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| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 2018 Contacts: Jo Morello, 941.587.8290; Carline Ash, 941.366.1552 (Wed.-Fri., 9-5) Musician interviews & photos available. Click HERE for the Sarasota Jazz Festival website with short soundtracks and detailed event schedule. SARASOTA, FL: Jazz, the uniquely American musical art form, was born in New Orleans in the early 20th century and nurtured on a lively diet of music from around the world--the blues of the American South, rhythms from Africa and the Caribbean, classical music from Europe and France, and more. It’s entirely fitting, then, that the Jazz Club of Sarasota--one of the most active jazz societies in the nation--will present “A World of Jazz” for its 38th Annual Sarasota Jazz Festival. The four-day event, from March 7-10, 2018, will feature 14 musicians from seven nations in four concerts, over a dozen locally based musicians for a Pub Crawl by Trolley, and the French art film Django. In addition, at one of the concerts the Club will present its highest honor, the Satchmo Award, to a musician for “unique and enduring contribution to the living history of jazz.” Festival activities will be presented in various Sarasota venues including Marriott’s new Art Ovation Hotel, downtown Sarasota night clubs and Burns Court Cinema. Live jazz will fill the lobby before each concert, and four special VIP receptions—for those who purchase VIP ticket packages--will add to the luster of this star-studded festival. “We’re pleased to recognize the global impact of jazz, and we’re especially honored that the celebrated Ken Peplowski, one of our audience favorites, is the festival’s music director,” said Peg Pluto, Jazz Club president. “We’re also delighted that our vice president, Ed Linehan, is managing director for the festival. Ken and Ed have both worked with our festivals before so we know we’re in good hands. “In keeping with our theme, Ken will present the world of jazz as interpreted by internationally respected musicians and fast-rising young stars from around the world,” Pluto said. “Many of them have never played together before, and they may never share the same stage again. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime event.” Acclaimed reedman Peplowski, based in New York, will both direct the international cadre and frequently join them on stage. “These accomplished performers will play the universal language of jazz, an American language that everyone now speaks,” he said. “They’ll draw on musical influences from their homeland countries—Brazil, Denmark, Israel, Italy, Japan, Sweden and the United States—to present the exciting sound of what jazz has become today.” Ken has designed a playbook of two sets for every concert, each with a different mix of performers. “We’ll present unique combinations of musicians for every set with a fresh sound for each segment,” he said. He’ll also add another treat: “After each concert, we’ll bring back all of the evening’s musicians for an All-Star jam session number or two—an improvised finale that takes us right into the very essence of jazz.” Peplowski has been highly praised and frequently honored. “Ken Peplowski is arguably the greatest living jazz clarinetist,” said Russell Davies of BBC2. Will Friedwald (The Wall Street Journal) wrote, “Mr. Peplowski sounds the way (Benny) Goodman might if he had kept evolving … polishing his craft . . . into the 21st century.” Among other credits, Ken has been a featured performer at practically every significant jazz festival, was music director of the Oregon Festival of American Music for eight years, has backed dozens of major performers, and has recorded some 50 CDs as a soloist and nearly 500 more as a sideman. He has also been a frequent performer for the Jazz Club of Sarasota, often with Dick Hyman, and in 2014 received the Club’s highest honor, its Satchmo Award, for his “unique and enduring contribution to the living history of jazz.” (Other Jazz Club Satchmo winners since 1990 have included Duke Ellington, Lionel Hampton, Gerry Mulligan, Ella Fitzgerald, Dick Hyman, Branford Marsalis and Family, Four Freshmen, Bucky and John Pizzarelli, and Wycliffe Gordon.) In addition to Peplowski, several other musicians will make encore appearances with the Jazz Club of Sarasota. These include Houston Person,saxophone; Diego Figueiredo, guitar; and Jeff Hamilton, drums. The festival’s house band is the Scandinavian Jazztrio:
Festival Schedule WEDNESDAY EVENING, MARCH 7, 20TH ANNUAL JAZZ TROLLEY & PUB CRAWL, downtown Sarasota. TROLLEY rides from 5:30 p.m.; JAZZ at downtown CLUBS from 6-10 p.m. Jazz lovers and club-hoppers will board trolleys for the 20th consecutive Jazz Pub Crawl by Trolley, riding to downtown nightclubs where over 50 local musicians will swing the night away. Trolleys will run continuous loops of the venues throughout the evening. A wristband, available from the Jazz Club office* or at the trolley parking location, is required for admission to the trolley and all clubs. This is a separately ticket event, not included in Festival VIP or Combo Tickets. Wristband are $20 in advance and $25 on the day of the event. THURSDAY EVENING, MARCH 8: CONCERT and other events, Art Ovation Hotel, 1255 N. Palm Avenue 5-7:30, Local JAZZ MUSICIANS in lobby bar; 6-7:30, VIP RECEPTION; 7:30 p.m., CONCERT; 10-11 p.m., VIP MEET-AND-GREET with FESTIVAL MUSICIANS. Co-Hosts: Ken Peplowski and Mike Cornette, director of jazz & on-air host, WUSF 89.7 FM, Tampa
10 a.m.-10:45, LIVE GYPSY JAZZ; 11 a.m., 2017 FILM DJANGO Keven Aland (violin) and Jon McLaughlin (guitar) of the Hot Club of SRQ present a Gypsy Jazz performance to set the mood for Etienne Comar’s filmDjango. This new film, called “a plucky historical drama that leverages a famous musician into a story about fighting fascism,” will be screened with English subtitles. The “dazzling biopic,” which had its world premiere at the 2017 Berlin Film Festival, depicts the struggles of the famous French jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt in German-occupied Paris. Seating is limited: ALL guests must make reservations. Contact the Jazz Club office* for reservations and tickets. Admission: FREE for holders of VIP Festival Passes; $10 for Jazz Club members; $15 for nonmembers. FRIDAY EVENING, MARCH 9: CONCERT and other events, Art Ovation Hotel, 1255 N Palm Avenue 5-7:30, JAZZ MUSICIANS in lobby bar; 7:30 p.m., CONCERT; 10-11 p.m., VIP MEET-AND-GREET with FESTIVAL MUSICIANS Co-Hosts: Ken Peplowski and Whitney James, jazz vocalist; on-air jazz host, WUSF 89.7 FM, Tampa
SATURDAY EVENING, March 10: CONCERT and other events, Art Ovation Hotel, 1255 N Palm Avenue 5-7:30, Local JAZZ MUSICIANS in lobby bar; 7:30 p.m., CONCERT; 10-11 p.m., VIP MEET-AND-GREET with FESTIVAL MUSICIANS Co-Hosts: Ken Peplowski and Bob Seymour, retired director of jazz and on-air host, WUSF 89.7 FM, Tampa; honorary member, Jazz Club of Sarasota Board of Directors
The Jazz Club of Sarasota, founded in 1980, is dedicated to preserving, promoting and presenting jazz, America’s original musical art form. The Club has provided over 50 jazz-related events annually for more than 37 years. Chief among them is the highly respected Sarasota Jazz Festival, including the 38th Annual Festival set for March 7-10, 2018. In addition to producing numerous jazz events, over the years the Club has granted more than $200,000in scholarships to aspiring young jazz musicians. Click HERE for the Sarasota Jazz Festival website. *Jazz Club of Sarasota: For more information visit http://jazzclubsarasota. |
Sunday, January 28, 2018
USA: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Jazz Club of Sarasota announces "World of Jazz" for 38th Sarasota Jazz Festival, March 7-10, 2018
