Thu 7/9-Sat 7/11 PlayhouseSquare
Tri-C JazzFest 2015 takes place over a single weekend at a single location, as it did for the first time last year. And again, it’s at PlayhouseSquare, the perfect location with its multitude of theaters all no more than a block apart. Tickets are on sale here.
Tri-C JazzFest will open on Thu 7/9 with a spectacular showcase at the Palace Theatre, featuring a hometown boy made good: trumpeter Dominick Farinacci (pictured). His quintet will perform, along with the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra and special guests including vocal ensemble Take 6.
On Fri 7/10 Walter “Wolfman” Washington and others will pay tribute to Cleveland bluesman Robert Lockwood Jr, who would have been 100 this year had he not died in 2006 at the age of 91. That takes place at the Ohio Theatre.
The inevitable smooth jazz concert with Brian Simpson’s Smooth Jazz All-Stars including Euge Groove, Maysa, Kim Walters and Peter White, with Brian Culberson opening, will take place at the Palace Theatre.
That particular night will feature variety a lot of variety: later in the evening, the Creole Joe Band featuring major zydeco star CJ Chenier will perform later at the Ohio Theatre.
Ernie Krivda and his Fat Tuesday Band will kick off an all-day feast of music on Sat 7/11 at 1 pm with “Big Band Party on Planet Q,” a tribute to Quincy Jones, at the Ohio Theatre. French/Dominican gypsy jazz singer Cyrille Aimee and trombone player Wycliffe Gordon perform at the Hanna Theatre at 2:30pm, and at 5pm, the Warren Wolf Quartet, Benny Green, John Clayton, and Jeff Hamilton will perform a tribute to legendary bassist Ray Brown at the Palace Theatre.
Also on Sat 7/11, at 7:30pm at the Palace, percussionist Pete Escovedo, and his daughter, singer percussionist Sheila E., best known for her work with Prince, will perform a showcase of Latin Jazz at the Palace. And at 9:30pm, the Etienne Charles Calypso Project and the Joey De Francesco Quartet will play at the Ohio Theatre.
Go here for more information and to keep abreast of any additions to the schedule.