The Berkshire Jazz Sprawl
Nov. 6-12, 2023
Culminating with the
“A brilliantly cohesive group of musicians who have taken America by storm“
Nov. 12, the St. Germain Stage (at Barrington Stage’s Sydelle and Lee Blatt Performing Arts Center)
Details to come, or get ahead of the rush
Get your tickets here or paste the following link in your browser
https://secure.barringtonstageco.org/django-festival-allstars/2395
Here is the schedule for the fourth annual Lenox Jazz Stroll, on Saturday, Sept. 16 in picturesque, historic Lenox, Mass. Welcoming all ages, the free event includes performances by nationally recognized musicians along with Berkshire favorites.
The main event will be held at Lilac Park on Saturday, September 16 between 1-7pm. Additional events include a kick-off concert with the Ted Rosenthal Trio on Friday, September 15 at 6pm, along with Saturday evening performances throughout downtown Lenox at local restaurants.
Friday, September 15
6-9pm – Peggy Stern Trio, Gateways Inn
Free: reservation strongly encouraged
Saturday, September 16
Lilac Park, Main St.
1:00pm – Wanda Houston
2:15pm – The Lucky 5
3:30pm – Michael Junkins Group
4:45pm – Scott Robinson Quartet
6-9pm – Benny Kohn Trio, Pizzeria Boema
7:30-9pm – Ted Rosenthal Trio, Gateways Inn
The Lenox Jazz Stroll shows a picture of the healthy jazz scene in the Berkshires. It presents a combination of top-tier musicians who make their home in the Berkshires and touring artists who love to perform here. Since its inception in 2020, the Lenox Jazz Stroll has become a staple of the fall music scene. The combination of world-class musicians, local artists, and community partners creating together results in what makes the Berkshires such a beautiful place to live, work, and play.
The Lift Bistropub, 8:30pm
The Lucky 5
Kip Beacco, guitar/vocals
Carolyn Dufraine, trombone/vocals
Jonathan Talbot, violin
Matt Downing, bass
Tom Parker, drums
Claire Daly Quartet
Claire Daly, baritone sax
Jon Davis, keyboard
Dave Hofstra: bass
Conor Meehan, drums
Dominique Eade, vocalist
Tim Ray, keyboard
John Lockwood, bass
Yoron Israel, drums
Benny Kohn Trio
TBA
We are delighted to be presenting four of the most popular and versatile regional bands for the fifth annual Berkshire Jazz Showcase, in an outdoor concert from 1-5pm.
Here’s the schedule:
1pm: Wanda Houston, the diva of Berkshire vocalists, making her Showcase debut;
2pm Saxophonist Paul Ostermayer and his quartet
3pm Guitarist Luke Franco and his quartet; and
4pm: Andy Kelly’s Jazz Ambassadors, with their New Orleans repertoire.
As usual, the free event will be held on the field adjacent to the First Street Common’s playground. Bring your own blankets or chairs. Picnic on the lawn or check out the food trucks that will be present. [Rain date is Sunday, July 9]
And, a reminder, it’s free, thanks to generous sponsors The Berkshire Eagle, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, HiBrid, Mountain One, the Mill Town Foundation, and the City of Pittsfield’s Office of Cultural Development.
See you there!
Friday, Apr. 21
Open Jam Session
7-10pm, Hot Plate Brewing Co.
Dave Bartley, host and referee
Saturday, April 22
7:30pm, Berkshire Museum
Anton Kot Quintet
With Don Braden, Albert Rivera, Avery Sharpe and Tyler Bullock
Wednesday, April 26
7pm, Berkshire Athenaeum
Jazz Prodigy Concert
Conor McMillen, violin
With Ben Kohn, Dan Broad, Luke Franco, and Conor Meehan
Sponsored by The Friends of the Athenaeum
Friday, Apr. 28
Annual Jazz Crawl
Downtown Pittsfield, see schedule below
Saturday, Apr. 29
7-10pm, Berkshire Palate (at Hotel on North)
Swing dance with The Lucky 5
Sunday, Apr. 30
4pm, The Colonial Theatre
Emmet Cohen Trio with Houston Person
Plus the Berkshires Jazz All Star Student Ensemble
5:30-7:30pm
Dave Bartley Duo
Jae’s on Winter, 7 Winter St
Dave Bartley, keyboard
Pete Toigo, bass
6-9pm
Jason Ennis Trio
Hot Plate Brewing
1 School Street
Jason Enns, guitar
Matt Cory, Bass
Grisha Alexiev, drums
7-9pm:
Andy Kelly and his
Gypsy Jazz Quartet
101 Restaurant and Bar
1 West St.
(in the Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites)
Andy Kelly, guitar
Dan Broad, bass
Leo Russo, tenor saxophone
Charlie Tokarz, woodwinds
7-10pm:
Adithya Vaidhyan Trio
Methuselah, 391 North St.
Adithya Vaidhyan, tenor sax
Anuvind Iyer, keyboard
Curren Flaherty, bass
7-10pm:
Don Mikkelsen Quartet
Berkshire Palate, 297 North St.
(at Hotel on North)
Don Mikkelsen, trombone
Luke Franco, guitar
Nick Edwards, bass
Jimmy Madison, drums
April 15, 7pm, Shakespeare & Co., Lenox
A Gershwin Extravaganza:
Ted Rosenthal, with the Kids 4 Harmony Orchestra
The Ted Rosenthal jazz trio plays his interpretations of George Gershwin compositions.
And, Ted performs “Rhapsody in Blue” with the Kids 4 Harmony strings ensemble
[Another sold-out event at this storied location. For information about Kids 4 Harmony, click here.]
Apr. 21-30
Pittsfield CityJazz Festival
Emmet Cohen, Houston Person, Anton Kot, Avery Sharpe, Don Braden, Albert Rivera, Tyler Bullock and more.
Plus our Jazz Prodigy Concert, a swing dance, a jam session,
and the perennial favorite, the annual Jazz Crawl
Click here for information and tickets for the Anton Kot Quintet
Click here for information and tickets for Emmet Cohen with Houston Person
Details for the “Jazz Crawl” and other events will be posted here in coming days
June 9-11
Berkshire Gateway Jazz Weekend
Featuring Roberta Donnay and the Prohibition Mob Band,
Alexis Cole with the Amherst Jazz Orchestra, and more
July 8
Berkshire Jazz Showcase
Featuring Berkshires-based groups,
outdoors on the Pittsfield Common
July 14-15
LuLuFest Lenox
A music festival with master classes and concerts featuring women-led bands
Aug. 19
Bousquet Jazz Festival
At the base of the ski hill, plus an indoor jam session
The Lucky 5, Claire Daly, Dominique Eade, Berkshires Jazz All Stars, and more
Sept. 15-16
The Lenox Jazz Stroll
Al fresco and indoors, in historic Lenox Village
Nov. 12
Django Festival All-Stars
Their first U.S. date, en route to a week-long residency
at the Birdland Jazz Club in NYC.
He’s been making jazz, and nurturing young jazz artists, for more than 50 years, and Berkshires Jazz thinks it’s about time we paid tribute to Mike Schiffer. At the age of 93, he is still playing. But this time, on Sunday afternoon, Jan. 29 (4pm), he’ll be among us, in the audience.
Known first and foremost as a performer, Mike also booked the talent at the legendary, and lamented, Castle Street Café for as long as the jazz program existed at that Great Barrington venue. He presented young and seasoned artists alike, and introduced audiences to budding talent. Several of them –including guitarist Rob Putnam, and pianists Rob Kelly and Benny “Fingers” Kohn—will serenade Mike at the Lenox Club. And perhaps a couple of surprises. Your ticket includes complimentary wine, beer, and light hors d’oeuvres.
There will be brief remarks from legislator Smitty Pignatelli, musicologist and jazz historian Jeremy Yudkin, and educator, musician, and presenter Andy Wrba. And some of the best jazz piano you can hear hereabouts. And a few surprises (oh..we already said that). Among them, if we’re lucky, Mike will say a few words and play a number or two.
What promises to be a wonderful event, musically and socially, tickets are sold out.
Regardless of which holidays you celebrate –Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus or none or all of the above–, this is a good time to reflect on the year just passed, and to look ahead to more great things. Full of surprises and thankfully marked by the return of live music in the Berkshires, 2022 has proven to be a memorable year.
Imagine: the Diva Jazz Orchestra, two concerts by the young lioness Grace Kelly, the weekend Lenox Jazz Stroll, the Berkshires debut of rising prodigy Brandon Goldberg, the joy of Eddie Allen’s Jazzy Brass for the Holidays, and topping it off with Ted Rosenthal’s wonderland concerts at the Gateways Inn in Lenox.
You don’t have to imagine that, because it all happened. Right here in the Berkshires. Plus George Russell, Jr., Lydia Harrell, the Berkshire Jazz Showcase, and…well…you get the picture.
Many of these events would have been impossible without the generous support of foundations, businesses, and individuals like you. Thank you for being there. If you’re interested in making a tax-deductible donation before year-end, we welcome that support. There is an instant donation button (PayPal) above, and a separate donation button that links to other options, as well.
In addition to traditional ways of supporting Berkshires Jazz, you can donate securities, such as stocks, bonds, money markets, CDs and mutual funds. The benefits are many, and include taking any tax deduction based on the full appreciated market value of these securities. This can increase the impact of your donation, and enable us to continue our mission of presenting jazz events, supporting jazz education, and promoting the local jazz scene.
We have exciting plans for next year, including NEA Jazz Master Delfeayo Marsalis, a performance of Rhapsody in Blue by Ted Rosenthal with the Kids 4 Harmony strings orchestra, the return of two of our jazz prodigies for a headline concert, Emmet Cohen with Houston Person, and more. And, of course, more programs in the schools. Your donations will help bring these and other programs to local audiences at accessible ticket prices, and help spread the word through the whole year.
So, whether it’s Christmas time in your house, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus or none or all of the above, happy holidays. Thank you for keeping in touch, and for your support.
Trumpeter, composer, arranger, and author Eddie Allen is one of the most versatile musicians on the New York scene, playing everything from big bands to ensembles to R&B/Pop to Latin to symphonic to Broadway. His holiday brass septet will feature two trumpets, trombone a
nd French horn, plus rhythm section. They will be playing his original arrangements of favorites from his well-received recording, “Jazzy Brass for the Holidays.”
A brass septet –or, more accurately, a brass-oriented jazz ensemble—is the perfect configuration for this repertoire of holiday music. The family-friendly concert starts at 7pm, and takes place the beautiful confines of the Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre, on the campus of Shakespeare & Co., 70 Kemble St., Lenox, Mass.
Allen has worked with such jazz greats as Art Blakey, Billy Harper, Randy Weston, Dizzy Gillespie, and Benny Carter. He has recorded and performed with, as well as composed for: Louis Hayes, Lester Bowie, Jack McDuff, Etta Jones & Houston Person, and Mongo Santamaria. You get the picture: he’s one of the most accomplished and well-rounded talents on the jazz scene. And, he continues to work as a freelance musician and clinician.
“Joyous and jazzy brass…” –JazzTimes Magazine
“A horn man to watch.” –The Washington Post
“…Bracingly vivid trumpeter…” –The Village Voice (N.Y.C.)
Usher-in the Christmas season with this musical delight.
Click here for tickets, or paste this URL into your browser:
https://www.shakespeare.org/shows/2022/eddie-allens-holiday-brass
NOTE: the online box office is closed. Tickets will go on sale at The Stationery Factory on Oct. 9, at 6:30pm. Premium Seating may be limited.
An unequivocal musical prodigy, singer-saxophonist-songwriter-composer and band leader Grace Kelly has rocked the jazz world with sold-out concerts . . . 14 acclaimed albums . . . and a resume that includes performing at the Hollywood Bowl and as part of the house band for “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” – all before reaching her mid-twenties. She takes a break from her band’s 28-city CD tour and returns to the Berkshires for a special appearance at The Stationery Factory.
As a young lion in jazz, Grace Kelly’s honors include multiple ASCAP Composer Awards, Song of the Year in the 2018 John Lennon Songwriting Contest, and she has been named nine years consecutively in the Annual Downbeat Magazine Critics Poll, “Rising Star Alto Saxophone” (the youngest ever named to Downbeat critics poll in 2009). She has played in the house band for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and was featured in Amazon’s Emmy-nominated series Bosch, where she played her original composition, “Blues for Harry Bosch”. That appearance has brought her wide recognition beyond the regular jazz audience, attracting crowds of all ages and description to her concerts. And, now’s your chance to catch her in a different setting.
The 20-piece UConn Jazz Ensemble is renowned as one of the outstanding jazz aggregations in the northeast. Their Stationery Factory performance includes their own material plus several big-band arrangements of Grace Kelly’s vocal and instrumental compositions. The band is directed by John Mastroianni, a top leader, composer/arranger and alto saxophonist who has appeared with several big bands in the area, including the New England Jazz Ensemble, the Greg Caputo Big Band, the Jeff Holmes Big Band, and others.
The venue, The Stationery Factory (63 Flansburg Ave., Dalton), has stunning acoustics, rarely put to the test by large jazz ensembles. The audience is in for a unique and memorable music experience.
Bar service will be available. There are two levels for seating; Premium (which includes a cocktail table and cushioned chairs), and General Admission. Don’t miss out. Click here for tickets.
Click here to enjoy a brief introduction to this most exciting and talented artist.
