Fri
09.24 @ 8:00 p.m.
An Evening with Gregory Porter
Gregory
Porter (vocals)
Grammy award-winning vocalist Gregory Porter
returns! Hot on the heels of his revelatory 2020 album, All Rise, he’s helping NJPAC welcome jazz back with his
distinctive bone-deep baritone. If you’ve missed live music, this is one
earth-rumbling, bone-shaking performance you absolutely can’t miss. Gregory
Porter swings with all the earthy warmth of Nat King Cole, the soulful spirit
of Stevie Wonder, and the poet’s truth of Bill Withers. Come experience “one of
the most amazing singing voices you’ll hear on planet earth” (The Guardian). TICKETS: $53.75-$103.75
Sat 09.25
@ 8:00 p.m.
“Salsa Meets Jazz”
- Tito
Nieves (vocals)
- Arturo
O’Farrill & The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra
- Eddie Palmieri
Salsa Orchestra
In the best tradition of the venerated “Salsa
Meets Jazz,” this all-star lineup features three of the greatest attractions in
all of contemporary Afro-Latin music: 10-time Grammy Award-winning, hard-swinging
virtuoso pianist Eddie Palmieri and his Salsa Orchestra, Puerto Rico’s
celebrated son and “Pavarotti of Salsa” singer Tito Nieves best known for his
version of Pete Rodriguez’s 1967 classic “I Like It Like That,” and storied
bandleader and keyboardist Arturo O’Farrill (son of legendary Cuban musician
Chico O’Farrill and heir to a great musical legacy) and his Afro Latin Jazz
Orchestra who are fresh off of a 2021 Grammy win for Best Latin Jazz Album for Four
Questions (Zoho Music). TICKETS: $29-$89
Thu 10.14
@ 7:30 p.m.
Boney James
Boney
James (saxophone)
It’s smooth. It’s sultry.
It’s got just the right amount of swagger. That’s the music of four-time
GRAMMY® nominee and multi-platinum saxophonist Boney James. In June 2020, he
released his 17th album, Solid. Solid follows his smash 2017 release Honestly which
became his 11th #1 Billboard Contemporary Jazz Album.
Over the years, his soul-
and R&B-infused style of jazz has earned Boney James four RIAA gold albums,
a Soul Train Award and two NAACP Image Award nominations. Billboard named him
one of the Top Three Contemporary Jazz Artists Of The Decade along with Kenny G
and Norah Jones. “I love
playing live, maybe more than I ever did,” says James. “A lot of guys get tired
of the traveling but it’s still a joy for me every time I go out there and
play.” TICKETS: $59-$99
Fri 10.15 @ 7:30
p.m.
Tierney Sutton & Ann Hampton Callaway – In Technicolor
- Tierney Sutton
(vocals)
-
Ann Hampton Callaway (vocals)
Jazz queens Tierney Sutton and Ann Hampton
Callaway join forces for the first time with a tribute to famous film music.
Tierney (“a serious jazz artist who takes the whole enterprise to another
level” – The New York Times) and
Callaway (“one of the best equipped jazz vocalists swinging today” – Chicago
Tribune) will perform solos, duets and exciting new arrangements of
songs you’re sure to remember from movies both classic and contemporary
including, but not limited to: “Come Rain or Come Shine,” “Let’s Face the Music
and Dance,” “Blue Skies,” “As Time Goes By,” and “Windmills of Your Mind.”
TICKETS: $59-$69
Sat 11.06 @ 7:00 p.m.
TD James Moody Jazz Festival: Pedro Giraudo
+ Nimbus Dance
Pedro Giraudo Tango Quartet:
- Pedro Giraudo (bass, bandleader)
- Nick Danielson (violin)
- Rodolfo Zanetti (bandoneon)
- Ahmed Alom (piano)
Based in Jersey City, N.J.,
the boundary-pushing, community-driven modern dance ensemble performs a special
program as part of the TD James Moody Jazz Festival—including the world
premiere of Raucous
Caucus Tango, a collaboration with Latin Grammy Award-winning tango
virtuoso Pedro Giraudo and his Tango Quartet. Giraudo is regarded as one
of the most compelling tango artists today— an active cultural ambassador for
the beautiful and passionate music of his native Argentina. This creative mash-up of bawdy storytelling, slapstick
humor, and exquisite choreography pokes fun at our electoral process, set to
the passionate, dramatic rhythms of Argentine tango. TICKETS: $59
Sat. 11.06 @ 8:00 p.m.
TD James Moody Jazz Festival: Chaka
Khan with Special Guest Leela James
- Chaka Khan (vocals)
- Leela James (vocals)
The reigning Queen of funk,
soul, and R&B—and 10-time Grammy Award winner—Chaka Khan returns to
NJPAC for what’s sure to be a classic concert, featuring such iconic hits as “I
Feel for You,” “Through the Fire,” “I’m Every Woman,” “Ain’t Nobody” and
others. “The influence of a vocal institution such as Chaka Khan never fades
far from the minds of millions of fans… She makes each tune she touches a
standout that is hard to resist, and even harder to forget.” (Soul Tracks)
Leela James first burst onto
the scene with her 2006 debut album A Change is Gonna Come, introducing
audiences to her considerable vocal chops and garnering nominations for
Outstanding New Artist at the NAACP Image Awards and Best R&B/Soul or Rap
New Artist of 2008 at the Soul Train Music Awards. For Leela, it’s always
been about the soul. So much so that she was nicknamed Baby Etta as a little
girl growing up in Los Angeles.
Along with Chaka Khan and Al
Green, she counts Etta James among her vocal heroes and paid homage in 2012 by
recording her album Loving You More…In the Spirit of Etta James. Leela’s
influences run the gamut of vocalists from soul to funk, and jazz, and her interpretation
of music touches on synesthetic. TICKETS: $49-$119
Thu 11.11 @ 7:30 p.m.
TD James Moody Jazz Festival: New
Jersey Premiere of Christian McBride’s The Movement Revisited: A Musical
Portrait of Four Icons
- Christian McBride (bass, bandleader)
- Sonia Sanchez (orator)
- Willie Perdomo (orator)
- John Murillo (orator)
- Dion Graham (orator)
- Christian McBride Big Band (line-up TBA)
- Gospel choir (TBA)
NJPAC Jazz Advisor, bassist, composer,
bandleader and Grammy Award winner Christian McBride has played
everything from Monk to Funk. But this latest project is his most ambitious
yet: The Movement Revisited,
a full-length work for jazz orchestra, vocalists and orators, celebrating the
great leaders of The Civil Rights Movement. The words—and the praises—of Rosa
Parks, Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Martin Luther King, Jr. and President
Barack Obama will be spoken and sung in
this inspiring performance. Celebrating its New Jersey premiere, this
all-encompassing work transcends the topical and the political and crosses into
the realm of the spiritual, celebrating not just what it means to be Black in
America but what it means to be human on this earth. Orators Sonia
Sanchez, Willie Perdomo, John Murillo and Dion Graham will
accompany the 18-piece Christian McBride Big Band, reading excerpts from The Movement
Revisited. According to the Los Angeles
Times, this is “a work that was admirable—to paraphrase Dr. King—for both
the content of its music and the character of its message.”
TICKETS: $29
Fri 11.12
@ 8:00 p.m.
TD James Moody Jazz Festival: Chris Botti
Chris
Botti (trumpet)
Since the release of his
2004 critically acclaimed CD When I Fall In Love,
Chris Botti has become the largest-selling American instrumental
artist. His success has crossed over to audiences usually reserved for pop
music and his ongoing association with PBS has led to four #1 jazz albums, as
well as multiple Gold, Platinum and Grammy Awards. Most recently, his
latest album Impressions won the Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Album. Performing
worldwide and selling more than four million albums, he has found a form of
creative expression that begins in jazz and expands beyond the limits of any
single genre. TICKETS: $29-$79
Sat 11.13 @ 8:00 p.m.
TD James
Moody Jazz Festival: Dianne Reeves and Artemis
Dianne Reeves (vocals)
Artemis:
- Renee Rosnes (piano)
- Anat Cohen (clarinet)
- Ingrid Jensen (trumpet)
- Nicole Glover (saxophone)
- Noriko Ueda (bass)
- Allison Miller (drums)
Five-time Grammy Award winner Dianne
Reeves is the pre-eminent jazz vocalist in the world, known for her
breathtaking virtuosity, improvisational prowess and unique jazz and R&B stylings.
Among her many honors, she has received honorary doctorates from Berklee
College of Music and the Juilliard School, and the NEA designated her a Jazz
Master—the highest honor the United States bestows on jazz artists.
Hailing from America, Canada, Israel, Chile and
Japan, Artemis is an international, multi-generational all-star group
featuring jazz musicians Renee Rosnes (lives in West Orange, NJ), Anat Cohen,
Ingrid Jensen, Nicole Glover, Noriko Ueda & Allison Miller. It recently won
Best New Artist by Jazz Times 2020 Reader’s Poll and Mid-Size Ensemble
of the Year 2020 by Jazz Journalists Association. “Each individual member of
this supergroup is a bona fide jazz titan,” says the President of Blue Note
Records, Don Was. With passion, power and sensitivity, they create
unforgettable performances of high-wire interplay and pure joy. TICKETS:
$29-$79
Sun 11.14 @ 11:00 a.m. + 1:00 p.m.
TD James
Moody Jazz Festival: Dorthaan’s Place: Cyrus Chestnut
Cyrus Chestnut (piano)
NJPAC continues Dorthaan’s Place, its popular
Sunday jazz brunch series curated by Newark’s First Lady of Jazz, Dorthaan
Kirk. The series made its debut during NJPAC’s 2012-13 season and has grown
ever since. “The finest in jazz is on
the menu…anticipation runs high at Dorthaan’s Place, whether you’re there for
the music, the food, the scene, Dorthaan, or all of the above.” (All About
Jazz)
This edition presents the piano stylings of
Cyrus Chestnut, “the best jazz pianist of his generation” (Time). Taking
a break from touring the world’s clubs, concert halls, and jazz festivals,
he’ll stop by NICO Kitchen + Bar for a musical brunch that’s not to be missed.
Learn why The New York Times calls Cyrus “a wildly imaginative
improviser whose solos are free-associative delights, full of dark and
swinging riffs, rumbling low notes, and splatters of upper register tickles.”
There are two brunch seatings: 11:00 a.m. (music
begins at 11:30a.m.) and 1:00 p.m. (music begins at 1:30 p.m.). TICKETS: $45
Sun 11.14 @ 3:00 p.m.
TD James Moody Jazz
Festival: 10th Annual Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal
Competition
- Christian McBride (co-host,
bass)
-
Dianne Reeves (co-host, vocals)
-
Steve Williams (judge)
-
Jazzmeia Horn (judge)
-
John Pizzarelli (judge)
-
Sheila Jordan (judge)
The divine Sarah Vaughan—Newark’s greatest
musical gift to the world—got her start as the winner of a talent contest. Now,
NJPAC honors her legacy every year with the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz
Vocal Competition. For this special 10th anniversary of “The
SASSY Awards,” jazz greats Christian McBride (NJPAC’s Jazz Advisor) and Dianne
Reeves will both co-host and and perform as guest artists. This event
offers outstanding jazz singers a one-of-a-kind platform for embarking on a
career in the music business—and offers audience members a chance to discover
the jazz stars of tomorrow.
Gifted young contestants from around the world
are evaluated on vocal quality, musicality, technique, performance,
individuality, artistic interpretation, and ability to swing. The winner
receives a $5,000 cash prize. Past winners include Cyrille Aimée, Jazzmeia Horn, Quiana Lynell, Laurin
Talese, and more. Deadline for singers to enter is September 7, 2021, at
5:00 p.m. EST. For more information or to enter the competition, visit SarahVaughanCompetition.com. TICKETS: $39
Sat 11.20 @ 7:30 p.m.
TD
James Moody Jazz Festival: Swingin’ at 96: Anat Cohen and the Newport All-Stars
Salute George Wein
- Anat Cohen (saxophone, clarinet)
- Christian McBride (bass)
- Kenny Barron (piano)
- Randy Brecker (trumpet)
-
Lewis Nash (drums)
- Lew Tabackin (flute, tenor
sax)
-
Peter Washington (bass)
This year’s TD Moody Jazz Festival will end with a stellar musical
line-up honoring pianist and bandleader George Wein, who founded the Newport
Jazz Festival in 1954. He went on
to found the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in 1970 and was honored in
2015 with a Grammy Trustees Award for his festival-production work. Wein will be lauded with an all-star
celebration led by musical director/contemporary swing saxophonist and
clarinetist Anat Cohen. The Newport Jazz All-Star lineup will pay tribute to
Wein’s 65+ years of great jazz concerts and 96 years of living. This evening is
sure to be one of the most memorable nights in Wein’s long and storied career
and the history of jazz at NJPAC. Wein, universally is regarded as the single
most significant producer and impresario jazz has ever known. TICKETS: $59
Thu 12.09 @ 7:30 p.m.
Jane Lynch: A Swingin’
Little Christmas Live in Concert
- Jane Lynch (host, vocals)
- Kate
Flannery (vocals)
-
Tim Davis (vocals)
-
The Tony Guerrero Quintet
Emmy and Golden Globe Award
winning actress Jane Lynch (Glee, Hollywood Game Night, The Marvelous Mrs.
Maisel) is getting into the holiday spirit. Joined by her friends Kate Flannery
(best known for her portrayal of “Meredith the Drunk” on NBC’s The Office) and
Tim Davis (vocal producer for Glee), this festive concert includes fresh takes
on classic Christmas carols and new nostalgia-inspired tunes. The bandleader,
Tony Guerrero, fuses clever jazz arrangements with tight vocal harmonies
performed by the jazz group, The Tony Guerrero Quintet. The show’s eponymous
album A Swingin’ Little Christmas hit Billboard's Top 10 Adult
Contemporary chart. TICKETS: On Sale July 18th
About TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank®
TD Bank, America's
Most Convenient Bank, is one of the 10 largest banks in the U.S., providing
more than 8 million customers with a full range of retail, small business and
commercial banking products and services at approximately 1,300 convenient
locations throughout the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Metro D.C., the Carolinas and
Florida. In addition, TD Bank and its subsidiaries offer customized private
banking and wealth management services through TD Wealth®, and vehicle
financing and dealer commercial services through TD Auto Finance.
TD Bank is headquartered in Cherry Hill, N.J. To
learn more, visit www.tdbank.com. Find TD Bank on Facebook
at www.facebook.com/TDBank and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/TDBank_US. TD Bank, America's Most
Convenient Bank, is a member of TD Bank Group and a subsidiary of The
Toronto-Dominion Bank of Toronto, Canada, a top 10 financial services company
in North America. The Toronto-Dominion Bank trades on the New York and Toronto
stock exchanges under the ticker symbol "TD." To learn more,
visit www.td.com.
About NJPAC
New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), located in
downtown Newark, N.J., is America’s most diverse performing arts center, and
the artistic, cultural, educational and civic center of New Jersey – where
great performances and events enhance and transform lives every day. NJPAC
brings diverse communities together, providing access to all and showcasing the
state’s and the world’s best artists while acting as a leading catalyst in the
revitalization of its home city. Through its extensive Arts Education programs,
NJPAC is shaping the next generation of artists and arts enthusiasts. NJPAC has
attracted nearly 10 million visitors (including over 1.7 million children)
since opening its doors in 1997, and nurtures meaningful and lasting
relationships with each of its constituents.