Caramoor Presents Its 23rd Annual Jazz Festival on July 23 in Collaboration with Jazz at Lincoln Center, Headlined by Chick Corea Trio
Now in its 23rd season, the annual Caramoor Jazz Festival returns this year on Saturday, July 23 – curated again by Jazz at Lincoln Center after last summer’s enormously successful programming collaboration – bringing together an eclectic mix of established jazz legends, future phenoms, big bands, and solo performers for a daylong excursion into every corner of America’s home-grown art form. This summer’s Jazz Festival will culminate with a headline performance on the Venetian Theater mainstage by the Chick Corea Trio, which, along with Corea, features bassist Christian McBride and drummer Brian Blade. Also performing in the Venetian Theater during the day is Ladies Sing the Blues, a group of three stellar jazz vocalists (Catherine Russell, Brianna Thomas, and Charenée Wade) paying impassioned tribute to the great female blues singers of the 1920s: Bessie Smith, Mamie Smith, Ma Rainey, and Ethel Waters. New Jersey drummer Evan Sherman and his big band, with celebrated jazz tap dancer Michela Marino Lerman, round out the daytime Venetian Theater roster. A multitude of other acts will appear around the historic Caramoor estate during the day, including the Gotham Kings, led by the two trumpeters Riley Mulherkar and Alphonso Horne. The trumpeters are backed by a high-energy ensemble that again includes tap dancer Lerman, and she will also be part of a trio performance with Gotham Kings bassist Russell Hall and guitarist Gabe Schnider. Other Jazz Festival performers include Trinidadian trumpeter Etienne Charles & Creole Soul presenting Afro-Caribbean inflected jazz; jazz vocalist Jazzmeia Horn, winner of the 2015 Thelonius Monk Institute International Jazz Competition; Bria Skonberg, who “looks like a Scandinavian angel, plays trumpet like a red hot devil, and sings like a dream” (Wall Street Journal); and many more, with full lineup details below. An All Day & Evening ticket provides access to all performances and activities; a Day Only ticket provides access to everything excluding the evening Chick Corea Trio performance.
In addition to the musical offerings on tap at this year’s Jazz Festival, Caramoor’s stunning Westchester estate provides the perfect setting for an outing for the whole family. Special activities for young and old alike include tours of the historic Rosen House; a scavenger hunt; raffles to win free tickets to upcoming shows; a wide selection of food and drink; “Riffin’ with Riley,” a 30-minute family-friendly interactive workshop on elements of swing, the blues, and improv, led by trumpeter Riley Mulherkar of the Gotham Kings; and an all-day instrument “petting zoo” that will give kids of all ages a chance to handle and learn about various instruments, presented by the national music store chain Music & Arts.
Besides the daylong Jazz Festival, Caramoor and Jazz at Lincoln Center will present two other jazz performances this summer: Fred Hersch & Friends will give an intimate Spanish Courtyard show on July 9; and on August 6, Cécile McLorin Salvant returns to Caramoor for the third year in a row, performing in the Venetian Theater with the Aaron Diehl Trio.
Situated on 90 acres of picturesque Italianate architecture and gardens in Katonah, NY, the Caramoor estate is just an hour’s drive from Manhattan. Jazz has been part of Caramoor’s cultural mix for almost three decades, with performances by the likes of the great Ray Brown, as well as the big bands carrying on the official heritage of Count Basie and Duke Ellington. The Jazz Festival was founded in 1993, and has since devoted itself to convening an eclectic array of jazz legends and future stars for one-of-a-kind collaborations and fresh synergies. In recent years, Caramoor’s exquisite setting and laid-back charm have attracted such performers as Bill Frisell, Jason Moran, McCoy Tyner, Roy Haynes, Vijay Iyer, Dr. John, Robert Glasper and Paquito D’Rivera, among many others. As the Huffington Post said about jazz at Caramoor: “One couldn’t ask for a more exciting and contemporary selection of musical performers to choose from.” For ticket information and more, go to www.caramoor.org/music/jazz.
Chick Corea Trio (photo: Andrew Elliot)
Chick Corea Trio
Iconic keyboardist, composer and bandleader Chick Corea, who the New York Times calls “a luminary, ebullient and eternally youthful,” is the fourth most nominated artist in Grammy Awards history, with 63 nods and 22 wins, in addition to a number of Latin Grammys. A veteran of Miles Davis’s genre-shattering bands of the late ’60s and early ’70s and founder of the pioneering jazz-rock fusion band Return to Forever, Corea has collaborated throughout his long career with a diverse roster of musicians stretching from jazz legend Lionel Hampton to new-generation pianist Stefano Bollani, and from banjoist Béla Fleck to vocal superstar Bobby McFerrin. The 21st century has proven his most productive period yet, and he has been named Artist of the Year three times this decade in the DownBeat Readers Poll. His 2014 release, Trilogy, was a live triple-disc set with his Caramoor cohorts, bassist Christian McBride and drummer Brian Blade, both legendary performers in their own right. McBride, who, like Corea, is already familiar to Caramoor audiences, is a bass virtuoso and one of the most recorded artists of his generation, not only in jazz but also hip-hop, soul and pop. Louisiana native Blade is also a composer, multi-instrumental session musician and singer-songwriter who has recorded with Joshua Redman, Wayne Shorter and Joni Mitchell, among many others. Trilogy includes everything from classic Corea tunes like “Spain” to previously unreleased compositions and even a prelude by Alexander Scriabin. As All About Jazz noted: “[Corea] has never been more active—and with albums as superb as Trilogy … [is] clearly at the top of his game.” Click here to see a trailer for the 2010 debut tour of the Chick Corea Trio.
Fred Hersch & Friends, Cécile McLorin Salvant with Aaron Diehl Trio
Fred Hersch, called by Vanity Fair “the most arrestingly innovative pianist in jazz over the last decade or so,” and who the New Yorker says “specializes in high lyricism and high danger,” hosts two of his favorite artists June 9 for a performance in Caramoor’s Spanish Garden. Grammy-nominated saxophonist Chris Potter and “enchanting, lyrical and true” (Ottawa Citizen) vocalist Kate McGarry join Hersch for this inventive night of music-making. Click here to watch Fred Hersch in a live performance of his composition “Whirl” at Jazz at Lincoln Center.
Nominated for Best Jazz Vocal Album at this year’s Grammy’s for her second major release, For One to Love, Cécile McLorin Salvant drew this praise from DownBeat: “Making the old sound new and the offbeat feel inevitable, she’s a jazz songbird for the 21st century.” She returns this year after sharing the stage with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra at the 2015 Jazz Festival. Drawing on a wide array of influences – her Miami upbringing, her father’s Haitian origins, classical voice and piano training, and taboo subjects in traditional jazz music – Salvant’s “aesthetic idiosyncrasies immediately mark her apart” (NPR) and make for intimate, powerful performances. Click here to watch her rendition of Rodgers & Hart’s “I Didn’t Know What Time It Was,” superlatively accompanied by the Aaron Diehl Trio live at Dizzy’s in New York City.
A detailed listing of Caramoor Jazz Festival concerts appears below, and more information is available at www.caramoor.org.
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About Caramoor
For more than 70 years, Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts has been a leading destination for music lovers. Comprising a Mediterranean revival villa on 90 acres of gardens and serene woodlands in Westchester County, NY, the estate is just 40 miles north of Manhattan. Summer concerts take place in two outdoor theaters – the 1,508-seat, acoustically superb Venetian Theater, and the more intimate, romantic 470-seat Spanish Courtyard – as well as in the picturesque gardens, which include a Sense Circle for the visually impaired, Sunken Garden, Butterfly Garden, Tapestry Hedge, and Iris and Peony Garden. Audiences are invited to come early to explore the grounds, tour the historic Rosen House, enjoy a relaxing Sunday afternoon tea, or unwind with a pre-concert picnic. Click here for a short video history of Caramoor and the Rosen House.
In addition to the summer season, Caramoor presents concerts all year round in the magnificent Rosen House Music Room. Through an impressive range of education programs, Caramoor serves more than 6,000 students in the New York metropolitan area, besides boasting an array of highly successful mentorship programs designed for young professionals who have completed their conservatory training. Over the past 20 years, alumni from these programs have become leaders of the next classical generation, whose accomplishments include winning a MacArthur Fellowship, becoming first violinist of the Juilliard String Quartet, and appointment as the Concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic.
Getting to Caramoor
Getting to Caramoor is simple by car, train or public transportation. All parking is free and close to the performance areas. Handicapped parking is also free and readily available.
By car from New York City, take the Henry Hudson Parkway north to the Saw Mill River Parkway north to I-684 north to Exit 6. Go east on Route 35 to the traffic light (.3 mile). Turn right onto Route 22 south, and travel 1.9 miles to the junction of Girdle Ridge Road where there is a green Caramoor sign. At the junction, veer left and make a quick right onto Girdle Ridge Road. Continue on Girdle Ridge Road 0.5 miles to the Caramoor gates on the right. Approximate drive time is one hour.
By train from Grand Central Station, take the Harlem Division Line of the Metro North Railroad heading to Southeast, and exit at Katonah. Caramoor is a 3.5-mile drive from the Katonah station, where taxi service is always available and shuttle service is available for the American Roots Music and Jazz Festivals. For current information, check the Metro North schedule.
For the opera performances, Caramoor offers ticketed, round-trip transportation from NYC on the Caramoor Coach, a luxury air-conditioned coach traveling from Grand Central/Lexington Ave to Caramoor’s front door and back. To learn more, contact the Box Office.
Caramoor: Upcoming Jazz Performances
July 9
Spanish Courtyard
Fred Hersch & Friends
Presented in Collaboration with Jazz at Lincoln Center
July 23
Multiple locations / Venetian Theater
Jazz Festival, presented in Collaboration with Jazz at Lincoln Center
Venetian Theater Evening Artists
Chick Corea Trio (Chick Corea, Christian McBride, Brian Blade)
Venetian Theater Daytime Artists
Ladies Sing the Blues featuring Catherine Russell, Brianna Thomas, and Charenée Wade
Evan Sherman Big Band
Daytime Artists
Gotham Kings: Riley Mulherkar and Alphonso Horne
Etienne Charles & Creole Soul
The Artistry of Jazzmeia Horn
Bria Skonberg
Harlem Stride Piano Hour
Eddie Barbash Band
Jonathan Barber Quintet: “Jones, Jones, Jones”
Russell Hall, Gabe Schnider, Michela Marino Lerman
Brandee Younger Duo
Zoe Obadia Trio
Fernando Saci
Jazz Chat with Seton Hawkins – Chick Corea: 75 Years of Jazz Piano
Jazz House Kids
Aug 6
Venetian Theater
Cécile McLorin Salvant and the Aaron Diehl Trio
Presented in Collaboration with Jazz at Lincoln Center
www.youtube.com/user/caramoormusic
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All concerts made possible, in part, by ArtsWestchester with funds from the Westchester County Government. |
All concerts made possible, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. |
| The 2016 Summer Music Festival is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts. |
© 21C Media Group, June 2016