius of Duke Ellington in this world premiere Kennedy Center–commissioned concert.

• NSO Pops: D.C. and the Duke/Marvin Hamlisch, conductor

  Nov 28 - 29, 2008 | Buy Now
  As part of Jazz in DC, The Jazz Ambassadors Army Field Band joins the NSO Pops over Thanksgiving weekend for a rousing program that will include the music of Duke Ellington, Dr. Billy Taylor, and James Reese Europe.

• NPR's A Jazz Piano Christmas

  Dec 4, 2008 | Buy Now
  Join the Kennedy Center and National Public Radio when top jazz pianists and other artists perform their favorite holiday songs. An annual NPR tradition, the concert will be recorded for later broadcast.

• A Jazz New Year's Eve

  Dec 31, 2008 | Buy Now
  Ring in the New Year in style with a sizzling late-night jazz performance by the Grammy-winning ensemble New York Voices and the Dizzy Gillespie All-Star Big Band.

• Benny Golson at 80

  Jan 24, 2009 at 7:30 PM | Buy Now
  The Kennedy Center salutes the 60-year career of award-winning saxophonist and NEA Jazz Master Benny Golson in a concert with appearances by the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, Al Jarreau, Ron Carter, and others.

• So in Love: An Evening of Cole Porter, with Patricia Barber

  Feb 13, 2009 at 7:30 PM | On Sale 12/11/08,
  Vocalist Patricia Barber performs music from The Cole Porter Mix--her 2008 Blue Note Records CD that includes "I've Got You Under My Skin," "What Is This Thing Called Love?," and "You're the Top."

• So in Love: An Evening of Cole Porter, with Ann Hampton Callaway

  Feb 13, 2009 at 9:30 PM | On Sale 12/11/08,
  Enjoy a sexy, suave, and swinging time with vocalist Ann Hampton Callaway and her Trio, as they take a cosmopolitan romp through the Cole Porter songbook.

• "Dedicated to You": Kurt Elling in a John Coltrane/Johnny Hartman Tribute

  Feb 28, 2009 | On Sale 12/11/08,
  Kurt Elling brings Ernie Watts, the Ethel String Quartet, and the Laurence Hobgood Trio aboard for Dedicated to You, Elling's creative re-imagining of John Coltrane's collaboration with "romantic balladeer" Johnny Hartman.

• KC Jazz Club: Edmar Castaneda Trio

  Mar 27, 2009 | On Sale 12/11/08,
  "A jazz harpist of imposing talent" (The New York Times), Colombian-born Edmar Castaneda has turned the New York jazz scene on its ear, transforming the harp into a percussive lead instrument.

• KC Jazz Club: René Marie: Voice of My Beautiful Country

  Mar 28, 2009 | On Sale 12/11/08,
  MAXJAZZ recording artist and Kennedy Center favorite René Marie has been called "a jazz singer with the talent, the imagination, and the sheer presence to be included in the very top level of performers" by the Los Angeles Times.

• The Blue Note Records 70th Anniversary--On Tour

  Apr 5, 2009 | On Sale 2/12/09,
  Blue Note Records artists--pianist Bill Charlap, trumpeter Nicholas Payton, saxophonists Ravi Coltrane and Steve Wilson, guitarist Peter Bernstein, drummer Lewis Nash, and bassist Peter Washington--perform well-known hits from this renowned label's vault.

• Discovery Artist in the KC Jazz Club: Marc Cary and the Focus Trio

  May 1, 2009 | On Sale 2/12/09,
  As cool and collected as they come, pianist/composer and DC native Marc Cary has been ranked by DownBeat Magazine as one of the four "most multi-dimensional" keyboard players on the scene today.

• KC Jazz Club: John Clayton and Gerald Clayton: Father and Son

  May 2, 2009 | On Sale 2/12/09,
  Three-time Grammy-nominated bassist John Clayton's talents are consistently in demand. His son, pianist Gerald performs with an "Oscar Peterson–like style, highly controlled touch and dynamics and rhapsodic, episodic soloing" (The New York Times).

• Discovery Artist in the KC Jazz Club: Ambrose Akinmusire

  May 8, 2009 | On Sale 2/12/09,
  Winner of the 2007 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Trumpet Competition, Ambrose Akinmusire performs music that works its "way under the skin, delivering a tickle one moment and an electric jolt the next" (Variety).

• KC Jazz Club: Roger Kellaway: Tribute to Oscar Peterson

  May 9, 2009 | On Sale 2/12/09,
  Roger Kellaway "is a rare pianist with the technical command and historical knowledge to recreate a portion of Oscar Peterson's ‘power, clarity, musicality, and will to swing,' all while sounding like himself" (JazzTimes).

• Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Festival - 14th annual

  May 14 - 16, 2009 | On Sale 2/12/09,
  Hosted by Dee Dee Bridgewater, the festival marks its 14th thrilling year with three evenings of star-studded performances featuring the world's top female jazz artists.