Count Basie News

Multiple-GRAMMY® Award-winning singer/songwriter Rob Thomas has released his highly anticipated fourth solo album, Chip Tooth Smile – available today via Emblem/Atlantic Records. The 12-track collection features production from Butch Walker (Panic! At The Disco, P!nk) and Benny Blanco (Ed Sheeran), perfectly complimenting Thomas' long-acclaimed songwriting talent.

Executive Director Thor Steingraber unveils the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts' 2019-20 Season, which features a reconsideration of Randy Newman's musical Faust, in a concert format (May 9), an opening night recital with Itzhak Perlman accompanied by Rohan De Silva, piano (September 19), and a Beethoven 250th Birthday Celebration featuring six concerts beginning with Jonathan Biss, piano (October 15 & 16); other concerts include the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio (November 13), Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with Pinchas Zukerman, Principal Guest Conductor and Violin Soloist (January 24), Christian Tetzlaff, violin, with Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (February 7), Academy of St Martin in the Fields with Joshua Bell (March 4) and Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra (March 25).

New Jersey Symphony Orchestra unveiled its 2019-20 Pops Season, and State Theatre New Jersey is co-presenting Star Wars: Return of the Jedi on Sunday, February 9, 2020 at 3pm; and Star Wars: The Force Awakens on Sunday, April 19, 2020 at 3pm. Tickets go on sale Sat, May 4 at 10am. Tickets are $35-$125.

On Saturday, May 11, 2019 at 12:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m., three vibrant New York City-based artists will perform in Zankel Hall as part of My City, My Song, an interactive Family Concert celebrating music from around the world. The concert features jazz standards performed by vocalist Brianna Thomas, the percussive rhythms of Puerto Rican bomba and plena music from father-daughter duo Juan Gutierrez and Julia Gutierrez-Rivera (with fellow musicians from Los Pleneros de la 21), and samba from Brazil's Carnival with singer-songwriter Fabiana Masili. Free pre-concert activities are offered one hour prior to each performance, preparing parents and children to sing and dance along with the artists.

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra's 2019-20 pops season includes concert performances of two Star Wars films and two Harry Potter films, as well as a Classical Mystery Tour tribute to The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra performs free concerts in five New Jersey parks in June, featuring a family-friendly program of diverse music from across the Americas. The NJSO performs free concerts at Echo Lake Park in Mountainside, Maxwell Place Park in Hoboken, Ocean County College in Toms River, Branch Brook Park in Newark and Marine Park in Red Bank.

Birdland has announced its upcoming May program!

Effective July 1, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra Trustees Ann Borowiec and Norman Slonaker will assume leadership as co-chairs of the NJSO Board of Trustees, succeeding Linda Bowden and David Huber.

 Concord Jazz and Live Nation are proud to present the 50th Anniversary Concord Jazz Festival, to be held on Saturday, August 3rd at the Concord Pavilion in Concord, California. 2019 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the festival, which began at a city park in 1969 and gave birth to the venerable Concord Jazz label. Concord Jazz continues its commitment to presenting the finest jazz and live music with this year's line-up.

Birdland will kick-off their great week of programming with the following acts:

The Recording Academy will honor its 2019 Special Merit Awards recipients with 'GRAMMY Salute To Music Legends®,' an awards ceremony and live tribute concert on Saturday, May 11, 2019, at Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. This year's Lifetime Achievement Award honorees are Black Sabbath, George Clinton & Parliament-Funkadelic, Billy Eckstine, Donny Hathaway, Julio Iglesias, Sam & Dave, and Dionne Warwick. Lou Adler, Nickolas Ashford & Valerie Simpson, and Johnny Mandel are Trustees Award honorees; and Saul Walker is the Technical GRAMMY® Award recipient. Also being honored is Jeffery Redding, this year's recipient of the Music Educator Award presented by the Recording Academy and GRAMMY Museum®. Led by GRAMMY®-nominated industry icon Greg Phillinganes as musical director, the tribute concert will feature rare performances by honorees and never-seen renditions by those they've inspired. Currently scheduled to appear are Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Clinton; GRAMMY winner Bootsy Collins, who will salute Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic; five-time GRAMMY winner Lalah Hathaway and Kenya Hathaway, who will pay tribute to their father Donny; past Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Johnny Mathis, who will honor Warwick; Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient Sam Moore;two-time GRAMMY winner Gregory Porter, who will pay tribute to Eckstine; Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Simpson; past GRAMMY nominee Snoop Dogg, who will salute Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic; and Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Warwick. Presenters for the evening will include GRAMMY winners Cheech & Chong. Additional performers and presenters will be announced shortly. Tickets for the event will be on sale via a Ticketmaster pre-sale, beginning today at 10 a.m. PT. The password to access the pre-sale is LEGENDS.

Hylton Performing Arts Center announced today its 2019-2020 season of mainstage performances, featuring a diverse lineup of artists and ensembles across genres, as part of Hylton Presents, Hylton Family Series, Matinee Idylls, and the American Roots Series. The Hylton Center also announced the first Hylton Center EXTRA! for the season: the husband and wife duo and banjo icons, B la Fleck and Abigail Washburn, in a special concert event featuring their unique blend of alternative bluegrass. Season subscriptions are on sale to Friends of the Hylton Center at HyltonCenter.org/preview or by phone at 703-993-7700. For the general public, subscriptions go on sale Wednesday, April 24 and single tickets on Thursday, August 1. More details are available at HyltonCenter.org.

Coastal Jazz & Blues Society announced today additional performances for the 34th annual TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival, taking place June 21 to July 1. The Festival lineup now includes headliner Herbie Hancock at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on June 29 as well as genre-bending performances from diverse, cutting-edge artists at Performance Works on Granville Island, Pyatt Hall (843 Seymour Street), and Frankie's Jazz Club (765 Beatty Street).

New Jersey Symphony Orchestra Concertmaster Eric Wyrick takes center stage in a pair of double concertos, pairing with electric guitarist Steven Mackey in Mackey's Four Iconoclastic Episodes and with Sphinx Competition winner Annelle Gregory in Bach's Concerto for Two Violins-May 16-19. Music Director Xian Zhang conducts the program, which also features Beethoven's Leonore Overture No. 3 and Weber's Overture to Oberon.

Reaching back to the past in order to move a musical artform forward, the BT ALC Big Band turns loose the might and muscle of a 13-piece horn section to huff and puff and blow down any previously held conceptions of what a big band could be. The mission of the 19-piece Boston big band's forthcoming album, “The Search For Peace,” is part passion, part music education and anything but peaceful. The bombardment of funk and jazz, written by trombonist Brian Thomas and trumpeter Alex Lee-Clark and produced by Alan Evans (Soulive), drops May 17 on Ropeadope.

The annual Highlights In Jazz series, a fan fave for almost a half century, can be counted on to deliver concerts that surprise and delight savvy jazz fans. The third event of the 2019 lineup showcases one of the series' most beloved traditions: paying homage to a living jazz great. The Highlights In Jazz presentation Salute to Randy Brecker celebrates the music and contributions of this beloved trumpeter and contemporary jazz icon. “Let's honor them while they can smell the roses,” declares producer Jack Kleinsinger.

 In 1962, fifty-seven years ago, the magnificent TONY BENNETT recorded "I Left My Heart in San Francisco."  The song was honored with two Grammy Awards, including "Record of the Year" and gave Tony a signature tune that, as he delights in saying, has made him "A Citizen of the World."  Last March, the classic was entered into the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress as "an aural treasure worthy of preservation." Now in 2019, and about to turn an ageless 93, the legendary performer -  himself a world treasure - continues to leave his heart in each song that he sings and in every aspect of his life.

Hot off the heels of a sold-out fourth cruise, Steven “Little Steven” Van Zandt's Renegade Circus and Sixthman, the industry leader in music festivals at sea, are proud to announce the lineup for the fifth annual Outlaw Country Cruise. The extensive lineup includes The Mavericks, Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle & The Dukes, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Shooter Jennings, Son Volt, Elizabeth Cook, Waco Brothers, Carlene Carter, Kinky Friedman, Dale Watson And His Lone Stars, Jesse Dayton, Bottle Rockets, Robbie Fulks, Jim Lauderdale, Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams, NRBQ, The Long Ryders, Jason Ringenberg, Warner Hodges, The Yayhoos, Jesse Malin, Sarah Borges, Rosie Flores, Deke Dickerson, The Mastersons, Jaime Wyatt, Sarah Gayle Meech, Waylon Payne, Paula Nelson Band, Folk Uke, Heybale!, Dallas Wayne, Roger Alan Wade, and of course, Mojo Nixon with more to be announced!

The living legends of jazz, veteran musicians who have achieved greatness in performing jazz are now being honored at The Nash with the creation of The Jazz Beacon Award. Conceived by Lewis Nash as a way to recognize the important role and contributions these musicians have given to the world of jazz, The Nash inducted its first honoree, bassist Ron Carter, during his March 23rd appearance at the downtown Phoenix jazz club.

​​​​​​​Brooklyn Rider will perform at the Capitol Center for the Arts (Concord, NH) on Wednesday, May 8, 2019 at 7:30PM.  This performance is part of the 2018-'19 William H. Gile Concert Series.