Inaugural Oscar Peterson International Jazz Festival to Honor Norman Granz Legacy

The Inaugural Oscar Peterson International Jazz Festival takes place during the weekend of February 16 - 18, 2018 with venues are in the historic Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake and nearby City of St. Catharines in the Niagara Wine Country. Spearheaded by Artistic Director, the celebrated jazz pianist Renee Rosnes, the world’s first (and only!) jazz festival bearing the name of Canada’s greatest jazz artist will honor and celebrate the great pianist's legacy of excellence. This Festival is not intended to simply present concerts in tribute to Oscar Peterson, but rather to truly present jazz, showcasing the rich history and the future of the music Oscar loved. In addition to Artistic Director Rosnes, the festival is led by Artistic Producer Kelly Peterson, and Executive Producers Christine Mori and Alexis Spieldenner of Bravo Niagara! Festival of the Arts.

Cecile McLorin Salvant performing "John Henry." 

The 2018 Festival will be dedicated to Norman Granz, celebrating the 100th anniversary of his birth. “Impresario, record producer, civil rights activist, and founder of Jazz at the Philharmonic, Norman Granz is arguably the most important non-musician in jazz history," said Kelly Peterson, noting his use of jazz concerts to attack racial discrimination. Jazz at the Philharmonic (“JATP” as it was known) was a series of all-star jam-session-style concerts that began in 1944 when Granz presented a concert at the Philharmonic Auditorium in Los Angeles. The first to present jazz in concert halls, giving it the same respect as classical music, he made it a contractual obligation for there to be no segregation in the concert venues, leading the charge against discrimination long before the Civil Rights Movement began. Granz himself said, “The whole reason for Jazz at the Philharmonic was to take it to places where I could break down segregation and discrimination.”

Jimmy Greene's performing "Beautiful Life” with Javier Colon singing on The Meredith Vieira Show. This was the title track of his Grammy nominated album hich is dedicated to his late daughter, Ana Marquez-Greene, one of the victims of the Dandy Hook School Shootings. 

Friday night, February 16, they will present an International All-Star "Jazz at the Philharmonic" with multiple GRAMMY Award and Jazz Poll winners, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Jon Faddis, Jimmy Greene, Michael Dease, Benny Green, Christian McBride, and Kenny Washington. They will be performing in a JATP style program at the Festival’s all-star opening night event at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, in St. Catharines. Saturday afternoon, the historic 1792 St. Mark’s Anglican Church in Niagara-on-the-Lake will be the venue for screenings on Saturday afternoon of two documentaries produced by Norman Granz (one of which, "Jammin’ the Blues," was nominated for an Oscar), as well as a JATP concert film. Tad Hershorn, jazz archivist and Granz biographer, will moderate, along with Jacques Muyal, long-time associate of Granz.

The Christian McBride Trio of a few years ago, with pianist Christian Sands on piano and Ulysses Owens on drums.
 
Saturday evening will bring a Gala affair to Stratus Vineyards in Niagara-on-the-Lake with Double Portrait, the piano duo of the Festival’s Artistic Director Renee Rosnes, the 5-time JUNO Award-winning pianist, and GRAMMY Award-winning pianist Bill Charlap. The post-concert Gala Reception includes hors d'oeuvres by Chef Horne of Canoe Restaurant, Stratus wine, and Soma chocolate. The Festival concludes on Sunday at Stratus Vineyards with its grand finale, featuring Canadian artists Carol Welsman, Kevin Turcotte, Mike Murley, Robi Botos, Dave Young, and Jim Doxas in another Jazz at the Philharmonic-style concert. Sunday afternoon’s event will also feature the premiere presentation of the newly created Canadian Jazz Master Awards.

Carol Welsman seen performing "Fly Me To The Moon."

The Festival's website is https://www.opjazzfest.org/ and the email address is info@opjazzfest.org. They are on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/opijf, the twitter feed is @opjazzfest and the instagram link is @oscarpetersonjazzfest.

Sharel Cassity Is Vibrant New Saxophone Voice

An Oklahoma City native, saxophonist Sharel Cassity has become a presence on new York City’s scene, having obtained Degrees in Music from The New School and Julliard. She has honored by the late IAJE’s Sisters in jazz and Betty Carter’s jazz Ahead programs and her compositions have won Downbeat Music Awards and ASCAP’s Young Jazz Composer Award. She is an educator as well as work with such small groups as Harry Whitaker, Ingrid Jensen and Mark Whitfield to DIVA and Jimmy Heath Big Bands.

Looking at the cover of her recording Just For You, (DW Records), one does not know what to expect. Once the music starts, one is taken by the clarity and focus of her alto playing (although she plays multiple saxophones). It is produced by Michael Dease (who also contributed three originals to the seven song program) who has brought some of the musicians she regularly works with in the New York club scene. these include Tom Barber on trumpet (who contributed one number) and flugelhorn; Pete Reardon-Anderson on tenor sax, Adam Birnbaum on piano, Paul Beaudry on bass, and Vincent Ector on drums.

Cassity really draws attention with her bluesy tone which will suggest Sonny Stitt as much as Charlie Parker with a bit of Lee Konitz tossed in. Dease’s Phibe’s Revenge, is a brisk hard bop number that kicks off this release. The bouncy title track has a dreamy flavor before Cassity enchants with her chops and tone followed by Barber’s Irazu (Wish You Were Here). Again more standout playing from her along with the marvelous ensemble work. The rhythm section supports her so well and the full ensemble playing is tight.

On the quartet rendition of Ram Ramirez’s Lover Man, her tone is a bit drier with less Charlie Parker and more Lee Konitz. It is followed by Lennie Tristano’s Wow, with its intricate interplay between the horns as well as intriguing solos. Dease’s Roditi’s Dream, has a Latin accent, before the album concludes with her tearing into Cherokee, with shorter spots allotted to her bandmates, but throughout the superb music here, she burns the brightest on this superb album of hard swinging bop.

Sharel’s website is www.sharelcassity.com, and this disc is available from cdbaby.com, amazon.com and other better retailers.

I likely received this from Jazz & Blues Report or a publicist for this release. It was written for Jazz & Blues Report but may not have been published. Here is a video of her performing .