Hartford Jazz Society

New Haven Improvisers Collective
2026-04-07 19:00 - 21:00 (America/New_York) | Ely Center of Contemporary Art, 51 Trumbull St, New Haven, CT
Knox Chandler and Bob Gorry – Guitar Duo
GoBruCcio (Gorry/Brunelli/RIccio)
COMBO NHIC

If you’d like to be part of COMBO NHIC, get there and be ready by 7pm. It would be great to have you as part of it. Music will start promptly.
Free parking lot across the street.
Next Workshop is scheduled for Monday April 27th at the Sandbox.

Hartford Jazz Orchestra
2026-04-06 19:30 - 21:30, 2026-03-30 19:30 - 21:30 | Elicit Brewery, 165 Adams Street, Manchester, CT
Every Monday at Elicit Brewery in Manchester CT. No cover.

Tuxedo Junction
2026-04-06 19:00 - 20:30, 2026-03-30 19:00 - 20:30 | Guilford VFW Post 9666, 104 Mill Road, Guilford, CT
For over 24 years, hosting public rehearsals every Monday night, now at Guilford VFW Post 7666.
Tuxedo Junction was started in 1989 by Pete Jacobs (trumpet) and Will Tayler (drums), WWII veterans who set up an 8-piece Dixieland jazz band in the basement of the senior citizens center in Madison, CT. Pat soon joined on piano.
The band quickly grew into a full swing band as Pete added big band arrangements and people joined: everyone from high school students to retired music teachers started to fill out the sections. Tuxedo Junction moved its practice home to the Westbrook Elks briefly, and in 1997 Paul James suggested that Bill’s Seafood restaurant in Westbrook would be a great place to share the sounds of swing. After more than 20 years of Monday nights at Bill’s, originally outnumbering the customers and staff before turning it into the most happening place on the Shoreline for a Monday night, we moved outside to Town Greens, Overlook Farm in Killingworth, and the Guilford VFW.
Tuxedo Junction plays original big band arrangements from the 30’s through the present, including charts from Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller, Sy Zentner, Buddy Rich, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and more. We focus on danceable tunes from swing to waltz, foxtrot to two-step, Latin and even some rock. The band has weekly open rehearsals at local venues on the Eastern Connecticut shoreline. The public is invited to dance and listen in at no charge. We are also available for hire at public and private events throughout Connecticut.
After more than 1,001 performances, Tuxedo Junction has become a musical success story. We are now eighteen passionate musicians, men and women of all ages, following the great jazz tradition and warmly welcoming visiting jazz musicians to sit in.

Dr. G’s Jazz Brunch
2026-04-05 12:00 - 15:00 | Quattro’s Italian Restaurant & Wine Bar, 14 Water Street, Guilford, CT
Dr. G’s Jazz Brunch held on the 1st, 3rd & 5th Sundays from 12pm (noon) until 3pm at Quattro’s Italian Restaurant:

All events will also include jazz masters Jeff Fuller on bass and Barry Ries on drums &/or trumpet. “Dr. G” will provide guitar accompaniment.

Michelle Walker Quartet
2026-04-04 20:00 - 22:30 | Side Door Jazz Club, 85 Lyme Street, Old Lyme, CT, United States
Join us for a special night of jazz with Vocalist Michelle Walker and her Quartet!

Armed with a provocative, whiskey-soaked tone, jazz vocalist Michelle Walker is a charismatic singer that uses an artful blend of blues, bebop, swing and soul with playful rhythmic expressiveness. Based in New York City, she bends the lines and pushes the boundaries of jazz vocal art. With rich colors and adventurous flexibility, she moves easily from a dark, deep tone to a mid-range, swinging lilt. Michelle is very versatile and blessed with a beautifully distinctive voice. Her artful arrangements are garnishing her critical praise. In her upcoming release, Love Misery, Michelle brings together a collection of jazz standards, original songs and her arrangements of pop tunes that thematically chronicles a love affair. This latest recording project features Joel Frahm on sax, Ron Affif on guitar, Toru Dodo on piano, Michael O’Brien on bass and Willard Dyson on drums. Additional highlights of her career include multiple tours in Europe, performing in the Lincoln Center Women in Jazz Festival, touring with jazz vocal legend Mark Murphy and performing at the White House for the lighting of the National Christmas Tree. Dave Nathan at AllAboutJazz.com says, “Walker demonstrates an extraordinary degree of musicality…” Michelle is often compared to Cassandra Wilson, Nina Simone and Betty Carter in style and tone but has develop her own unique sound and singular voice.
It is easy to see why this is looking to become a breakout year for Walker. In early 2016, she performed at the JAVA JAZZ FESTIVAL in Jakarta, Indonesia headlining the festival with Kurt Elling, Monty Alexander, Patti Austin, Chris Botti, Sting, Robin Thicke and more. She then went on to tour in Asia which included performing debut concerts in Kazakhstan and Thailand. Michelle has also headlined the Belarus International Jazz Festival in the city of Minsk on the same bill as Vocal group TAKE 6, The Silver Spring Jazz Festival with Wynton Marsalis and Spyro Gyro, The Lincoln Center Women in Jazz Festival and the Rehoboth Beach Jazz Festival which featured George Benson. Throughout 2015 & 2016, she completed a 30 city extraordinary tour in Russia performing at many Philharmonic Concert Halls around the country. The uniqueness of Walker is found her shifting, rhythmic, lyrical phrasing and her revived, unexpected arrangements of standard songs. Mike Joyce of the Washington Post says, “[Walker]…has a soul-comforting allure.” Michelle has performed in concert with noted jazz musicians Joel Frahm, Ron Affif, Dan Tepfer, Robert Rodriguez, Benito Gonzales, Matt Wilson, Klaus Mueller, Boris Kozlov, E.J. Strickland, Helen Sung, Ben Monder and Yotam Silberstein.
Michelle studied classical voice at the University of Maryland and also studied at the Amsterdam Music Conservatory in Holland and the Stanford Jazz in Palo Alto, CA. Michelle was the first vocalist asked to perform at the “Hot Jazz” Concert Series which featured jazz veterans Kenny Werner, Eric Alexander, Peter Bernstein, David Hazeltine and Jimmy Greene. Walker has performed throughout US, Canada, Russia, Israel England, Holland and most recently at Blues Alley and The Black Rock Performing Arts Center outside Washington, DC where she helped kick off the jazz concert season which has featured Russell Malone, Cyrus Chestnut and Ravi Coltrane.
Her debut recording, Slow Down, was released with critical acclaim. The recording received a Washington Area Musician Association (WAMA) Award nomination for Best Jazz and Debut Album of the year and also a national nomination for Best Independent Jazz Vocal album of the year. Walker spent the first years of her career working as a full-time vocalist in the Washington, DC area before she moved to New York City, where she currently resides and performs. While living in the DC area, the Washington Post placed her several times on its Top Ten Area Performers to see perform live. Michelle served on the 2003-2005 Executive Board for the DC Chapter of the International Association of Jazz Educators (IAJE).

Blue Lion Trio
2026-04-04 19:00 - 21:00 | Open Door Tea, 3552 Main Street, Stratford, CT
Every Saturday
Host & drummer Richard Sylvester has launched a remarkable jazz series (every Saturday!) at this cozy venue

Bob Ahern Quartet
2026-04-04 18:00 - 21:00, 2026-03-28 18:00 - 21:00 | Lighthouse Inn, 6 Guthrie Pl, New London, CT
The Bob Ahern Quartet will be performing the last Saturday of each month at the legendary Lighthouse Inn from 6-9. The group features Lisa Marien on vocals and Bob Ahern on drums along with various Jazz artists each month.

Jazz Jam at Cafe Nine
2026-04-04 16:00 - 19:00, 2026-03-28 16:00 - 19:00 | CT
Every Saturday, 4-7

Firehouse 12 Spring Jazz Series
2026-04-03 20:30 - 23:30, 2026-03-27 20:30 - 23:30 | Firehouse 12, 45 Crown Street, New Haven, CT
Performances are on Friday nights at 8:30pm and 10:00pm. Tickets for each performance can be purchased individually, with prices at $20 for our early shows and $15 for our late shows. Our Season Pass is available for $225, which provides 1 ticket to all sets of the 13 performances.
The complete season calendar can be viewed here.
March 20: GEORGE
March 27: Dave Fiuczynski’s KiF
April 3: Sun of Goldfinger
April 10: Amanda Monaco’s Deathblow
April 17: Caroline Davis, Solo
April 24: David Berkman Quartet
May 1: Mary Halvorson: Canis Major
May 8: Anna Badkhen Dezron Douglas Duo
May 15: Jerome Sabbagh Quartet
May 22: Allison, Cardenas & Nash
May 29: Marta Sanchez (Solo Piano)
June 5: Max Johnson Sextet
June 12: Curtis Hasselbring’s The Curhachestra
All 13 shows are on sale now at firehouse12.com. Tickets are $20 for the 8:30pm performance and $15 for 10:00pm. The complete Season Pass is $225. All tickets can be purchased online or, subject to availability, at the box office on the night of the show.

The Makanda Project
2026-04-03 20:00 - 22:30 | Side Door Jazz Club, 85 Lyme Street, Old Lyme, CT, United States
Join us for a special night of jazz with The Makanda Project!
Kurtis Rivers · Saxophone
Seth Meicht · Saxophone
Sean Berry · Saxophone
Temidayo Balogun · Saxophone
Charlie Kohlhase · Saxophone
Jerry Sabatini · Trumpet
Haneef Nelson · Trumpet
Alfred Patterson · Trombone
Richard Harper · Trombone
Bill Lowe · Trombone
John Kordalewski · Piano
Avery Sharpe · Bass
Yoron Israel · Drums
The Makanda Project was started in 2005 as an effort to explore the previously unrecorded compositions of Makanda Ken McIntyre (1931-2001). Twenty years and over 250 performances later, the 13 musicians in the group are still moved by the challenges and opportunites this music presents. Leader and pianist John Kordalewski, a former McIntyre student, has arranged over 60 McIntyre compositions for the group’s 10-member horn section. Especially given that there is no record of Dr. McIntyre having performed these pieces, the Makanda Project differs from those repertory groups whose function is largely to re-create sounds or styles from the past. Rather, the McIntyre compositions have been a vehicle for the group to develop its own sound and identity.
The Makanda Project has established a presence on the Boston jazz scene through their ongoing series of self-produced free concerts in low-income neighborhoods. These concerts are unique in the Boston area both as a platform for creative music and as community events. They tale place throughout the year and have attracted a large and still-growing following.
The band has also collaborated with renowned guest musicians such as Oliver Lake, Chreles Tolliver, Chico Freeman, Ricky Ford, Feya Faku, Michael Gregory Jackson, and Craig Harris, as well as with poet Askia Toure and dancer/choreographer Mickey Davidson. These collaborations often involve the guests’ compositions. The Makanda Project has also performed at East Coast locations from Washington DC to Maine, in the Midwest, and in Europe. This will be their second appearance at the Side Door.
The individual members are Kurtis Rivers, Seth Meicht, Sean Berry, Temidayo Balogun, and Charlie Kohlhase (saxophones), Jerry Sabatini and Haneef Nelson (trumpets), Alfred Patterson, Richard Harper, and Bill Lowe (trombones), John Kordalewski (piano), Avery Sharpe (bass), and Yoron Israel (drums).

Diana Krall
2026-04-03 20:00 - 22:00 | Palace Theater – Waterbury, 100 East Main St, Waterbury, CT
Diana Krall is the only jazz singer to have eight albums debut at the top of the Billboard Jazz Albums chart. To date, her albums have garnered two Grammy® Awards, ten Juno® Awards and have also earned nine gold, three platinum and seven multi-platinum albums. Krall’s unique artistry transcends any single musical style and has made her one of the most recognizable artists of our time. As The New York Times recently noted Krall possesses, “A voice at once cool and sultry, wielded with a rhythmic sophistication.” Born in Nanaimo, British Columbia, which is outside of Vancouver, Krall grew up in the western part of Canada and began studying the piano when she was four years old. By the time she was 15, she was performing jazz locally and with the encouragement of her father, a stride pianist with a vast knowledge of such Twenties and Thirties keyboard masters as Fats Waller, James P. Johnson, and Earl Hines, she devoted herself to music. “I think Dad had every recording Fats Waller ever made,” she says, “and I tried to learn as many as I could.”
Diana Krall’s recordings have been included in several film soundtracks, and she has expanded upon her role as a performer to include songwriting, producing and arranging and has brought her talents to collaborate with many other artists including Paul McCartney, Barbra Streisand, and Tony Bennett. She tours extensively around the globe to sold out audiences, appearing at premiere jazz festivals and concert halls throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.

Jazz at Three Sheets
2026-04-03 18:00 - 21:00 | Three Sheets, 372 Elm Street, New Haven, CT
New England Jazz Underground presents jazz on the 1st and 3rd Friday every month.

Fridays with Frank
2026-04-03 17:15 - 19:00, 2026-03-27 17:15 - 19:00 | Institute Library, 847 Chapel Street, New Haven, CT
Join renowned jazz historian and Jazz Haven Board member Frank Cochran for BYOB “Fridays with Frank.” Happy Hour jazz listening sessions are held every Friday from 5:15 to 7:00 pm at the Institute Library in downtown New Haven. Each Friday Frank selects iconic jazz LPs to play from the Library’s extensive collection. Discussion follows. BYOB and please give a modest donation towards the IL’s spiraling utilities. A $5.00 contribution is welcome.

Marilyn Crispell/Harvey Sorgen Duo
2026-04-02 19:30 - 21:30 | Institute for the Musical Arts, 165 Cape Street, Goshen, MA, 01032, United States
Marilyn Crispell (piano), Harvey Sorgen (drums)
Marilyn Crispell is a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music where she studied classical piano and composition, and has been a resident of Woodstock, New York since 1977 when she came to study and teach at the Creative Music Studio. She discovered jazz through the music of John Coltrane, Cecil Taylor and other contemporary jazz players and composers. For ten years she was a member of the Anthony Braxton Quartet and the Reggie Workman Ensemble and has been a member of the Barry Guy New Orchestra and guest with his London Jazz Composers Orchestra, as well as a member of the Henry Grimes Trio, Tiszigi Munoz Ensemble, and Quartet Noir (with Urs Leimgruber, Fritz Hauser and Joelle Leandre).
Currently she is touring and recording with two different trios: Joe Lovano’s Trio Tapestry (with Carmen Castaldi) and the Dreamstruck Trio with Harvey Sorgen and Joe Fonda. She also plays with Scottish saxophonist Raymond MacDonald and the Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra. She has collaborated with Angelica Sanchez, Tanya Kalmanovitch, Tyshawn Sorey, David Rothenberg and others. Besides working as a soloist and leader of her own groups (including trios with Gary Peaccok or Mark Helias and Paul Motian), Crispell has performed and recorded extensively with well-known players on the American and international jazz scene. She’s also performed and recorded music by contemporary composers Robert Cogan, Pozzi Escot, John Cage, Pauline Oliveros, Manfred Niehaus and Anthony Davis (including four performances of his opera “X” with the New York City Opera in 1986). She is a 2025 NEA Jazz Master.
Woodstock-based drummer/composer Harvey Sorgen has lived a hundred lifetimes in one. Sorgen has drummed with such greats as Ahmad Jamal, Bill Frisell, Paul Simon, Derek Trucks, and his longtime gig Hot Tuna, and he’s also worked as an engineer and clinician. Upcoming records with Katie Bull, MaMuGe 3, the Fonda/Stevens Group, Black Dog Trio, and his own Sorgen/Rust/ Windbiel Trio attest to his versatility and seriously swinging, slightly abstract style. Sorgen says listening beyond the drums is the key to being a player other musicians want to work with. “Listen to the rhythm of everybody else in the band,” he advises. “It’s really about the way the other musicians are playing. Their rhythms and dynamics will help dictate your rhythms and dynamics and make it feel natural.”
Their new release, Forest, has been released on Fundacja Shuchaj.

Black Eyed Sally’s Jazz Jam - Matt Dwonszyk CD Release concert
2026-04-01 19:00 - 22:00 | Black-eyed Sally’s Southern Kitchen & Bar, 350 Asylum St., Hartford, CT, 06103
Located in downtown Hartford, for the aficionado, musician, or the curious first-timer, Black Eyed Sally’s Jazz Jams are the best taste of live jazz in Hartford. Set in the southern juke joint atmosphere of Black-eyed Sally’s, these jam sessions will strike a chord as you hear what our local talent has to offer, with regular special appearances by big city jazz names. Experience the cool original music of the jam session while you enjoy the hot fierce cookin’ of Hartford’s favorite BBQ joint.
After a long hiatus due to the pandemic, regularly scheduled jazz jams have returned to Black Eyed Sally’s every Wednesday. There will be a featured jazz ensemble followed by an open jam session. Bring your axe and be ready to jam!
The music begins at 7:00 PM, jam session begins after 1st set. No cover charge most nights, under 21’s welcome.
Presented by the Hartford Jazz Society and Neefjazz Entertainment

Michael Palin's Other Orchestra
2026-03-31 20:00 - 22:00 | The Hungry Tiger, 120 Charter Oak Street, Manchester, CT
It’s a funky Big Band thang, a large jazz ensemble that rocks the house. Playing music from Tower of Power, Frank Zappa, The Brecker Brothers, Jaco Pastorious, Steely Dan, The Yellow Jackets, Bob Berg…..You’ll want to see them again and again!
https://www.facebook.com/OtherOrchestra/

Noah Baerman Plays the Music of James Williams
2026-03-29 15:00 - 17:00 | Crowell Concert Hall – Wesleyan University, 283 Washington St, Middletown, CT

Baby Grand Jazz at Hartford Public Library
2026-03-29 15:00 - 16:00 | Center for Contemporary Culture (Main Floor) – Hartford Public Library, 500 Main Street, Hartford, CT
Concerts will be held at HPL’s Downtown Library on Sunday afternoons at 3:00 p.m. from January through April, excluding Easter Sunday on April 5. Performances will take place in the Center for Contemporary Culture, 500 Main Street, Hartford. Doors open at 2:00 p.m., and each concert lasts about an hour. Concerts will be streamed on HPL’s Facebook page, YouTube channel and Hartford Public Access TV.
2026 Lineup

January 4 – Iftah Kary Trio
January 11 – Lee Fish & Friends
January 18 – Koan
January 25 – Digba Ogunbiyi Quartet

February 1 – Matt Parker
February 8 – Meg Okura & The Pan Asian Chamber Jazz Ensemble
February 15 – Jen Allen and Heart Alchemy
February 22 – Jamile Trio

March 1 – The Hartford Sound
March 8 – Nigel Bello Band
March 15 – Laszlo Gardony Trio
March 22 – Rodney Jones
March 29 – Ben Bilello Quartet
April 5 – No concert
April 12 – Japanese MicroJam
April 19 – Tyler Sherman and Friends
April 26 – Rene McLean: Music of the Spirit

Greg Abate Quartet
2026-03-28 20:00 - 22:30 | Side Door Jazz Club, 85 Lyme Street, Old Lyme, CT, United States
Join us for a special night of jazz with Saxophonist Greg Abate and his Quartet!

Greg Abate – Saxophone
Chuck Lamb – Piano
John Lockwood – Bass
Gary Johnson – Drums
Greg Abate jazz saxophonist, flutist, composer continues as an International Jazz/Recording Artist with 225 days a year touring the globe.
In the mid 70’s after finishing a four year program at Berklee College Of Music, Greg played lead alto for the Ray Charles Orchestra for 2 years.
In 1978 Greg formed his group Channel One which was a favorite in the New England area and from there had the opportunity to play tenor sax with the revived Artie Shaw Orchestra under leadership of Dick Johnson from 1986 to ’87.
Following this experience Greg ventured out as post hard bop soloist playing Jazz Festivals, Jazz Societies and Jazz Clubs throughout the U.S. Canada and abroad, including most of Europe, UK, and Moscow and Georgia Russia.
Greg’s newest release Gratitude, with the Tim Ray Trio has received glowing reviews and a lot of international airplay. Also, check out Greg’s other recordings including special guests Phil Woods and other notable artists.
Greg is currently a Whaling City Sound recording artist.
Greg recorded his first CD Live At Birdland NYC in 1991 on the Candid Jazz Label with the trio of James Williams, Rufus Reid and Kenny Washington.
To this date Greg has recorded over 17 other recordings as leader.
Greg is also an adjunct professor of Jazz Studies at Rhode Island College and is also a very active jazz clinician with co. sponsorship from the Conn-Selmer Instrument Co., conducting workshops and master classes through the U.S and abroad.
Greg has been inducted into the RI MUSIC HALL OF FAME 2016

Chief Adjuah (formerly Christian Scott)
2026-03-28 20:00 - 22:00 | Frederick C. Tillis Performance Hall, 151 Presidents Drive, Amherst, MA
Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah (formerly Christian Scott) is an artist who has never been content to stand still and inhabit only the present. Adjuah changed his name out of a desire to connect with his family roots in West Africa and clear a stronger path to the future. His music similarly embraces the African roots of jazz while simultaneously embodying the genre’s spirit of innovation.
Adjuah has developed custom instruments — including the Adjuah trumpet, Siren, Sirenette, and the Adjuah bow — as part of an ongoing quest to explore new sounds. His work as a composer and bandleader rejects restrictive ideas of genre, shattering boundaries in pursuit of limitless innovation. That pursuit has earned him awards and critical acclaim across thirteen albums.
Adjuah and his band will bring Adjuah’s vision of music that blends past, present, and future to the Frederick C. Tillis Performance Hall stage following a day spent working with students from throughout New England at the UMass Department of Music and Dance’s annual High School Jazz Festival. This — a composer, performer, and scholar who is fully committed to the evolution of his artform working with young musicians — is the very essence of our future-oriented Next50 series.
Total price starts at: $35.00.
Total price for youth 17 and under and Five College students starts at: $20.00

Boney James - Slow Burn Tour
2026-03-28 19:30 - 21:30 | John Lyman Center for the Performing Arts – Southern CT State University, 501 Crescent Street, New Haven, CT
Saxophonist and composer Boney James’s new Concord Records album, Slow Burn, was released October 18, 2024.
“When I mentioned that phrase to people as a possible title, they said, “That also refers to your whole career in a way” James says with a laugh. “This is my 19th record and I feel like I’m just hitting my stride.”
Slow Burn is a new high point in a remarkable career that now spans more than three decades and includes a long list of accolades; four GRAMMY nominations, three NAACP Image Award nominations, a Soul Train Award for Best Jazz Album and four RIAA Gold Record certifications. In 2009, Billboard named James one of the Top 3 Contemporary Jazz Artists of the decade. In 2024 year Boney became the first ever artist to score 20 number one singles on the Billboard Smooth Jazz chart.
But Boney James has never been one to look backwards and Slow Burn, which the artist produced, marks several firsts. Beginning with the album’s opening track, ‘Arcadia.’ The very first notes on the album are the acoustic bass playing of the legendary Marcus Miller. It’s one of the few times that Miller, known for his electric bass guitar work, has committed his standup bass playing to a recording and the first time that James has incorporated an upright bass into his own music
Next is James’ intriguing interpretation of the classic ‘Butterfly.’ Co-written by master keyboardist Herbie Hancock and Bennie Maupin, the track features Marcus Miller again as well as young lion Cory Henry’s inspired electric piano. “This beautiful melody got stuck in my head” explains James. “I have never covered a tune by a legend like Herbie before and I hope we did him justice.”
The title track, ‘Slow Burn,’ is one of four tunes on the album that James co-wrote and co produced with multi-instrumentalist Jairus Mozee ( known for his work with Anderson Paak, Anthony Hamilton and Nikki Minaj etc.).
Tickets:
$75 General Public *processing fee included in price
$63 SCSU Faculty/Staff *processing fee included in price
Seating: Reserved

Amina Figarova Sextet
2026-03-27 20:00 - 22:30 | Side Door Jazz Club, 85 Lyme Street, Old Lyme, CT, United States
Join us for a special night of jazz with Pianist Amina Figarova and her Sextet!

Amina Figarova – Piano
Charlie Porter – Trumpet
Bart Platteau – Flutes
Wayne Escoffery- Tenor sax
Luques Curtis – Bass
Donald Edwards – Drums
Amina Figarova was born in Baku, Azerbaijan, and as a child studied to be a classical concert pianist. Graduated from the Baku Conservatory as classical concert pianist. In 1990, she entered Rotterdam Conservatory (where she met Bart Platteau, a fellow student from Belgium) to pursue jazz, coming to the United States in 1992 to complete her formal education at Boston’s Berklee College of Music. In 1998 she was invited to the Thelonious Monk Institute’s summer jazz colony in Aspen, and after more than a decade of bookings in major U.S. jazz clubs, concert halls and festivals, the couple gained legal immigrant status in 2013, and became US citizen in 2020. They currently live in Harlem, NY and tour constantly.
“Among the most important composers to come into jazz in the new millennium” – JazzTime
Hailing from Azerbaijan, the New York-based Amina Figarova is an internationally influenced—and recognized—composer, pianist, and bandleader. Those three roles come to the forefront in Figarova’s sextets, bands with a remarkable chemistry that brings her detailed arrangements to life. Every member of the group stands out as a first-rate individual, but their dedication to Figarova’s eclectic and powerful compositions gives this group its depth of feeling and elite status. The Amina Figarova Sextet has been a hit at major festivals like the Newport Jazz Festival and New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival
Suite for Africa is Amina’s 18th album, all with original compositions by Amina. Other compositions for Symphonic orchestra, Musical Diana, a ballad book for Trio Del Norte, brass ensemble, flute duo and quartet, and many more.

Natalie Hamilton
2026-03-27 17:30 - 19:00 | American Mural Project, 90 Whiting Street, Winsted, CT
Natalie Hamilton is a singer/songwriter known for her four-octave, velvet voice and a style that blends jazz sophistication with folk intimacy. Critics describe her sound as evocative, powerful, and uniquely her own, comparing her voice to a young Barbra Streisand and her narrative, lyrical compositions to Joni Mitchell.
“She is able to say more with humming than most singers can say with words – reminiscent of a young Barbra Streisand.” (Sandy Cooperman – The Daily Sun)
Hamilton is currently performing and recording a new album for 2026 release.

Big Ears Festival
2026-03-26 - 2026-03-28 | CT
Big Ears is a four-day celebration of musical and artistic adventure and discovery, transforming downtown Knoxville, TN into an immersive playground for the senses. From March 26–29, 2026, over 35,000 attendees will experience nearly 250 performances, films, conversations, literary events, and art installations across 20 diverse venues, including historic theaters, churches, intimate clubs, and art galleries.
Founded in 2009, Big Ears is unlike any other festival—presenting iconic artists and bold new voices from around the globe. The programming crosses generations and genres, spanning contemporary classical, jazz, experimental, rock, folk traditions, ambient soundscapes, and beyond. With a festival pass, you’ll have access to all advertised performances (with the exception of separately ticketed, reserved seat concerts), giving you the freedom to follow your curiosity and encounter the unexpected.
