“Few sane gamblers back in 1996 would have bet Litchfield Jazz Festival (LJF) — a then at-risk brainchild of the fearless cultural crusader Vita Muir — would survive infancy to become an annual crown jewel among Connecticut’s premier summer events (Owen McNally, WNPR, ’16).” Litchfield, the Little Festival that Could, has featured thousands of the biggest and brightest – Sonny Rollins, Dave Brubeck Dianna Krall, Wayne Shorter, Tito Puente, Arturo Sandoval to name a tiny sampling. In the process it has launched stellar careers, like that of West Hartford native, pianist Brad Mehldau, educated audiences and the next jazz generation and kept the drumbeat of jazz pulsing for regional and global audiences.
Litchfield Jazz Festival 2019, will be held in the Emerson Performing Arts Center at The Gunnery in Washington, CT. The 2019 Festival will keep up the star quality for which it has become famous while it begins a transition to a new location with a more intimate setting and a closer connection to its teaching arm, Litchfield Jazz Camp. This year’s Festival is set for July 26 – 28, with a selection of ticketed concert pairs, giving buyers the chance to select specifically what pleases them.
The rain or shine event will retain all the outdoor elements of the traditional LJF format– student concerts, artist talks and clinics, arts and crafts, food and drink and family entertainment, now called the “OuterFest”– in addition to Festival concerts in the intimate Emerson Performing Arts Center, next door. While seating for the mainstage is ticketed and space is limited this year, the Outerfest, on Saturday, July 27, will be free and open to all visitors. Parking is also free.
The 2019 format allows LJF to offer two party events, the Friends of the Festival Gala, Friday, July 26th, at the lovely Judy Black Memorial Part and Gardens in Washington Depot prior to Friday’s concerts and a Sunday Jazz Brunch, starring the inimitable vocalist Antoinette Montague and the Don Braden Sextet before the July 28th concerts. Montague, a jazz and blues star of long standing, has performed for Jazzmobile, with Duke Ellington Band, Calvin Jones, Chip White, Christian McBride, Earl May, Jimmy Heath, Jon Faddis, Kenny Washington, Lou Donaldson, Red Holloway and many more. She appeared for Litchfield Jazz in an NEA sponsored concert marking the 10th anniversary of Katrina in 2005.
Now for the fest lineup. Opening Night starts with the Litchfield Jazz Orchestra and guest vocalist Alexis Cole, a fixture on the NY club scene and winner of both the Jazzmobile and Montreux Jazz Vocal Competitions. Backed by artists from the Litchfield Jazz Camp’s faculty, including trumpeters Dave Ballou and Jean Caze, saxophonists, Albert Rivera and Kris Allen, bassist Avery Sharpe(with support from the New England Foundation for the Arts) and pianist Julian Shore, this concert will provide an exciting kickoff for one of the longest running jazz festivals in New England.
On Saturday, July 27, one ticket buys two Mainstage shows, beginning at Emerson PAC at 1PM with the exciting vocal trio Duchess. Amy Cervini, Hilary Gardner and Melissa Stylianou channel vintage songs with evergreen swing and irresistible stage presence. One reviewer called them “a serious musical force that makes some seriously friendly music” guaranteed to make you smile. The next show is great ensemble of rising stars and a surprise headliner you won’t want to miss. The announcement of this show will be made shortly.
After a mid-afternoon break to permit Mainstage audiences to visit the free OuterFest (Saturday only) and enjoy and student concerts (these begin at 11 AM and continue until the end of the OuterFest in the late afternoon), food vendors, artists and crafters and all the action across the street, a second set of two concerts begins at 5:30.
The first show features a stunning tribute to Herbie Hancock’s rarely-heard-these-days masterwork Speak Like a Child. This gorgeous opus is reimagined for us by award winning pianist Carmen Staaf will stars with Don Braden, on flugelhorn, trombone (TBD) and Dave Ballou on trumpet. Staff has previously appeared as a leader on the Litchfield Mainstage and is on the teaching staff of Litchfield Jazz Camp. She took a hiatus recently to accept a full scholarship to the prestigious Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance in California where she studied with Hancock and others.
Wrapping up the Saturday shows will be the stellar guitarist and band leader Mike Stern. Stern who first appeared on the Litchfield stage in 2015 was such a hit he was invited back on the spot for 2016. His CV is nothing short of stunning. After graduated from Berklee, and joined Blood, Sweat and Tears he went on to work with Billy Cobham and, later, Miles Davis in the trumpeter’s comeback band with Marcus Miller, Al Foster and Bill Evans. In 1992 he became a member of the Brecker Brothers Band. One of the most exciting performers anywhere, Stern will appear with Danny Walsh on sax, Edmond Gilmore on bass and Richie Morales on drums.
After the kickoff Sunday Jazz Brunch hosted at the Gunnery at 11AM on Sunday, July 28, an all- headliner show will wrap up the 24th Litchfield Jazz Fest. The final show will begin with one of the world’s most famous jazz trombonists and most entertaining performers in the business, Wycliff Gordon. Veteran member of the Wynton Marsalis Septet, Gordon is also an original member of Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and a has appeared with artists like David Sanborn, Paul Simon, Natalie Merchant, Dianne Reeves, Anat Cohen, Ricky Skaggs, Arturo Sandoval, Doc Severinsen, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Tommy Flanagan, Shirley Horn, Joe Henderson, and others. He first appeared on the Litchfield Stage in 2009 with Jay Leonhart and again in 2015 with his own quartet.
The festival will come to a close with an encore performance by the Mike Stern Band. The fest planned a second show by this very popular artists to accommodate the maximum number of attendees possible with this summer’s limited seating,
The Emerson Performing Arts Center will be acoustically transformed this year for us by Telefunken Electomusik. The long-time Litchfield Jazz sponsor has taken on the challenge of creating top sound quality in this charming converted barn, for which audiences and presenter alike will be grateful.
Tickets for the festival will go on sale to the general public mid-to late March. Timely responses are suggested as seating is very limited this one summer.