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Marty Ashby at Con Alma Downtown
David Sanborn
DAVID SANBORN
FEBRUARY 26, 2022, 6:00 p m & 8:30 pm
Universally known as one of the most iconic saxophonists of the current age, David Sanborn is a jazz musician at heart, but has transcended genres and musical boundaries throughout his entire career. Rolling Stone says, ‘Among the great saxophonists of the past four decades, David Sanborn has earned an identity all his own. He’s jazz, he’s funk, he’s soul, he’s pop, he’s blues, he’s rock. Most remarkably, he excels in each of these genres with a voice that is forceful and tender, sensuous and subtle. Sanborn has released 24 albums, won six GRAMMY Awards, and has had eight gold albums and one platinum. He continues to be one of the most active musicians of his genre and an inspiration to countless other musicians. Sanborn is excited to bring his acoustic program to audiences soon.
Find out more »Dee Dee Bridgewater with Bill Charlap
DEE DEE BRIDGEWATER WITH BILL CHARLAP
MARCH 12, 2022, 6:00 p m & 8:30 p m
Over the course of a multifaceted career spanning four decades, GRAMMY and Tony Award-winning jazz giant Dee Dee Bridgewater has ascended to the upper echelon of vocalists, putting her unique spin on standards, as well as taking intrepid leaps of faith in re-envisioning jazz classics. Ever the fearless voyager, explorer, pioneer and keeper of tradition, the three-time GRAMMY winner recently won the GRAMMY for Best Jazz Vocal Album for Eleanora Fagan (1915-1959): To Billie With Love From Dee Dee. One of the world’s premier jazz pianists, Bill Charlap has performed and recorded with many leading artists of our time, ranging from jazz masters Phil Woods and Wynton Marsalis to singers Tony Bennett and Barbra Streisand.
Find out more »Jobim with Strings
“JOBIM WITH STRINGS”
PRESENTED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
THE PITTSBURGH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
MARCH 19, 20 22, 6:00 pm & 8:30 pm
The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and MCG Jazz celebrate the music of Brazilian icon, Antonio Carols Jobim. The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s Principal Pops Conductor, Byron Stripling, will conduct and play and will be joined by native Brazilian’s and Jobim collaborators: Maucha Adnet, vocalist, and Duduka da Fonseca, percussionist, and members of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra strings and woodwinds sections.
Find out more »Jazz, Modernism and Frank Lloyd Wright
Join me for this FREE Fallingwater Webinar. We will be exploring the correlation between jazz music and Frank Lloyd Wright’s approach to architecture. With live demonstrations examining elements of melody, harmony and rhythm, Ashby will draw comparisons between Wright’s organic architecture and jazz improvisation and explain how Fallingwater is an example of a great jazz composition. Live and recorded musical examples will be interspersed throughout the presentation.
Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis
Friday, March 25, 2022 7:00 p.m. & Saturday March 26, 2022 6:00 p.m. + 8:30 p.m.
The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis (JLCO) comprises 15 of the finest jazz soloists and ensemble players today. Led by Wynton Marsalis, Jazz at Lincoln Center Managing and Artistic Director, this remarkably versatile orchestra performs a vast repertoire ranging from original compositions and Jazz at Lincoln Center-commissioned works to rare historic compositions and masterworks by Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Fletcher Henderson, Thelonious Monk, Mary Lou Williams, Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Goodman, Charles Mingus, and many others. The JLCO has been the Jazz at Lincoln Center resident orchestra since 1988, performing and leading educational events in New York, across the United States, and around the globe. Guest conductors have included Benny Carter, John Lewis, Chico O’Farrill, Ray Santos, Paquito D’Rivera, Jon Faddis, Robert Sadin, David Berger, and Loren Schoenberg.
Born in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1961, Marsalis began his classical training on trumpet at age 12, entered The Juilliard School at age 17, and then joined Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. He made his recording debut as a leader in 1982 and has since recorded more than 60 jazz and classical recordings, which have won him nine GRAMMY® Awards. In 1983, he became the first and only artist to win both classical and jazz GRAMMY® Awards in the same year and repeated this feat in 1984. Marsalis is also an internationally respected teacher and spokesman for music education, and has received honorary doctorates from dozens of U.S. universities and colleges. In 1997, Marsalis became the first jazz artist to be awarded the prestigious Pulitzer Prize in music for his oratorio “Blood on the Fields.” In 2001, he was appointed Messenger of Peace by Mr. Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations, and he has also been designated cultural ambassador to the United States of America by the U.S. State Department through their CultureConnect program.
Find out more »SFJAZZ Collective
Saturday, April 2, 2022 6:00 p.m. & 8:30 p.m.
The SFJAZZ Collective is the All-Star Jazz Supergroup featuring Lizz Wright on vocals, Chris Potter on saxophones, David Sánchez on saxophones, Etienne Charles on trumpet, Warren Wolf on vibraphone, Edward Simon on keyboards, Aneesa Strings on bass, Kendrick A.D. Scott on drums. Founded in 2004 by SFJAZZ in San Francisco, the award-winning SFJAZZ Collective is a composer’s workshop that represents what is happening now in jazz. The group’s membership evolves with each member being one of the most influential instrumentalists and performers in modern music. This year’s lineup includes multiple GRAMMY winners and nominees, Critics and Readers Poll winners, and all are recipients of industry recognition and media accolades. For this performance, the SFJAZZ Collective will present a vital program of new compositions by the band inspired by and in response to the extraordinary social and global issues we have faced over the last year.
Find out more »
Stefon Harris & Blackout with Victor Provost
STEFON HARRIS & BLACKOUT WITH VICTOR PROVOST
APRIL 30, 2022, 6:00 pm & 8:30 pm
Stefon Harris’ passionate artistry and astonishing virtuosity have propelled him to the forefront of the jazz scene. Heralded as “one of the most important artists in jazz” by the Los Angeles Times. Harris was named a recipient of the 2018 Doris Duke Artis Awards. Harris’ community work in arts education in Kalamazoo, MI is “The Art of Listening” series of documentaries and has won three Gold Camera awards and three Michigan EMMY nominations.
Victor Provost is one of a small group of musicians who have tirelessly sought to change popular misconceptions about the role of steelpans in jazz. In addition to being a pannist, he is a composer, educator, and recording artist. As a sideman with deep jazz and Caribbean music bona fides, he has toured and recorded with a long list of luminaries including Wynton Marsalis, Hugh Masekela, Ron Blake, Wycliffe Gordon.
Find out more »Arturo O’Farrill and The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra
Arturo O’Farrill and The Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra
May 21, 2022, 6:00 pm & 8:30 pm
The multi GRAMMY-Award-winning Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra (ALJO), led by pianist, composer, and Artistic Director Arturo O’Farrill, blends the drama of big band jazz, the culture of Latin music, and the virtuosity of eighteen of the world’s most accomplished solo musicians. Fifteen years of critically acclaimed performances internationally have firmly established the ALJO as a standard-bearer.
Find out more »Pittsburgh Jazz Orchestra at Pittsburgh Playhouse Inside/Outside
Inside Outside Summer Concert Series
Join us for drinks and live entertainment in our beautiful Highmark Theatre which opens onto our Forbes Avenue plaza. Ticket price includes a complimentary drink.
The Pittsburgh Jazz Orchestra celebrates Pittsburgh’s rich jazz history in the here and now by uniting Pittsburgh jazz musicians of all ages and ethnic backgrounds to perform the broad scope jazz styles in an orchestral format.

© Martha Rial
Pittsburgh Jazz Orchestra
Ashby Family at Con Alma Ellsworth
Join Marty and his nephews, Lucas Ashby and Ian Ashby and his brother, Jay Ashby, for an evening of Brazilian Jazz at Con Alma Ellsworth. Some other musical Ashby’s may show up too.
JazZenJourney, Italy 2022

JazZenJourney, Italy is an immersion into the Tuscan landscape, an inspirational sojourn for body, mind, and soul … with quiet morning meditations, world-class jazz performances each evening, gourmet cuisine, day trips to hilltop villages, local artisans and vineyards, picnics in olive groves, frescoed chapels, and much more.
Find out more »Chieli Minucci and Special EFX at South Park Amphitheater
Chieli Minucci and Special EFX at South Park Amphitheater with opening act Alton Merrell