Harris Theater Rooftop
Young Lions Jazz
11-11:45am - Alfie Jackson Quartet
12-12:45pm - Brandon Harper & Friends
1-1:45pm - The Isabella Isherwood Quintet
2-2:45pm - Alejandro Salazar and the Afro Cuban Exchange
3-3:50pm - Jeremiah Collier and the REUP Band
Von Freeman Stage (North Promenade)
11:30am-12:25pm - Mai Sugimoto Double Alto Quartet
For her latest of several appearances at the festival, the always engagingalto saxophonist (and flutist) Mai Sugimoto will lead her working band, which teams her with altoist (and soprano saxist) Fred Jackson Jr. and features bassist Ethan Philion and drummer Isaiah Spencer. Her prominence on the local scene
has grown and grown through her assortment of projects including her 2021 solo album, “Monologue,” her 2024 trio album “Sunlight Filtering Through Leaves” and her contributions to such bands as Hanami and Joshua Abrams’ Natural Information Society. It has been fun and rewarding watching her personalize such influences as Ornette Coleman and traditional Japanese music.
12:40-1:35pm - Sharel Cassity Alliance
Alto and soprano saxophonist Sharel Cassity devotes herself to shining a light on women who perform music that “is directly out of the jazz lineage and language of the jazz masters.” Not that she limits herself to jazz tradition. On her 2018 album, “Evolve,” she covered songs by Bjork and Alicia Keys and got funky. But she is most at home plying her deep bop-to-soul sound, whether playing lead alto with the Diva Jazz Orchestra, as she did for seven years, or bonding with top Chicago reedists Greg Ward and Rajiv Harlem on the 2021 album “Altoizm.” Today, her band will feature pianist Hannah Mayer and bassist Carmi Edwards.
1:50-2:45pm - Charlie Johnson Quartet The veteran pianist, fresh off a performance with the South Side All-Stars, leads his quartet.
3-4pm - Jason Palmer Quartet Perhaps because he has settled so deeply and so well into his adopted city of Boston, where his quintet held forth for 20 years at Wally’s Jazz Cafe, trumpeter and North Carolina native Jason Palmer doesn’t have the national recognition he deserves. But with terrific albums like “Live from Summit Rock in Seneca Village” and memorable contributions to recordings including Mark Turner’s “Return from the Stars,” he’s made his case as an essential artist. Earlier this year, he brought his taut, melliflous sound to Bennett Gordon Hall as part of the Ravinia on Tour program. Today, he’ll make his first appearance at the festival as a leader, accompanied by tenor saxophonist Gregory Groover Jr., bassist Max Ridley and drummer Lee Fish.
Jay Pritzker Pavilion
4:15-5:05pm - Clif Wallace Big Band The seasoned drummer, a man of many formats who has played with
such notables as Victor Goines, Tammy McCann, Bobby Broom, Dee
Bridgewater and the Chicago Jazz Orchestra, leads his big band.
5:25-6:10pm - Eddie Henderson Quintet
Forgive the cliche, but if anyone deserves to be called a “musician’s
musician,” it’s the effortlessly wide-ranging trumpeter Eddie Henderson. During his 50-plus years in jazz – he took several years off as a practicing physician – he has run a gamut of styles ranging from hard bop to fusion (he was a stalwart in Herbie Hancock’s Mwandishi) to crossover sounds and back again. In recent years, Henderson has added to his laurels as a member of the popular post- bop super group the Cookers, whose members include his crony of more than four decades, the impeccable pianist George Cables. Henderson’s sterling reputation among musicians is reflected in the all-star composition of his quintet, which in addition to Cables features the great alto saxophonist (and fellow Jazz Messengers alumnus) Donald Harrison, bassist Gerald Cannon and drummer Mike Clark.
6:25-7:25pm - Orrin Evans Quartet
Will the real Orrin Evans please stand up? Is he the large ensemble artist who leads the Grammy-nominated, Mingus-influenced Captain Black Big Band? The pianist who replaced Ethan Iverson in the Bad Plus and helped take that pop-loving band in a new direction before moving on? Or the co-leader of the collective trio Tarbaby? Well, of course, he is all of those artists, and more. But however varied the setting, the Philadelphia-based Evans’ own voice shines through in his pursuit of deeper meaning – musical, collaborative, spiritual. Backed tonight by rising alto saxophonist Caleb Wheeler Curtis, veteran bassist Robert Hurst and drummer Mark Whitfield II, he will continue on that quest, taking us with him.
7:45-9pm- Spanish Harlem Orchestra As is now tradition, the Chicago Jazz Festival concludes with a blast of Latin music, this time delivered by the Spanish Harlem Orchestra, “the leading light of the salsa reconstruction movement” (Newsday). Under the direction of pianist and arranger Oscar Hernández, the band has over 24 years racked up five Grammy nominations and three Grammy wins. It’s an ensemble that is deeply committed to the classic salsa recorded for the Fania label as well as Latin jazz (hear its 2020 album, “The Latin Jazz Project”). Hernandez, who has played and/or recorded with legends including Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, Ray Barretto and Ruben Blades, and was music director for Paul Simon’s musical, “The Capeman,” will lead a charged band including Marco Bermudez, Jeremy Dejesus and Carlos Cascante on vocals; Mitchel Frohman on saxophone and flute; Douglas Beavers and Juan Lakunza on trombone; Manuel Ruiz and Alex Norris on trumpet; Gerardo Madera on bass, and George Delgado, Oreste Abrantes and Luis Quintero on percussion.
WDCB JAZZ - LOUNGE LINE-UP
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2024 (South Promenade)
6:45-7:45pm - Juli Wood’s “Natalies Wood plays Roland Kirk”
4:30-6:15pm - Alexander McLean Project
2:15-4pm - Ernest Dawkins Quintet
12-1:45pm - Bethany Pickens Soulful Coalition
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