2015 New York Hot Jazz Fest to Kick Off May 3

By: Mar. 24, 2015
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Following the success of the previous two festivals, the 3rd Annual New York Hot Jazz Festival -- produced by the impresario Michael "Misha" Katsobashvili, performer Bria Skonberg, and composer/producer Patrick Soluri (of Prohibition Productions and The Salon) -- returns to The Players this year and promises some of the biggest stars of the Hot Jazz and swing scenes in a summit of uptown and downtown talent spanning three generations.

Tickets on sale now: EARLY BIRD - $30 for Half-Day Passes / $55 Full Day; ADVANCE - $35 for Half-Day Passes / $65 Full Day; AT DOOR - $45 for Half-Day Passes / $80 Full Day.

In his annual JazzTimes "The Year In Gigs" column, Nate Chinen listed the festival as one of the best jazz shows of 2014, where he called it "... a marathon overspill of trad-jazz enthusiasm." Bill Milkowski in his Downbeat Magazine review described the event as the "Woodstock for the HotJazz set." This year's festival will be no exception, boasting fourteen hours of continuous music, three stages with twenty five acts, and an exhilarating party atmosphere.

Hot Jazz, once the 20th century's dominant pop music, has found a 21st century home in New York City. As Will Friedwald notes in Vanity Fair, "Hot Jazz is so prevalent now that New York has almost become like New Orleans in the fin de siecle period ..." While retaining Hot Jazz in its core, this year's festival is solidly expanding into later swing with bands, such as Andy Farber's 17-piece AFTER MIDNIGHT ORCHESTRA (formerly know as Jazz at Lincoln Center All-Stars) from the eponymous Tony-winning blockbuster Broadway show, as well as WYCLIFFE GORDON's & FRIENDS, the trombone superstar's hard-swinging musical outfit. Additionally, Australian bassist and award-winning vocalist NICKI PARROTT, who was a member of the Les Paul Trio for a decade, will lead a trio featuring cornetist WARREN VACHÉ. Trumpeter JON-ERIK KELLSO will bring the EARREGULARS with guitarist MATT MUNISTERI and multi-instrumentalist extraordinaire SCOTT ROBINSON.

Aside from Vaché and Kellso, this year's festival will highlight some of the top horn players of the younger generation, such as RILEY MULHERKAR and ALPHONSO HORNE, who are bringing their new band the GOTHAM KINGS; GORDON AU, the leader of the GRAND ST. STOMPERS, which is one of the pioneering bands of New York Hot Jazz and swing dance revival; and, consistent trailblazer BRIA SKONBERG with her JAZZ COMPATRIOTS.

To balance out the brass talent, the festival will feature some of the top young string stars of "lejazz hot" currently residing in New York: French guitar wizard STEPHANE WREMBEL, whose "Bistro Fada" is on the Academy Award-winning soundtrack of Midnight in Paris, and a Finnish Django Reinhardt acolyte OLLI SOIKKELI, who co-leads RHYTHM FUTURE Quartet with violinist JASON ANICK.

Among the outstanding vocalists taking part in the festival for the first time will be a rare New York appearance by an exceptional songbook stylist and recording artist REBECCA KILGORE and rapidly rising, powerhouse young jazz singer MICHAEL MWENSO.

The NY Hot Jazz Fest continues to present local Hot Jazz "institutions" that have fueled the city's scene with their long term residencies such as EDDY DAVIS NEW ORLEANS JAZZ BAND, who play every Monday at Cafe Carlyle with Woody Allen, TERRY WALDO'S GOTHAM CITY BAND, and DENNIS LICHTMAN'S MONA'S HOT FOUR, among others.

This year The Big Easy will have its own ambassador in the fest, with one of the members of New Orleans jazz royalty, EVAN CHRISTOPHER, leading his acclaimed CLARINET ROAD.

Just like last year, the only band returning from the preceding year's marathon is THE HOT SARDINES, who are one of the biggest successes of the current Hot Jazz revival and are stopping by at The Players in the middle of a sold out national tour.

Festival goers will once again enjoy a dedicated Ragtime, Stride, and Jazz Age Songbook Piano Room with jazz star BILL CHARLAP, NPR Piano Jazz host and stride master JON WEBER, ragtime specialist TERRY WALDO and the "Klezmer Fats Waller" PETE SOKOLOW alongside upcoming young piano stars like CHRIS PATTISHALL.

Throughout the festival, attendees will experience continuous multi-level entertainment. Dancing is encouraged and inevitably irresistible; Swing dancers will be particularly delighted by The Players' optimal Ballroom dance floor. Once again, while three stages on the two upper levels will be devoted to non-stop live music, the lower level of the Players will feature a day-long screening of Hot Jazz and swing film clips with the first half devoted to Hollywood's golden age. Party and dancing continues into the wee hours with the festival jam session led by DAVID OSTWALD and GORDON AU. Expect surprises galore until the last notes of the night have been played!

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2015 LINEUP:

Andy Farber's
After Midnight Orchestra
with Rebecca Kilgore

Ballroom - 4:45pm

AFTER MIDNIGHT ORCHESTRA is a swinging, seventeen-piece ensemble that began its life as the on-stage band for the hit Broadway musical After Midnight. It was on Broadway that the orchestra, made up of musicians hand-picked by Jazz At Lincoln Center artistic director Wynton Marsalis, backed up a succession of guest stars including Fantasia Barrino, K.D. Lang, Toni Braxton, Vanessa Williams and Patti LaBelle. Under the direction of composer, arranger, and saxophonist Andy Farber, the orchestra continues to perform and record beyond the Broadway run of After Midnight, including a PBS Great Performancestelevision special that featured Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga, a national TV commercial for American Express, and a nightclub appearances at New York City's famed Jazz Standard, and The Rainbow Room that featured Catherine Russell.

REBECCA KILGORE has been invited to perform with the Statesmen Of Jazz, dedicated to perpetuating the art of jazz for future generations. She regularly performs worldwide at jazzfestivals and is a frequent guest on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross, has appeared on A Prairie Home Companion, and with Michael Feinstein at Carnegie Hall. She is honored to have been inducted (in 2010) to the Oregon Music Hall of Fame and to the Jazz Society of Oregon's Hall Of Fame, and to have been invited to perform at New York's Mabel Mercer Cabaret Convention for three years at Town Hall and Lincoln Center. She was the guest of honor at the 2013 Roswell (New Mexico) Jazz Festival.

Wycliffe Gordon
& Friends
Ballroom - 9:45pm

Musical ambassador WYCLIFFE GORDON has built an impressive career touring the world performing hard-swinging, straight-ahead jazz, receiving great acclaim from audiences and critics alike. His unmatched modern mastery of the plunger mute and his exceptional technique and signature sound has solidified a place in musical history for Gordon, known as one of the top trombonists of his generation. The critics seem to agree: Wycliffe was named "Best in Trombone" by theDownbeat Critics Poll three years running now (2014, 2013 & 2012) and Jazz Journalists Associationnamed him "Trombonist of the Year" in 2013, as well as previous years 2001, 2002, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011 and 2012. He is a past recipient of the ASCAP Foundation Vanguard Award, among others. In addition to an extremely successful solo career, Gordon tours regularly leading the Wycliffe Gordon Quartet, headlining at legendary jazz venues and performing arts centers throughout the world. Gordon is a former veteran member of the Wynton Marsalis Septet, Lincoln Center JazzOrchestra and has been a featured guest artist on Billy Taylor's Jazz at the Kennedy Center series. Gordon?s extensive performance experience includes work with many of the most renowned jazz performers of the past and present. His Jazz a la Carte show, which debuted at the Apollo Theater, was named one of the "Top Five Best Moments in Jazz" for the year 2011 by The Wall Street Journal. Gordon?s recordings are a model of consistency and inspiration, and his musical expertise has been captured on numerous recordings, including sixteen solo albums and seven co-leader albums. His most recent releases, Hello Pops, A Tribute to Louis Armstrong and Dreams of New Orleans, continue to receive rave reviews and both albums pay homage to Wycliffe's musical hero.

Evan Christopher's
Clarinet Road
with Special Guest
HILARY GARDNER

Ballroom - 7:15pm

EVAN CHRISTOPHER combines immaculate taste, virtuosity, and enthusiasm with a commitment to exploring the full range of possibilities in the New Orleans clarinet tradition. His highly personal brand of "contemporary, early jazz" strives to extend the legacies of early Creole clarinetists such as Sidney Bechet, Omer Simeon, and Barney Bigard. Critics remarking on Christopher's dynamic expressiveness have coined his style "close-encounter music" (The New York Times) and have called his respect for the music traditions of New Orleans, "a triumph, joining the present seamlessly to a glorious past." (The Observer UK). Christopher frequently appears as a guest with forward-looking groups, such as the New Orleans JazzOrchestra and the jazz composer guild, NOLA ArtHouse Music. He is also featured on New Orleans-based artists' recordings in various genres as a featured soloist.

Acclaimed singer HILARY GARDNER grew up in Wasilla, Alaska infatuated with New York City. Her stunning Anzic Records debut, The Great City, is part love letter, part lament to New York and the big dreams it represents. The Great City can be heard on radio stations across the country, and the album has garnered effusive praise from the jazz community, including DownBeat magazine, who named Hilary "an artist to watch in 2015."

She is a founding member of DUCHESS, a Boswell Sisters-inspired vocal trio with Anzic Records label-mates Amy Cervini and Melissa Stylianou. Hilary performs as a leader throughout New York City and is a frequent soloist with symphonies throughout the United States.

Bria Skonberg and
Her Jazz Compatriots
with Special Guest
Michael Mwenso

Ballroom - 8:30pm

One of the top performers from the HotJazz Renaissance generation, trumpeter, vocalist, composer and bandleader, BRIA SKONBERG was twice named a Rising Star by DownBeat, and nominated for Up and Coming Jazz Artist by Jazz Journalist Association. Last year, Skonberg racked up a Bistro Award for an Outstanding Jazz Artist and swept the 2014 Hot House Jazz Magazine Awards in all categories nominated: Best Jazz Artist, Best Trumpet, Best Female Vocalist and Best Group for the Bria Skonberg Quartet. Hailing from Chilliwack, British Columbia, Skonberg moved from her native Canada to New York City and, in just a few years, has headlined in concert halls and clubs such as Symphony Space, Birdland, The Iridium, Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola, Cafe Carlyle and The Town Hall. Bria focuses on innovating while honoring tradition; she has studied with Warren Vaché, experimented with fuzz pedals and presented a gig fusing jazz and stand up comedy. Those stylistic adventures can be heard on on her album Into Your Own (Random Act Records). Her debut US release So Is the Day peaked at #7 on the US National jazz charts; it features mostly original material and an all-star ensemble including John Pizzarelli, Victor Goines and Wycliffe Gordon. Released on Random Act Records (with 10% of all proceeds go to support the Jazz Foundation of America). The Wall Street Journal jazz critic Will Friedwald said, "If Louis Armstrong and Doris Day could somehow be the same person, they'd be Bria Skonberg."

Stephane Wrembel Band
Library Stage - 3:45pm

Rolling Stone has called STEPHANE WREMBEL "a revelation," while Woody Allen recruited him to score the theme for the smash film Midnight in Paris. Wrembel also performed the irresistibly catchy original song, "Bistro Fada," live during the 2012 Academy Awards. He has headlined at Lincoln Center, played major festivals, recorded with mandolin legend David Grisman, toured with master violinist Mark O'Connor and shared stages with everyone from Elvis Costello to Patti Smith to The Roots. The Gitane guitar company has even named a model after him. To say that Stephane Wrembel -- who learned his craft among the Gypsies at campsites in the French countryside -- has already had a remarkable career would be an understatement. This virtuoso guitarist from France has truly just begun to make his mark as one of the most original guitar voices in contemporary music. Wrembel recently released Dreamers of Dreams, his highly anticipated seventh studio album, recorded outside of New York City, where he has called home for over ten years. The album, which Wrembel recorded with his band -- bassist Dave Speranza, rhythm guitarist Roy Williams, and drummer Nick Anderson -- finds the musician corralling a myriad of influences into a hybrid that simultaneously reflects where he has been, and points to where he is headed. Although he built his reputation as a stylist in the mode of the iconic French Sinti guitarist Django Reinhardt, Wrembel now revels in transcending and expanding.

Nicki Parrott Trio
with Warren Vaché

Library Stage - 1:15pm

Born in Newcastle, Australia, bassist NICKI PARROTT moved to New York to study with Rufus Reid. Soon she began performing on Mondaynights at the Iridium Jazz Club with the legendary guitarist and inventor, Les Paul. As part of the Les Paul Trio, she worked side-by-side with guitar greats from Paul McCartney, Slash, Steve Miller to fellow Aussie, Tommy Emmanuel. Since then she has performed with such notable musicians as Michel Legrand, Joe Wilder, Randy Brecker, Clark Terry, Jose Feliciano, Bucky Pizzarelli, John Pizzarelli, Dick Hyman, Patti Labelle & the New York Pops Orchestra, Harry Allen, Warren Vaché, Marlena Shaw, David Krakauer, Ken Peplowski, Ann Hampton Callaway, Bill Mays, Scott Hamilton, Lillian Boutte, Larry Carlton and Houston Person, to name a few. Parrott also received back to back honors for Swing Journal's Best Jazz Vocal Album, Moon River andFly Me to The Moon, respectively. In 2010 her albumBlack Coffee received Swing Journal's Gold Disc award and, in 2012, she headlined the Fujitsu ConcordeJazz festival after the release of her eighth album from Venus Records, Sakura Sakura. Parrott has also performed in several Broadway shows such as Avenue Q, Imaginary Friends, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, and more, and has made several television and documentary appearances including Gossip Girl, Chasing Sound and Thank You Les, which recently debuted on PBS.

In cornetist WARREN VACHÉ, jazz has found a creator whose prodigious, hard-earned skills enable him to craft swinging performances of beauty, emotion and surprise. Sometimes narrowly classified as a swing musician, the cornetist regularly defies this or other labels. In the liner notes for Vaché's album Easy Going, Peter Straub wrote, "Here Warren has located himself firmly in that most immediately satisfying of jazzterritories, where (in trumpet terms) Bunny Berigan shakes hands with Clifford Brown." Having played in a variety of settings, including polka bands, Dixieland bands, big dance bands, Broadway pit bands, small jazz groups, and large freewheeling combos, it is in the latter setting that he has earned his worldwide reputation.

Jon-Erik Kellso's
EarRegulars

Ballroom - 2:15pm

Since moving to New York City in 1989 to join Vince Giordano's Nighthawks, trumpeter JON-ERIK KELLSO has enjoyed performing and recording with the likes of Ralph Sutton, Dan Barrett, Howard Alden, Marty Grosz, Milt Hinton, Bob Haggart, Dick Hyman, Catherine Russell, Linda Ronstadt, Leon Redbone, Levon Helm, Wynton Marsalis, Wycliffe Gordon, Ken Peplowski, Bob Wilbur, and Kenny Davern. Recent engagements include a week in Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola with Wynton Marsalis celebrating Louis Armstrong's Hot 5s and 7s; leading the EarRegulars at the Detroit Jazz Fest and Moab Music Fest; various appearances on Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion, including a live cinecast to movie theaters everywhere with Elvis Costello; several jazz fest at sea cruises; concerts at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. with John Lithgow; tours of the U.S. and Japan with Ken Peplowski's Kingdom of Swing big band; and, annual appearances in jazz clubs and festivals in New Orleans; and jazz parties,festivals, and concerts all over the world. At home in New York City, Kellso has been leading The EarRegulars featuring guitarist Matt Munisteri and various guest artists at the Ear Inn on Sundaynights since 2007. On Mondays and Tuesdays Kellso plays with Vince Giordano's Nighthawks at Iguana. Aside from these steadies, Kellso can also be seen performing at all the great NYC venues, including Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola, Birdland, the Blue Note, the Iridium and more. Kellso can be heard on several television and movie soundtracks, including Boardwalk Empire, Ghost World, The Aviator, The Good Shepherd, and Revolutionary Road with Vince Giordano's Nighthawks. Kellso is on well over a hundred albums, including five as a leader and three with Ruby Braff. Jon pays tribute to Braff on his album Remembering Ruby. His latest Arbors release, Blue Roof Blues: A Love Letter to New Orleans, is dedicated to Kellso friends in the Crescent City and all those affected by Hurricane Katrina.

The Hot Sardines
Ballroom - 11:00pm

Named "one of the best jazz bands in New York today" by Forbes, THE HOT SARDINES take Hot Jazz and standards from the 1920s, '30s, and '40s, sprinkle in the Dixieland sounds of New Orleans, add a dash of wartime Paris flavor, and infuse performances with a wealth of musical surprises (including a tap dancer) that hold audiences captive. Led by Parisian-born frontwoman/composer Miz Elizabeth and stride pianist/composer/bandleader Evan "Bibs" Palazzo, the Sardines have brought their blustery brass lineup, dynamic rhythm section, and playful energy to audiences around the world. They've sold out eleven straight shows at Joe's Pub, graced the stage at Lincoln Center's Midsummer Night Swing, played the MontrealJazz Festival, and headed out on their first national tour. Their latest album, The Hot Sardines, features a collection of both early jazz classics and original Sardine compositions.

Eddy Davis
New Orleans JazzBand

Library Stage - 8:45pm

EDDY DAVIS is a masterful musician, singer and composer. He received his formal training at Purdue University, Chicago University and both the Cosmopolitan and Chicago Conservatories of Music. Davis has appeared on stage at most major concert venues throughout the world: Paris' Olympia Theatre, London's Royal Festival Hall and New York's famed Carnegie Hall. He has performed with a diverse roster of talents that include: Jabbo Smith, Turk Murphy, George Brunis, the original Dukes of Dixieland, Tom Waits, Leon Redbone, George Segal, Gene Krupa, Freddie Hubbard and Benny Goodman. He can be seen in Mike Figgis' film One Night Stand and heard on many soundtracks including Fried Green Tomatoes, where he is accompanying Patti LaBelle. In his association with filmmaker Woody Allen, Mr. Davis has acted in and written original music for his productions and is musical director for The New Orleans Jazz Band (Allen featured on clarinet) that appearsMonday evenings at New York City's Upper East Side supper club The Cafe Carlyle. The New Orleans Jazz Band played a highly successful tour of Europe that spawned a film entitled Wild Man Blues. This film won honors at the Sundance and Venice film festivals. This band can be heard on the album The Bunk Project and on an album featuring selections from Wild Man Blues. Whether as a creator, conductor, producer and/or director, Mr. Davis has been the innovative force behind such projects, such as The New York Banjo Ensemble, the Jazz Leggs revue at Berlin, Germany's famed vaudeville house The Friedrichstadt Palast, Ill Music (The New York Society for the Preservation of Illegitimate Music), and many more.

Dan Levinson's
Bix Millennium All-Stars

Ballroom - 3:30pm

Experience the magic of Bix! DAN LEVINSON leads an all-star group in honor of cornet legend Bix Beiderbecke. Bix, born in 1903, lived only 28 years; but, during his brief career, he left an indelible mark on the history of jazz. He influenced and inspired instrumentalists for decades and into the next millennium. Bix's most memorable solos will be recreated in lush three-part harmony by two outstanding cornetists, Charlie Caranicas and Jon-Erik Kellso, along with Dan Levinson on the rarely heard C-melody saxophone, an instrument inexorably linked to Bix's music. They'll be accompanied by the rock-solid, driving rhythm of Mark Shane, Brian Nalepka and Kevin Dorn. A specialist in Traditional Jazz and Swing during his twenty-year career, clarinetist, Levinson has appeared alongside such prominent artists as Dick Hyman, Mel Tormé, Wynton Marsalis, Ed Polcer, Howard Alden, and many more. Equally at home as both a leader and sideman, Levinson has become one of the most prolific musicians on the scene. He has been a member of Vince Giordano's Nighthawks, and has been featured with them on Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion radio program and at Carnegie Hall.

Grand St. Stompers
Library Stage - 10:00pm

GRAND ST. STOMPERS is a New York-based New Orleans-style Hot Jazz band, reviving and refreshing the music of the 1920s onward for today's listeners, swing dancers, and music fans. With the talent and experience of NYC's top traditionaljazz singers and players, they have delighted audiences at festivals, dance conventions, music halls, weddings, and other special events. The Stompers are loved not only for their authentic performances of vintage jazz tunes, but also for their jazzy versions of songs from classical music, Disney, TV, film, and even pop music, as well as their own exciting originals. Grand St Stompers full octet features two exceptional vocalists: Tamar Korn and Molly Ryan. The Stompers' leader, trumpeter GORDON AU, called a musician "comfortable in any idiom" by music writer Michael Steinman, embodies the fusion of tradition and modernity that defines the Grand St. Stompers. During a fellowship residency with the world-renowned Monk Institute, he performed with no less than 23 Grammy Award winners, including Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Chaka Khan, George Benson, Ellis Marsalis, Benny Golson, and Terence Blanchard.

Terry Waldo's
Gotham City Band

Ballroom - 1:00pm

As a performer, composer, arranger, writer and producer, TERRY WALDO is a ragtime pianist nonpareil and eminent scholar of the form. Called one of America's premier performers and presenters of ragtime and early jazzby The New York Times, Waldo will lead his Gotham City Band that links jazz to its roots in ragtime. Known for his virtuoso ragtime and stride piano playing, charming vocals, and disarming wit, Waldo is the protege of the legendary Eubie Blake, who called Waldo "an extension of my own musical self." A musician and performer first and foremost, Waldo is also a renowned educator and instructor at Jazz at Lincoln Center's Swing University. Academic and dry he is not-- Waldo is also well-known for bringing laugh-out-loud humor to live performances in the vein of performers like Fats Waller. You'll learn a thing or two at this show, but more importantly, you'll spend the set grooving along with the Gotham City Band. Artists represented include Scott Joplin, Bunk Johnson, Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, and King Oliver.

Rhythm Future Quartet
Library Stage - 2:30pm

When four young jazz virtuosos decided to join forces, the RHYTHM FUTURE QUARTET was born. Named after a Django Reinhardt tune, the Rhythm Future Quartet performs dynamic and fiery arrangements of Gypsy jazz standards and original compositions. Jason Anick and Olli Soikkeli, the front-men and lead soloists of the group, have been receiving critical acclaim this past year and are considered rising stars in the world of Jazzand Gypsy Jazz. The prestigious Wall Street Journalproclaimed, "Olli Soikkeli is a riveting Finnish guitarist who combines astonishing dexterity and speed with pure soul in a way that places him among the worthiest current day successors to the legacy of the great Django." Jason Anick, who is also an award-winning composer and Berklee College of Music Instructor, received critical praise from the world-renowned Boston Globe which stated, "Jason's compositional voice is as distinctive as his virtuoso playing." Over the years they have individually been performing alongside notable musicians like John Jorgenson, Frank Vignola, Tommy Emmanuel, Bucky Pizzarelli, Andreas Öberg and Howard Alden and have finally joined forces to form this special group. For their debut self-titled album, the Rhythm Future Quartet decided to re-visit and record classic jazz and Gypsy jazz favorites. Through their intricate and creative arrangements, they have brought new life to songs like "Night and Day" and "Summertime." Coupled with musical sensitivity and virtuosity, the Rhythm Future Quartet's debut album acts as an enticing example of the future of Gypsy jazz music.

Riley Mulherkar & Alphonso Horne's Gotham Kings
with Special Guest
Michael Mwenso

Library Stage - 7:30pm

After a stellar debut at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola last September, ALPHONSO HORNE and RILEY MULHERKAR bring their two-trumpet act to the New York HotJazz Festival, presenting the music of the King Oliver Creole Jazz Band. The virtuosity of the young Louis Armstrong and innovative genius of King Oliver is passed back and forth interchangeably between Horne and Mulherkar, and fueled by a high energy band including drummer and tambourine player extraordinaire Joe Saylor and fearless tap dancer Michela Marino Lerman. Gotham Kings weaves the sound of New Orleans into a rich musical fabric that demonstrates the history of the trumpet and the story of jazz.

Trumpeter Alphonso Horne has performed with many renowned jazz artists including Wynton Marsalis, Wes Anderson, Marcus Roberts, Delfeayo Marsalis, Diana Reeves, Michael Feinstein, and Jane Monheit. World-renowned trumpeter Wynton Marsalis included Alphonso in a list of 16 youngjazz musicians on "Wynton's Picks: Who's Got Next." Recently, Horne subbed for Wynton Marsalis in the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, and toured with the orchestra for the 25th Anniversary Tour. Mr. Horne also performed on Broadway in the 17-piece orchestra for the show After Midnight featuring guest artists Fantasia Barrino, Dule Hill, K.D. Lang, Babyface, Toni Braxton and many more. Born and raised in Seattle, Riley Mulherkar received the Ella Fitzgerald Outstanding Soloist Award at Jazz at Lincoln Center's Essentially Ellington Competition in 2010 and was named a "rising jazz artist" by Wynton Marsalis in JET Magazine the following year. He has performed at the Umbria Jazz Festival, Jazz à Vienne, and Carnegie Hall, and has shared the stage with Marsalis, Leonard Slatkin, and Paquito D'Rivera, among others. In September of 2014, Mulherkar was named the first recipient of the Laurie Frink Career Grant at the Festival of New Trumpet Music.

Special guest vocalist MICHAEL MWENSO was born in Sierra Leone, West Africa, and soon moved to London, where he began to develop his love for jazz. After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Michael was asked to be a vocalist in the play Katrina, a production by Jericho House in London. Mwenso also developed a radio program and an educational program for children to study jazz at Ronnie Scott's. In late 2010, Michael was personally asked by Wynton Marsalis to join the programming team at Jazz at Lincoln Center and head the After-Hours program at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola, where he currently is employed. In his growing yet remarkable career, Michael has performed with Jon Hendricks, Jamie Cullum, Reginald Veal, Maceo Parker, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Wynton Marsalis, and many others.

Glenn Crytzer's Savoy Seven
Library Stage - 11:15pm

Multi-band leader GLENN CRYTZER focuses on authentic performance of the styles of American Jazz performed prior to and during World War 2. GLENN CRYTZER'S SAVOY SEVEN is Crytzer's newest undertaking as a bandleader. This seven-piece lineup, with trumpet, two reeds, and a four-piece rhythm section, gives Crytzer the opportunity to flex his muscles and have some fun as an arranger and composer. Crytzer went to his first swing dance event when he was eighteen; with this first-hand knowledge of dance, he has an intimate understanding of the way that dancers hear and feel music, while his background as a composer gives him the technical knowledge and ability to bring that music to life through his arrangements, original compositions, and musical direction of the talented performers he selects for his ensembles. It's here that you'll hear charts for all his latest compositions as well as his newest small-band arrangements of vintage classics by artists like Benny Goodman, Count Basie, John Kirby, Duke Ellington, and more.

Dennis Lichtman's
Mona's Hot Four

Library Stage - 4:50pm

Originally from Boston and currently living in New York City, DENNIS LICHTMAN is a 35-year-old multi-instrumentalist (clarinet, violin, mandolin) who is deeply entrenched in early American music, from traditional jazz and swing to bluegrass and western swing. His elegant voice carries through on all three instruments, lending a thread that weaves together the various genres he navigates. Since 2007, Dennis has been the clarinetist and bandleader of the famed Tuesday night traditional-jazz jam session at Mona's in downtown New York, which was recently profiled in The New York Times, and has been described by The Wall Street Journal as "ground zero for an emerging late-night scene of young swing and traditional jazz players." December 2012 saw the release of Tuesdays At Mona's, a 19-minute documentary about the Mona's session produced by Hi-Tide Films, accompanied by a live album of Mona's Hot Four with 19 guest musicians.

Jam Session Band Led by David Ostwald &
Gordon Au

DAVID OSTWALD formed his first jazz band inspired by the heart of America's greatest art form. Ostwald leads the Gully Low Jazz Band, whose second album, with blues great Big Joe Turner was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1986, and whose fourth album, Blues in Our Heart, was released to critical acclaim. Since, the band has been engaged in an open-ended weekly Wednesday run at New York City's Birdland, where it is known as the Louis Armstrong Eternity Band. In addition to his numerous recording appearances, Mr. Ostwald has performed with such varied artists as Wynton Marsalis, Dick Hyman, Nicholas Payton, Clark Terry, Benny Waters, Woody Allen, Jon Hendricks, Leon Redbone and the Oxford University Orchestral Society under Sir Jack Westrup.

RAGTIME, STRIDE & JAZZ AGE SONGBOOK:

PIANO ROOM:
Bill Charlap
Jon Weber and Special Guest Margi Gianquinto
Terry Waldo
Peter Sokolow
Chris Pattishall
Conal Fowkes

Bill Charlap

One of the world's premiere jazz pianists, BILL CHARLAP has performed with many leading artists of our time, ranging from Phil Woods and Tony Bennett to Gerry Mulligan and Wynton Marsalis. He is known for his interpretations of American popular songs and has recorded albums featuring the music of Hoagy Carmichael, Leonard Bernstein and George Gershwin. Timewrote, "Bill Charlap approaches a song the way a lover approaches his beloved ... no matter how imaginative or surprising his take on a song is, he invariably zeroes in on its essence." Born in New York City, Charlap began playing the piano at age three. His father was Broadway composer Moose Charlap, whose credits include Peter Pan, and his mother is singer Sandy Stewart, who appeared on the Ed Sullivan and Perry Como shows and earned a Grammy nomination for her recording of "My Coloring Book." In 2005, Charlap and Stewart released the acclaimed album Love Is Here To Stay. Charlap is the artistic director of New York City's Jazz in July Festival at the 92nd Street Y. He has produced several concerts for Jazz at Lincoln Center and an evening of George Gershwin's music at the Hollywood Bowl.

Jon Weber and
Special Guest
Margi Gianquinto

It's a wonderful thing when jazz insiders from all over the world enthusiastically discover an intelligent, creative talent like JON WEBER. A spectacular solo pianist, Weber's brilliantly crafted and wonderfully spontaneous orchestrations easily place him in the rarefied company of today's elite jazz musicians. Jazz Journal International writes, "Jon Weber is a virtuoso pianist with outstanding technique plus boundless imagination and enthusiasm who is bound to make a big impression on the international jazz scene." CNN, CNBC, BET, Bravo, NPR, and Voice of America have profiled Jon Weber's unique musical depth and vast knowledge of his craft. After guest-hosting on NPR's Jazz Piano for host Marian McPartland, Weber hosted a popular spinoff program, Piano Jazz Rising Stars.

Weber will be joined by up-and-coming vocalist MARGI GIANQUINTO. From an early age, Gianquinto has had a passion for the timeless evergreens of Tin Pan Alley, Broadway and Old Hollywood. Her sultry style, which many describe as "vintage," is reminiscent of an earlier era when those marvelous big band singers and gifted vocalists sang the music of Berlin, Gershwin, Porter, Arlen and Rodgers and Hart. When she's not leading the band Margi & The Dapper Dots, Gianquinto teaches both individual and group piano lessons (holistic musicianship at the piano, including singing), accompanies in churches, schools and for choirs in and around Brooklyn, Manhattan and Connecticut, and has sung in several professional (both secular and church) choirs, along with music-directed musicals and led both child and adult choirs.

Peter Sokolow

PETER SOKOLOW (a.k.a Klezmer Fats) is a pianist, vocalist, and arranger who has had a dual career in music for more than 50 years. In the field of klezmer music, he is the link between the old and young musical generations, having played and recorded with many of the great klezmer luminaries. Pete is also widely known as a stride pianist in the Fats Waller style.

Chris Pattishall

Recently named by Wynton Marsalis as one of the top five jazz musicians under 30 to watch, CHRIS PATTISHALL is quickly generating a powerful presence in the jazz world. Combining "an impressive technique and a true jazz feeling," (Spike Wilner, Smalls Jazz Club) Pattishall embodies a music that is at once intelligent, soulful and joyous. He has appeared with Wynton Marsalis, Jon Hendricks, Jimmy Heath, Donald Byrd, George Coleman, Billy Hart, Jamey Aebersold, Wycliffe Gordon, Fred Wesley, Steve Wilson, Steve Nelson, Billy Kilson, Bucky Pizzarelli, Russell Malone, Mark Whitfield Sr. and Rafiq Bhatia. Recent programs have presented distinctive interpretations of the music of Nat "King" Cole, Fletcher Henderson, and Mary Lou Williams. He also leads the Chris Pattishall Trio, who can be heard at Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola.

Conal Fowkes

CONAL FOWKES is a Grammy-winning pianist, double-bassist, vocalist, arranger and teacher. His skills and expertise cover diverse fields of music from traditional jazz to swing and post-bop, from traditional Cuban Son to Salsa and Latin jazz. Since moving to New York in 1996 he has performed in most of the premier concert halls and jazz clubs including Blue Note, Village Vanguard, Birdland, Smalls, Lincoln Center, Town Hall, Cafe Carlyle, Algonquin, and more. He has performed with Wynton Marsalis, Bucky Pizzarelli, Wycliffe Gordon, Vince Giordano's Nighthawks Orchestra, Cyro Baptista and Bette Midler, and appeared on Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion. Fowkes was also featured on the soundtrack of the Woody Allen film You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger and plays the voice and piano of Cole Porter in Allen's Oscar-winning film Midnight in Paris, the soundtrack from which won a Best Compilation Grammy award in 2012. He has been with the Woody Allen New Orleans Jazz Band since 2001, touring extensively around the world while also maintaining their regular Monday nights at the Cafe Carlyle.


ABOUT THE VENUE - THE PLAYERS is a members-only club located at 16 Gramercy Park South in Manhattan, NYC. Overlooking Gramercy Park, this clubhouse holds more than a century of social club history, boasting founding members such as Mark Twain, Laurence Hutton, and William Tecumseh Sherman.



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