By K.D. Norris
“RoundAgain” is the title of a 2020 studio album by a quartet consisting of modern jazz powerhouses Joshua Redman on saxophone, Brad Mehldau on piano, Christian McBride on bass, and Brian Blade on drums.
The album was released without the usual touring support July 2020 after being recorded in New York City, in September 2019 — just before the music world’s abrupt touring shutdown as the COVID-19 pandemic hit us all.
St. Cecilia Music Center, as part of its 2021-22 concert season filled with “hope of bringing audiences back to Royce Auditorium” after its own shutdown, has its own plans to bring touring jazz “round again” — with Redman and McBride leading the effort as both are scheduled to make appearances in 2022, including McBride hosting the delayed WinterFest Music Festival in February.
“We are thrilled and thankful to begin again in 2021–22 with live concerts featuring most of the artists who were scheduled to appear this past season and had to be sidelined due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Cathy Holbrook, St. Cecilia executive and artistic director said in supplied material at the time of the season announcement. “These great artists are looking forward to getting back out on tour to perform in front of live audiences and to bring music back to concert stages in the U.S. and worldwide.”
And local jazz fans can’t wait for their return as well.
St. Cecilia’s jazz offerings will include WinterFest, an event featuring 7-time Grammy-winning jazz bassist McBride “with some of his most talented musical collaborators” for a three-evening festival Feb. 24 -26.
The St. Cecilia Spectacular Jazz Series itself will include saxophonist Redman on Jan. 20, Grammy and Tony award-winning jazz singer Dee Dee Bridgewater together with pianist Bill Charlap on March 10, and acclaimed trombonist, composer and producer Delfeayo Marsalis with his Uptown Jazz Orchestra on April 14.
“It was important to us to bring the artists we had booked this past season for the upcoming 2021-22 season … Recreating that amazing line-up gives us hope for the future.” Holbrook said. “We are also thrilled to announce that our new WinterFest Jazz Festival was able to be rescheduled for the same week” just one year later.
Jazz season opens in January, but tickets available now
Joshua Redman on Jan. 20. Redman, a ceaselessly innovative saxophonist, and his band “evoke a sound that is both challenging and provocative to hard-swinging, melodic, and soulful – music with a joyous and celebratory spirit,” according to supplied material. Redmond’s latest album is “Come What May” was released in Spring 2019 — at which tome JazzTimes said of Redman, he is “unparalleled among horn players today.”
Dee Dee Bridgewater and Bill Charlap on March 10. Two Grammy winners will share the stage as Grammy and Tony Award-winning jazz vocalist Bridgewater and world- renowned pianist Bill Charlap pay a visit. Bridgewater, over the course of a multifaceted career spanning four decades, “has ascended to the upper echelon of vocalists, putting her unique spin on standards, as well as taking intrepid leaps of faith in re-envisioning jazz classics,” according to supplied material. Charlap has performed and recorded with many leading artists of our time, ranging from jazz masters Phil Woods and Wynton Marsalis to singers Tony Bennett and Barbra Streisand. Since 1997, he has led the Bill Charlap Trio, now recognized as one of the leading groups in jazz.
Delfeayo Marsalis on April 14. Marsalis — of the deep and deeply-talented Marsalis musical family — will lead his Uptown Jazz Orchestra in a performance of big band favorites. Over the course of his music career, acclaimed trombonist, composer and producer Marsalis has been praised for his “technical excellence, inventive mind and frequent touches of humor.” He has also been called one of “the best, most imaginative and musical of the trombonists of his generation.” Marsalis, an NEA Jazz Master, has shared the bandstand with jazz legends Art Blakey, Max Roach and Elvin Jones, as well as pop icons Fats Domino, Ray Charles and George Clinton.
St. Cecilia WinterFest Jazz Festival 2022
Acclaimed Grammy–winning jazz bassist McBride will bring plenty of his “friends” to town for a three-day festival: Feb. 24 will feature McBride and Edgar Meyer for a double “double bass” extravaganza; Feb. 25 will be a traditional jazz show showcasing McBride’s celebrated jazz career with his trio and special guest jazz singer Cyrille Aimée; Feb. 26 will be an evening with Christian McBride’s quintet, Inside Straight, for “an unforgettable night of energetic and inspiring jazz.”
McBride, deservedly, has been called a “force of nature, fusing the fire and fury of a virtuoso with the depth and grounding of a seasoned journeyman.” With a career now into its third decade, the Philadelphia native has become one of the most requested, most recorded, and most respected figures in the music world today.
His range and recording span the spectrum of music: from jazz (McCoy Tyner, Roy Haynes, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny) to R&B (Isaac Hayes, Chaka Khan, Natalie Cole, and the one and only Godfather of Soul himself, James Brown) to pop/rock (Sting, Paul McCartney, Carly Simon) to hip-hop/neo-soul (The Roots, Queen Latifah) to classical (Kathleen Battle, Edgar Meyer, Shanghai Quartet).
Meyer is in demand as both a performer and a composer. The New Yorker called him “…the most remarkable virtuoso in the relatively un-chronicled history of his instrument”, Meyer’s unparalleled technique and musicianship in combination with his gift for composition have brought him to the forefront, where he is appreciated by a vast, varied audience.
Grammy-nominated vocalist Aimée ventured from singing on street corners in Europe to dazzling audiences at the world’s most prestigious jazz festivals; from sneaking out to sing in gypsy encampments in her native France to acting on Broadway; from braving the notoriously tough audiences at New York’s Apollo Theatre to being called a “rising star in the galaxy of jazz singers” by The New York Times.
Inside Straight is Christian McBride’s quintet formed in 2009. “Kind of Brown,” the quintet’s debut studio album, was released in 2009 when Will Lyman of PopMatters wrote “This music is unselfconsciously traditional: it’s fun; it swings…it’s not experimental, but it gives superb voice to several brilliant players and one new discovery. In 2013, the quintet released “People Music”, which one reviewer said “The new album finds the quintet in hard-swing mode, delivering what they call “more road-tested, ‘lived-in’ Inside Straight” in an accessible way, and one that makes the audience part of the experience.”
Tickets and COVID pandemic details
Season subscription and single concert tickets to the 2022 SCMC WinterFest Jazz Festival and Spectacular Jazz Series are available online at scmc-online.org or by calling 616-459-2224.
At this date, St. Cecilia states on its website that it “will require proof of fully-vaccinated status, or a negative COVID test taken within 48 hours, to attend a concert at our venue…. SCMC is also highly recommending that all attendees wear a mask while in the building. Attendees will need to bring ID and proof of vaccination the night of a concert. We will continue to monitor the COVID environment and may change policies at any time if necessary. … All ticket holders will be notified if mandatory mask requirements are in effect for a particular show by an artist.”
If SCMC is able to offer post-concert CD-signing receptions, all ticket-holders may be able to meet some of the artists and obtain signed CDs of their releases. Further information will be announced closer to the start of the season on whether COVID restrictions will allow SCMC to hold receptions.
SCMC WinterFest Jazz Festival individual concerts include Christian McBride and Edgar Meyer on Thursday, Feb. 24, with single tickets at $50 and $55; Christian McBride Trio and Cyrille Aimee on Friday, Feb. 25, with single tickets at $40 and $45; and Christian McBride & Inside Straight on Saturday, Feb. 26, with single tickets at $40 and $45.
Jazz Series Single Tickets
Jazz Saxophonist Joshua Redman
Thursday, January 20, 2022
A section $55
B section $45
Dee Dee Bridgewater & Bill Charlap
Thursday, March 10, 2022
A section $55
B section $50
Delfeayo Marsalis Big Band
Thursday, April 14, 2022
A section $50
B section $45
