MCG Jazz 29th Subscription Season
Yellowjackets
Saturday, October 3, 2015
A jazz ensemble that has never been fearful of facing newer musical horizons. Throughout their storied 32-year history the
Yellowjackets have an enduring appeal and continued motivation and commitment to making music. In music, time flies, styles
unstoppably evolve, and bands come and go. This beloved eclectic, electro-acoustic jazz band certainly knows how in life things
come and go. A milestone 22nd album, A Rise in the Road, relates to relationships coming to an end and how, “you have to meet the
challenge and keep going forward,” says Russ Ferrante.
Ms. Lisa Fischer and Grand Baton
Friday, October 9, 2015
“It’s clear that she is deeply and internally in love with the act of singing, utterly and blissfully present in the welling up of each note,
in the zone of the sublime.” – The Huffington Post
On tour with the Rolling Stones, Sting, Chris Botti or Nine Inch Nails, her name may not be on the marquee, but she doesn’t care.
She’s busy loving every minute of it. It’s easy to see why she works all the time: her astonishing range, her spot-on intonation, her
mastery of the stage, the way her tone wraps itself around your heart and won’t let go, the infectious quality of her time feel: these
things keep her on top of the list. But it’s the sweetness of her smile, her visible pleasure in watching her bandmates do their stuff,
her glamorous-girl-next-door quality that make fans all over the world think she’s their own secret discovery (despite the fact that
the YouTube version of her duet with Mick Jagger on ‘Gimme Shelter’ has millions of hits).
An Evening with Al Jarreau
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
“The most significant constant over the years, though, has been Jarreau’s unique ability to share the sheer joy he finds in singing,
while bending a note, jumping an octave like a pole-vaulter, playing with the harmonic map of the chord changes, mouthing a tone a
dozen different ways, and sometimes investing English with exotic new words.” - The Columbus Dispatch
Al Jarreau’s unique vocal style is one of the world’s most precious treasures. His innovative musical expressions have made him one
of the most exciting and critically-acclaimed performers of our time with seven Grammy® Awards, scores of international music
awards and popular accolades worldwide.
From Russia with Jazz – Igor Butman & the Moscow Jazz Orchestra
Celebrate 100 Years of Sinatra with Fantine and Sachal Vasandani
Friday, October 23, 2015
The hottest jazz orchestra of Russia and one of the best in the world, they frequently tour Russia and Europe and make rare stops in
the US. By special arrangement, Butman will play the classic charts of Frank Sinatra with vocalists Fantine (who recently released a
new soul record with Emilio Estefan) and acclaimed jazz and pop singer, Sachal Vasandani.
Ken Peplowski & Gary Smulyan "Encounters"/ Bill O'Connell and the Latin Jazz All-Stars (double bill)
Friday, November 6, 2015
Ken Peplowski and Gary Smulyan "Encounters" revisits the 1968 Zoot Sims & Pepper Adams recording of the same name.
Considered one of the great hidden gems of jazz and an underrated recording, Peplowski and Smulyan have recreated Encounters to
acclaim at recent festivals.
In 2014 pianist Bill O’Connell and The Latin Jazz All-stars released Imagine, “a terrific album.” (LatinJazznet.com) An ensemble of
uniquely talented “all-stars” bring style, excitement and that “get up and dance” groove to MCG Jazz in this exciting debut.
David Sanborn
Thursday, November 19, 2015
A name that needs no introduction at MCG Jazz and beyond, David Sanborn never disappoints with his jazz, pop, r & b and crossover
style. David Sanborn has released 24 albums, won six Grammy Awards, and has had eight Gold albums and one Platinum album.
Dave is an artist who pushes the limits and continues to make music that challenges the mind and goes straight to the heart.
David Benoit Christmas Tribute to Charlie Brown with special guest Jane Monheit
Saturday, December 5, 2015
His prolific output since 2000 includes several prominent Charlie Brown related projects (including Here’s To You, Charlie Brown: 50
Great Years and the star-studded 40 Years: A Charlie Brown Christmas) that reflect his lifelong passion for the music of original
Peanuts composer Vince Guaraldi and solidify Benoit’s role as his musical heir. With special guest Jane Monheit, this unforgettable
Christmas concert is perfect for families!
Pittsburgh Jazz Orchestra Holiday Celebration with special guest Ann Hampton Callaway
Saturday, December 12, 2015
PJO holiday Celebration has become a tradition at MCG Jazz. This year, they have more to celebrate with the release of their
Christmas CD. Also releasing a Holiday CD with MCG Jazz is Ann Hampton Callaway, singer, pianist, composer, actress, educator, TV
host and producer. Her unique singing style blends jazz and traditional pop, making her a mainstay in concert halls, theaters and jazz
clubs as well as in the recording studio, on television, and in film. Hampton Callaway’s new project The Hope of Christmas is an
album of entirely new Christmas and Holiday theme songs.
Arturo O'Farrill and the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra
Friday, February 12, 2016
The GRAMMY award winning Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra (ALJO), led by pianist, composer, and director Arturo O’Farrill, brings together
the drama of big band jazz, the culture of Latin music, and the virtuosity of eighteen of the world’s most accomplished solo
musicians. Twelve years of critically acclaimed performances internationally, have firmly established the ALJO as the standard-bearer
for creative interpretation of Latin jazz greats such as Tito Puente, Frank “Machito” Grillo, and Chico O’Farrill, as well as the driving
force behind new commissions from Latin music’s most talented composers and arrangers.
Mack Avenue SuperBand featuring Gary Burton, Sean Jones, Tia Fuller, Christian McBride Trio
Saturday, February 20, 2016
An ensemble of leaders culled from Mack Avenue Records’ extraordinary artist roster. It debuted at the 2012 Detroit Jazz Festival,
and continues to tour mixing veteran stars with mid-career leaders and up-and-comers. The Mack Avenue SuperBand is a fiery,
celebratory conglomeration, the sort of chemistry experiment whose success is predicated on its combustibility .
An Evening with Savion Glover and Jack DeJonette
Friday, February 26, 2016
A tour de force of percussion and rhythm that glorifies the vibrational power exchanged between two greats -- Savion Glover and
Jack DeJohnette. This two-set concert introduces multigenerational phrasing of elevated frequencies that propels sound to the
fourth dimension and beyond. Glover, with fellow Hoofer Marshall Davis, Jr., joins Jack DeJohnette and friends to take the audience
on a journey of melodies extracting unprecedented and beautiful music living within two masterful souls. This once-in-a-lifetime
session defines why these two percussive artists are considered legends.
MGP’s “Goin’ Home” Tour
featuring Orrin Evans, Marcus Strickland, Gregory Generet, Dominick Farinacci, Luques Curtis, and Obed
Calvaire
Friday, March 4 and Saturday, March 5, 2016
This group features solo artists who are the current leading purveyors of music allowing for the creation of new music that cannot
happen unless artists from across stylistic boundaries are on stage together.
McKenna Group Productions (MGP) and MCG Jazz co-curated an ensemble featuring Orrin Evans, Marcus Strickland, Gregory
Generet, Dominick Farinacci, Luques Curtis, and Obed Calvaire. This sextet will showcase the diverse and talented musicians that
MGP represents around the world. McKenna Group Productions has vast expertise and experience offering quality management
services to musicians, recording engineers, and record producers. MGP’s artists represent many of the best names in the music
industry.
The Hot Sardines
Friday, March 11, 2016
Take a blustery brass lineup, layer it over a rhythm section led by a stride-piano virtuoso in the Fats Waller vein, and tie the whole
thing together with a one-of-the-boys frontwoman with a voice from another era, and you have the Hot Sardines. (We haven’t even
told you about the tap dancer yet.)
It’s a great American success story worthy of the cinema. A born-and-bred NYC actor meets a Parisian-born writer at an open jazz
jam over a noodle shop in Manhattan, and from there the Hot Sardines were born. Bandleader Evan “Bibs” Palazzo and lead singer
Miz Elizabeth combine with the Sardine ensemble of powerhouse musicians – and their very own tap dancer – to play “hot jazz” as it
was in the era when live music was king…with a little glamour, a little grit, and a lot of passion. Even while giving voice to the
history-defining jazz of the 1920s, ’30s, and ’40s, the Hot Sardines’ vibrant performances bridge generations and captivate 21st
century audiences. Forbes Magazine calls them “one of the best jazz bands in NYC today.
Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra Celebrating Leonard Bernstein
Friday, March 18 and Saturday, March 19, 2016
The Smithsonian Institution has a long record of leadership in preserving and promoting the historical legacy of jazz and presenting
diverse jazz programs and jazz education. The Institution collects artifacts, archival materials, and oral histories; curates in-house
and traveling exhibitions; offers research fellowships; produces recordings and videos; and publishes books and jazz music editions.
SJMO, a traditional 17- piece big band, under the artistic direction of Charlie Young, will feature new and classic arrangements of
historical Leonard Bernstein works.
Pittsburgh Jazz Orchestra with special guest Hubert Laws
Saturday, April 2, 2016
PJO, co-directed by Sean Jones and Mike Tomaro, celebrates Pittsburgh’s rich jazz history in the here and now by uniting Pittsburgh
jazz musicians of all ages and ethnic backgrounds to perform the broad scope jazz styles in an orchestral format. Central to the PJO
mission is the creation of new works that advance the genre. The PJO with guest NEA Jazz Master, Hubert Laws, will feature both
new compositions and new arrangements.
SFJAZZ Collective
Friday, April 22, 2016
"The Collective demonstrates that decades-old music needn't lose its contemporary relevance — not, at least, in the hands of a
group this encyclopedic in its knowledge of tradition, but just as versed in the foundation of jazz as a living, breathing and forwardreaching thing. “As definitive of the modern mainstream as it gets...a latter-day Jazz Messengers." -All About Jazz