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Boston's Jazz Week '12 International Kicks Off with a Musical Celebration of the Japan-U.S. Cherry Blossom Centennial, Featuring Keiko Matsui
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Jazz Week '12 International, presented by JazzBoston in collaboration with artists, organizations, and venues throughout the Greater Boston area, will showcase Boston's vibrant global jazz scene with over 300 performances in 90 venues in and around the city. Now in its 6th year, Jazz Week has again received official proclamations from the Mayors of Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville.
Highlights of the week include performances by legendary South African guitarist/vocalist Jonathan Butler; Grammy Award-winning Panamanian composer/pianist Danilo Perez and the Berklee Global Jazz Ensemble; the incredible duo of Brad Mehldau and Joshua Redman; Pulitzer Prize-winning composer John Harbison , who will premiere five jazz songs for voices, jazz ensemble, and small groups; renowned vocalist Jane Monheit; and a tribute band offering jazz in the style of Brazilian maestro, Sergio Mendes.
Jazz Week '12 International kicks off on Apr. 27, when JazzBoston and Scullers Jazz Club join to present a musical celebration of the Japan-U.S. Cherry Blossom Centennial and 100 years of friendship, featuring Japanese contemporary jazz star Keiko Matsui (photo left, above). Japan's Deputy Consul General in Boston, Nobuyuki Watanabe, will be the guest of honor at this performance, and Boston-based flutist Hiroaki Honshuku will make a guest appearance.
See the special Jazz Week Schedule of Events on the JazzBoston website for the full range of music coming your way, and check regularly for updates. Also, please note that we've just added a mobile friendly version of the Jazz Week schedule and the regular events calendar.
Click here for more information about participating in Jazz Week '12 International.
To become a JazzBoston member, click here.
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Noontime Kickoff Concerts, Walking Tour of Boston's "Jazz Mecca"
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Among the highlights on Jazz Week kickoff day, Friday, Apr. 27, are a series of free noontime concerts in public spaces around town, featuring student ensembles presented by New England Conservatory and JazzBoston. Look for the Davindar Singh Quartet at Downtown Crossing, the Gypsy Jazz Duo at South Station, and Ro Sham Beaux at the Prudential Center.
At 5:30 that day, take a Walking Tour of Boston's "Jazz Mecca" that departs from Ruggles MBTA Station. The tour offers a glimpse of a forgotten period of Boston's and America's jazz history, with stops at the locations of some of the most famous clubs and after-hours venues on the East Coast and stories drawn from oral histories collected by the "High Notes of Jazz Roxbury" project. The free tour is presented by Discover Roxbury and JazzBoston.
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Jazz Week @ the Boston Public Library, Jazz Week @ the Boston Children's Museum
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On Thursday, May 3, 6 p.m., at the Central Library in Copley Square, saxophonist and educator Tom Hall leads an interactive workshop guaranteed to increase your awareness of the improvisational possibilities of each moment whether you are playing an instrument, playing with your kids, or working at a job. Hall is the author of "Free Improvisation: A Practical Guide", and the creator/host of ImprovLive 365", a daily webseries about creativity. Free and open to all.
Meet Tyrone the Tenor Saxophone, Sally the Soprano, and the rest of the Reed family on Saturday, May 5, at 1 and 2 p.m. when "Riffs & Raps-Jazz for the Very Young" comes to the Boston Children's Museum. Master teachers/performers Arni Cheatham and Bill Lowe introduce each instrument separately, demonstrating the differences in their tone, pitch, and character. Children learn how the vibrating reed works by playing straw kazoos. Free with museum admission. |
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Jazz Swarms at Lunch, Dudley Square Day of History and Discovery
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Treat yourself to an energizing lunch break at South Station with Jazz Swarms from noon to 1 p.m., Monday, Apr. 30, to Friday, May 4. The large same-instrument ensembles are led by prominent Boston-based musicians in a series presented by JazzBoston and conceived and produced by Ken Field (in photo, center, leading Jazz Swarms in 2011). The lineup:
Monday - Flutes, Matt Samolis
Tuesday - Clarinets, Todd Brunel
Wednesday - Trombones, Gregg Moore
Thursday - Saxophones, Ken Field
Friday - Trumpets, Jerry Sabatini
On Saturday, Apr. 28 from 2 to 3 p.m., JazzBoston brings a marching quartet to Hibernian Hall to join the "Dudley Square Day of History and Discovery" festivities and greet Mayor Thomas M. Menino when he arrives to launch Historic Preservation Month in Boston and celebrate the Square's revitalization.
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Launch of "The Boston Jazz Chronicles: Faces, Places, and Nightlife 1937-1962"
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Boston's jazz past meets Boston's jazz present at Wally's Jazz Cafe on Sunday, May 6, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. when author Richard Vacca combines the launch of his eagerly awaited book, "The Boston Jazz Chronicles: Faces, Places, and Nightlife 1937-1962," with his annual Jazz Week history talk at a party that segues into Wally's regular Sunday evening jam session. This year's topic is "The Friends of Wally Walcott"-the jazz legends who knew Wally and worked at the club in the forties, fifties, and sixties, including Alan Dawson, J. C. Higginbotham, Joe Gordon, and Paul Gonsalves. Light refreshments will be served. Come for the party, stay for the jam session. A great way to end Jazz Week - where Boston jazz began!
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Use Facebook, Twitter to Share Your Jazz Week '12 Comments, Photos
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If you use Facebook or Twitter, please email us your handle and/or account name(s) so that we can help get the word out about the great music being made around Greater Boston before, during and after Jazz Week '12. Just as importantly, we'd love it if you shared your comments and photos by using tags and likes on Facebook and #JazzBoston hashtags in Tweets.
If you're not yet on Facebook or Twitter, here's how you can get started.
You can Tweet to the JazzBoston account by typing @JazzBoston (not case sensitive) in your Tweet (Twitter post) along with your comment or question. (Note: Twitter followers will be able to see your post.) To Tweet photos of Jazz Week '12 you'd like to share with everyone, just use a sharing app like Twitpic (http://instagr.am/), or your favorite smartphone app, and be sure to include @JazzBoston in the Tweet.
We encourage you to use Facebook to stay up to date before, during and after Jazz Week '12. We also hope you will share your comments on JazzBoston's Facebook wall. If you are on Facebook, please go to http://www.facebook.com/JazzBoston and like our page.
Follow JazzBoston on Twitter Like us on Facebook.
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Esperanza Spalding Concert Discount Available
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World Music/CRASHarts is offering JazzBoston members and friends a 20 percent discount for tickets to hear bassist, vocalist, and composer Esperanza Spalding on Sunday, Apr. 22, at 7:30 p.m. at the Orpheum Theatre. Spalding became the first jazz musician to receive the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 2011 and will perform works from her new release, Radio Music Society, with her 12-piece band.
To receive the discount, purchase tickets by noon on Apr. 20 and use the code "Jazzblast." Click here for tickets.
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Thanks to Our Jazz Week '12 International Sponsors and Partners
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JazzBoston thanks our Jazz Week Sponsors and Partners, including Lead Sponsor Consulate General of Japan.
We are also grateful for the continuing support of the 89.7 WGBH, Jazz Week radio sponsor once again.
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