Jazz isn’t exactly the genre best-known for producing superstars, but a chosen few will appear in South Florida this season. The most notable is likely legendary crooner Tony Bennett, who plays both the Knight Concert Hall in Miami and the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach (the latter on Valentine’s Day).
The gifted pianist and silky singer Diana Krall, who had been scheduled, has canceled her tour this winter due to illness, but venerable trumpeter Arturo Sandoval and pianist Ramsey Lewis are (at separate venues, and in different formats, two months apart). Other icons include guitarist Larry Coryell, and the pairing of vocalist Al Jarreau and saxophonist David Sanborn.
Yet 2014-2015 not only adds rising and underrated talents like singers Gregory Porter, Lisa Fisher and Cécile McLorin Salvant, but also a welcome emphasis on rhythm section players. Drummer and first-family-of-New Orleans jazz member Jason Marsalis will display his skill on the vibraphone; pianists Fred Hersch and Eliane Elias are among the most gifted musicians in jazz, and bassists from upright master John Clayton to electric aces Victor Wooten and Steve Bailey also get headliner status.
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Victor Wooten rose to fame through his thumping four-stringed fretted bass playing with the groundbreaking jazz/fusion group Bela Fleck and the Flecktones — led by its namesake banjo master but practically co-led by its scene-stealing bassist. Steve Bailey, Wooten’s partner in Bass Extremes since 1993, is a lesser-known quantity — until one hears his work on the six-stringed fretless instrument. The duo’s two CDs, 1998’s Cookbook and 2001’s Just Add Water, utilize other bass greats like Oteil Burbridge, Will Lee, John Patitucci, Anthony Jackson and Billy Sheehan, along with ace drummers Dennis Chambers, Gregg Bissonette and Kenny Aronoff. Wooten also has 14 Flecktones CDs to draw material from since 1990, plus several solo efforts since 2001; Bailey has a recent release called So Low…..Solo, and he’s as likely to play an acoustic upright bass as Wooten is to switch to a five-stringed fretless axe, all in the name of bass extremism. See Bass Extremes, with Victor Wooten and Steve Bailey, on Oct. 14 at the University of Miami’s Gusman Concert Hall in Coral Gables (8 p.m.,$20-35).
Few artists in any genre have overcome more than pianist Fred Hersch. His 30-year recording career includes solo gems like 2011’s Alone at the Vanguard, duo discs like 2013’s Grammy-nominated Free Flying with guitarist Julian Lage, and trio efforts with bassist John Hebert and drummer Eric McPherson like this year’s Floating. A larger ensemble was required for Hersch’s most most in-depth presentation in 2010. The live My Coma Dreams played in New York, New Jersey, San Francisco and Berlin, and featured Hersch with 10 other musicians; animation by Sarah Wickliffe, computer imagery by Eamonn Farrell, plus singer/actor Michael Winther — who portrayed both Hersch and his live-in partner to recreate the ordeal of the pianist and HIV/AIDS patient after he went into near-fatal septic shock and was put into a medically induced two-month coma in 2008. The project releases on DVD on Nov. 25. See Fred Hersch solo on Oct. 17 at the Arts Garage in Delray Beach (8 p.m., $25-45), and with his trio on Oct. 18 at the South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center in Cutler Bay (7:30 and 9:30 p.m., $25-30).
Most people familiar with New Orleans’ own Marsalis family get there via exposure to ever-present trumpeter Wynton or his older brother, saxophonist Branford. But the youngest of six brothers, 37-year-old Jason Marsalis, refuses even to be typecast as the superb drummer with trombonist and brother Delfeayo Marsalis or pianists Ellis Marsalis (his father) and Marcus Roberts. The drummer is also an established bandleader, having introduced veteran percussionist Bill Summers to New Orleans trumpeter Irvin Mayfield to establish the core trio of the melting pot jazz group Los Hombres Calientes, plus releasing a handful of acclaimed CDs under his own name. The latest, In a World of Mallets, showcases the training Marsalis received in both the jazz and classical idioms at Loyola University. It features him on vibraphone with pianist Austin Johnson, bassist Will Goble and drummer David Potter. See the Jason Marsalis Vibes Quartet’s Tribute to New Orleans Jazz on Oct. 30 at the Arts Garage (7:30 p.m., $25-45) and on Nov. 1 at the Banyan Bowl in Pinecrest (8 p.m., $20-25).
Sixty-two-year-old John Clayton is the natural heir to the jazz legacy of the late, one-of-a-kind upright bassist Ray Brown — especially since he studied with Brown while growing up in his native California. Clayton was profoundly impacted by Brown’s class at UCLA as a teenager, going on to earn a degree from Indiana University in 1975, then touring with the Monty Alexander Trio and the Count Basie Orchestra before the incredibly well-rounded musician became principal bassist for the Amsterdam Philharmonic from 1980 to 1985 (while also teaching at the Royal Conservatory in Holland). Since returning to the United States in 1985, he’s co-led the outstanding Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra with drumming great Jeff Hamilton, and become the Grammy-winning ace of bass for artists from McCoy Tyner, Milt Jackson, Diana Krall and Dee Dee Bridgewater to Paul McCartney, Queen Latifah, Dr. John and Charles Aznavour. John Clayton Swings with the Frost Concert Jazz Band on Oct. 30 at Gusman Concert Hall (8 p.m., $20-40).
Long Island-born Frank Vignola has taken a circuitous route toward becoming a rising jazz guitar star. The 48-year-old’s influences include left-of-jazz six-stringers like Frank Zappa and Eddie Van Halen, and Vignola happily spent much of his early career as a sideman to Leon Redbone, Ringo Starr, and even Madonna. He’s since started a 20-year career of solo releases, and played with the Boston Pops, New York Pops, jazz trumpet icon Wynton Marsalis and gifted violinist Mark O’Connor. The author of several instructional guitar books, Vignola has also performed and recorded with mentoring guitarists like seven-stringer
Bucky Pizzarelli and the late multi-tracking icon Les Paul. Capable of playing any style on either acoustic or electric guitars, Vignola has paid it forward over the past five years in a duo with young guitarist Vinny Raniolo. Both he and the venerable Pizzarelli appeared on Vignola’s 2009 CD Standards Live, and the mostly-acoustic, all-Italian-American duo has several releases since. See Frank Vignola and Vinny Raniolo on Nov. 8 at the Arts Garage (8 p.m., $25-45).
Brazilian double-threat Eliane Elias may be best-known in the United States for her piano playing and former marriage to trumpeter Randy Brecker — but she’s also been awarded the Best Vocal Album in Japan three times, and is the number-one jazz artist in sales and radio airplay in France. Her latest release, I Thought About You, is a tribute to late trumpeter and vocalist Chet Baker that’s also topped the jazz charts in the U.S. It features bassist/husband Marc Johnson and drummer Victor Lewis (a former rhythm section for saxophonist Stan Getz), along with guitarist Oscar Castro-Neves and Brecker, who recreates some of Baker’s classic brass lines. The 54-year-old Elias met bassist Eddie Gomez while touring Europe in 1981, and subsequently became part of the New York City-based band Steps Ahead with him, saxophonist Michael Brecker, drummer Peter Erskine and vibraphonist and leader Mike Mainieri. And the rest is … her story. See Eliane Elias on Nov. 18 and 19 at Jazziz Nightlife in Boca Raton (7:30 p.m., $35-75).
Brazil native Milton Nascimento turns 72 in late October, and the singer/songwriter has continued his native country’s long-standing tradition of inimitable Latin jazz during a 50-year career. Playing in samba groups around Rio de Janiero, Nascimento became a national figure in the ’60s and ’70s for his songwriting and soaring falsetto vocal range, but expanded upon that courtesy of Weather Report saxophone icon Wayne Shorter in 1974. That’s when Shorter released his LP Native Dancer, a mix of jazz, funk and Brazilian styles with vocals, guitar and roughly half of the tunes composed by Nascimento. The effect proved influential throughout both the jazz and pop realms, inciting future collaborations with George Duke, Quincy Jones, Paul Simon, Cat Stevens, and Earth, Wind and Fire. Nascimento’s 1994 CD Angelus featured everyone from Pat Metheny and Herbie Hancock to James Taylor and Peter Gabriel. He’ll likely play tracks from it and his latest, 2012’s Nascimento. See Milton Nascimento on Nov. 26 at the James L. Knight Concert Hall in Miami (8 p.m., $35-125).
Veteran pianist Ramsey Lewis is certainly a known quantity, and vocalist Gregory Porter recently won his first Grammy Award and is a rising star. But singer Lisa Fisher, despite being the least-known of this show’s three principals, may have been heard by more people than both of them. As she proved in the Oscar-winning 2013 documentary on backing vocalists, 20 Feet From Stardom, hers is a soaring voice that takes a back seat to no one. The 55-year-old has toured with the Rolling Stones since 1989, becoming increasingly involved in more duets with Mick Jagger (notably “Gimme Shelter”), and her other credits include Sting, Luther Vandross, Tina Turner and John Scofield. The 43-year-old Porter was a football star going into college until he sustained a serious shoulder injury, yet found a way to make a different impact by winning a 2014 Grammy for his latest CD, Liquid Spirit. The 79-year-old Lewis broke through with a 1965 hit called “The In Crowd.” Clearly, he’s still with it. See Ramsey Lewis, Gregory Porter and Lisa Fisher on Dec. 19 at Knight Concert Hall (8 p.m., $25-150).
Eighty-two-year-old singer and pianist Freddy Cole isn’t nearly as famous as his late older brother Nat King Cole or his niece Natalie Cole, but that seems partly by design. Cole started his career in the ’50s by recording singles and full-length LPs for overseas labels, and didn’t release his major label debut until 1990. Fittingly, its title was I’m Not My Brother, I’m Me. Born in one of the great American musical cities, Chicago, Cole studied music at two of the nation’s most esteemed institutions of higher learning, the Juilliard School of Music and the New England Conservatory. Two years ago, Cole appeared in South Florida to honor the memory of his brother in a dedication show called Unforgettable, but this octogenarian vocalist has been around long enough to have a wealth of material to draw from as a headliner. His 2010 ode to mentor Billy Eckstine, Freddy Cole Sings Mr. B, was nominated for a Grammy Award as Best Jazz Vocal Album, and the silky singer’s latest CD is last year’s This and That. See Freddy Cole on Jan. 8 (7:30 p.m.) and Jan. 9 (8 p.m.) at the Arts Garage ($25-45).
Trumpeter Arturo Sandoval has always seemed larger than life to jazz fans, even before actor Andy Garcia portrayed him in the 2000 film For Love or Country. The movie was made partly because of Sandoval’s artistry and celebrity, but largely because of how the Cuban native moved to the United States as an exile when he didn’t return after an American tour. Sandoval, who became a U.S. citizen years later in 1999, had previously been mentored in Cuba by perhaps the greatest jazz trumpeter ever, Dizzy Gillespie. Now one of the rare artists in music history with a double-digit total of Grammy Awards (10), he’ll be joined onstage at the Arsht Center by acclaimed Miami vocalist Willy Chirino, Cuban singer/guitarist Amaury Gutierrez and the University of Miami Frost School of Music’s Henry Mancini Institute Big Band. See Arturo Sandoval on Jan. 9 at the Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami (8 p.m., $25-150), and with the South Florida Jazz Orchestra on Feb. 13 at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts’ Amaturo Theater in Fort Lauderdale (7:45 p.m., $45).
Vocalist and opening act Jon Secada is a native of Cuba who’s become a Miami-based star on the fringes of jazz, and headlining Montreal-born keyboardist/vocalist Gino Vannelli may seem even further from the genre’s traditions. But you’re certainly likely to witness more improvisation and risk-taking at this show than at a Kenny G concert. In the mid-’70s, Vannelli’s profile rose enough for him to appear on the TV show Soul Train, and open concerts for Stevie Wonder, all as his songwriting got more fusion-oriented. The 62-year-old crested with his 1978 masterpiece Brother To Brother, yet that release got typecast more by its hit ballad “I Just Wanna Stop,” which topped the Canadian charts, reached the Top 5 in the United States, and earned Vannelli a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Male Vocal. His latest release is this year’s Live in L.A. The 51-year-old Secada has earned two Grammys during his 22-year recording career. See Gino Vannelli and Jon Secada on Jan. 10 at the Kravis Center (8 p.m., $25 and up).
“Jazz is the art form that speaks directly to the angels,” says trumpeter Irvin Mayfield in a video on his website, and the 36-year-old New Orleans native is in a better position than most to know about the religious fervor his hometown approaches jazz with. Serving as the cultural ambassador of the city of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana since 2003, the young musician also founded the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra in 2002.
The 18-piece group earned a 2010 Grammy Award as Best Large Jazz Ensemble for its CD Book One. Mayfield also leads a self-titled, Big Easy-tinged sextet, and co-founded and has co-led the Afro-Cuban jazz band Los Hombres Calientes since 1998. Multiple nightclubs bear his name in New Orleans, where he’s also an educator and holds various chairman, board of directors and artist-in-residence positions. It’s a wonder Mayfield can find time to tour, but South Florida jazz fans will enjoy the sounds of America’s jazz city because of it. See Irvin Mayfield and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra on Feb. 5 at Knight Concert Hall (8 p.m., $35-125).
Who knew that Queens, N.Y.-born Anthony Benedetto would still be one of the world’s most revered singers 88 years later? Tony Bennett became a national treasure through a string of hits for Columbia Records in the ’50s and ’60s, most notably the 1962 chart-topper “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.” The subsequent rock and jazz/fusion eras in the late ’60s and ’70s stunted his momentum, but after some lean years, he resurfaced with the help of his son and manager Danny Bennett. The venerable vocalist re-signed with Columbia, and even became a hip fashion plate in the music video era, appearing alongside the likes of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Public Enemy rapper Flavor Flav at the MTV Video Music Awards. His duets recordings in the 2000s included performances with the likes of Lady Gaga, Queen Latifah and Amy Winehouse, further chilling the legacy of the coolest octogenarian in jazz. See Tony Bennett on Feb. 13 at Knight Concert Hall (8 p.m., $66-176), and on Feb. 14 at the Kravis Center (8 p.m., $35 and up).
Guitarist Larry Coryell is one of the most enigmatic musicians in jazz history. Born in Texas and raised in Seattle, the 71-year-old musician is credited by some, although not all, as one of the pioneers of the blend of acoustic jazz and electric rock that would become fusion in the ’70s. After moving to New York City while in his early 20s, Coryell formed his hybrid guitar style — encompassing disparate influences from Chuck Berry and The Beatles to John Coltrane and Chet Atkins — therefore defining his gray-area legacy. His band the Free Spirits was a fusion forebear in the ’60s, yet perhaps ahead of its time because it made minimal impact. The guitarist’s mid-’70s band The Eleventh House had more star power with trumpeter Randy Brecker and Weather Report drummer Alphonse Mouzon, and thus gained more notoriety. Coryell’s most recent efforts, like last year’s The Lift, feature his hollow-bodied guitar playing within rhythms ranging from swing to contemporary. The Larry Coryell Trio plays on Feb. 14 at the Miniaci Performing Arts Center in Davie (8 p.m., $40).
Most artists don’t get separate previews in the same season, but pianist Ramsey Lewis has always found ways to be exceptional. Who knew the 79-year-old pianist had an electric band? Or that the jazz legend toured with 63-year-old vocalist Philip Bailey, best known for decades of his practically unlimited vocal range with iconic R&B group Earth, Wind and Fire? Lewis proved ahead of his time in the mid-’60s with crossover hits like “The In Crowd,” “Hang On Sloopy” and “Wade in the Water,” and the three-time Grammy-winning acoustic pianist has actually utilized the electric format (which has featured him with electric guitarist Henry Johnson, bassist Joshua Ramos, keyboardist Tim Gant and acoustic drummer Charles Heath) for some time. A seven-time Grammy winner, Bailey will surprise some with his additional percussive talents on congas and timbales — not to mention his soaring vocals on EWF classics like “September,” “Shining Star” and “Serpentine Fire.” See Ramsey Lewis and his Electric Band with Philip Bailey on Feb. 25 at the Kravis Center (8 p.m., $25 and up).
Art is often inspired by suffering, and it certainly inspired vocalist René Marie to follow her dreams despite already being 42. Now 58, the Virginia native was once a Jehovah’s Witness who married at age 18 and was a mother of two children at 23. Ordered to stop singing by her husband of 23 years, Marie did the opposite by leaving the troubled marriage and recording her self-released debut Renaissance in 1998. A contract with the St. Louis-based Maxjazz label followed, producing five CDs and some notoriety. Marie variously mixed the traditional anthem “Dixie” with “Strange Fruit,” the anti-lynching tune made famous by Billie Holiday, and combined Ravel’s Bolero with Leonard Cohen’s “Suzanne.” One-woman plays, protest singles and three releases on the Motema label have followed, the title of the latest of which is also the theme of her South Florida performance. The dedication to groundbreaking singer, actress and activist Eartha Kitt includes renditions of “Let’s Do It,” “Peel Me a Grape” and “Santa Baby.” See René Marie’s I Wanna Be Evil, With Love to Ertha Kitt on Feb. 26 at the Kravis Center’s Rinker Playhouse in West Palm Beach (7:30 p.m., $35).
South Florida is fortunate to have an all-time Hammond organ great as a part-time South Florida resident. The turban-topped Dr. Lonnie Smith has, at age 72, achieved a career renaissance that rivals his late ’60s/early ’70s popularity. That’s when the Buffalo, N.Y., native, only in his mid-20s, appeared on landmark LPs by guitarist George Benson (It’s Uptown, The George Benson Cookbook), started a long association with Lou Donaldson sealed on the saxophonist’s Alligator Bogaloo album, and released a series of Blue Note classics under his own name. The honorary doctor’s latest release, the octet CD In the Beginning Volumes 1 and 2, came out last year on his own fledgling Pilgrimage label. But its debut release was 2012’s The Healer, a live document of his molten trio with guitarist Jonathan Kreisberg and drummer Jamire Williams. The drum chair now shifts between Williams, Joe Dyson and Jonathan Blake, but New York City residents Smith (who was once part of a house band at the club O’Hara’s in Fort Lauderdale) and Kreisberg (a University of Miami grad) will definitely make this homecoming trip. The Dr. Lonnie Smith Trio performs on April 8 at the Amaturo Theater (7:45 p.m., $40).
One is a 74-year-old, seven-time Grammy-winning crossover vocalist; the other a 69-year-old, six-time Grammy-winning alto saxophonist. And each has one of the most recognizable sounds of their generation. Milwaukee-born singer Al Jarreau, like many who become vocalists, had musical roots in the church. But he certainly had other interests — studying psychology at Ripon College in Wisconsin while playing on the school’s basketball team and performing music on weekends. He moved on to the University of Iowa and earned his master’s degree in vocational rehabilitation before moving to San Francisco to start a career in the field. But meeting recently deceased keyboard great George Duke, and joining his trio, thankfully changed all that. Sanborn was also all over the place in his formative years, albeit more in a musical way. Born in Tampa and raised near St. Louis, he found common links between jazz and rock, blues and pop early on. His Grammys are from a 40-year-solo career, but his session credits include Jarreau, George Benson, Paul Butterfield, James Brown, David Bowie, Bob James and Jaco Pastorius. See Al Jarreau and David Sanborn on April 24 at the Arsht Center (8 p.m., $25-150).
A new jazz vocal star, and likely one for the ages, Cécile McLorin Salvant is only 25 — and perhaps rarer still, she’s even from South Florida. Born in Miami in 1989, Salvant actually started out studying classical piano and voice. She moved to France after graduating high school to study law, as well as classical and Baroque voice, at the Darius Milhaud Conservatory. Ironically, she developed an appreciation for America’s musical art form through her French instructor, multi-reed instrumentalist Jean-Francois Bonnel. Salvant performed shows in Paris, and recorded her 2009 independent debut CD Cécile, with Bonnel’s quintet before returning to the United States, and she soon proved that her lessons overseas had paid off. Her incredible pitch, intonation and range won her the 2010 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition over scores of other singers from around the world, and the young Salvant was on a fast track — guesting in concert with the most famous international jazz figure, trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, and recording her 2013 Mack Avenue label debut, WomanChild. It earned a 2014 Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Vocal Album. See Cécile McLorin Salvant on May 9 at the Miniaci Center (8 p.m., $40).