Events for December 2024

Wesleyan students, faculty, and staff can RSVP on WesNest. Professor of Music and Director of Graduate Studies Paula Matthusen and collaborators lead a year-long inquiry into “unruly waves” staring with a seminar this fall, and concluding with "moonbounce" related activities with Wesleyan's Toneburst Laptop and Electronic Arts Ensemble in the spring 2025 semester. Wesleyan students [...]

Wesleyan students, faculty, and staff can RSVP on WesNest. Students from MUSC 109 “Introduction to Experimental Music,” taught by Professor and Chair of the Music Department Ron Kuivila ’77, present a series of overlapping performances in the ninth rendition of John Cage’s Musicircus at Wesleyan since fall 2013. Everything at once and all together. The [...]

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 [...]

The Trio features Frank Gordon on bass, Jerrod Cattey on drums and Sean Simmons on guitar. They play a mix of jazz standards as well as original compositions.

Presented in the spirit of the season as part of the Yale School of Music’s Ellington Jazz Series, Joe McCarthy’s Latin Grammy Award-winning New York Afro Bop Alliance Big Band and the Yale Concert Band will perform two, interspersed settings of Tchaikovsky’s beloved Nutcracker Suite. The New York Afro Bop Alliance Big Band will perform [...]

Nicole Zuraitis is a GRAMMY winning and 2X GRAMMY-nominated jazz singer-songwriter, pianist and arranger, New York-based bandleader and winner of the prestigious 2021 American Traditions Vocal Competition Gold Medal. With a “heart as big as her remarkable voice,” (Jazz Police), Nicole has positioned herself as one of the top artists and "prolific songwriters" (Broadway World) [...]

Tickets: General seating $40.00  VIP Seating: $80.00 Lineup  

Real Art Ways welcomes back trombonist, composer and arranger Papo Vázquez for another annual concert and holiday parranda. Bring an instrument to receive free admission, otherwise general admission is $10. Parranda de aguinaldo (Christmas folk music), is an Afro-Indigenous musical form played during the holidays in various Caribbean and Latin American countries including Puerto Rico, [...]

Sarah Hanahan - Alto Saxophone Georgia Heers - Vocals Cameron Campbell - Piano Peter Washington - Bass Joe Farnsworth - Drums One of the most highly regarded jazz drummers on the scene today, Joe is known for his blazing speed, precision, musical, and melodic playing. Born in South Hadley, Massachusetts in 1968, Joe grew up [...]

Livestream Noah Baerman is a jazz pianist, composer, educator, and activist who has recorded twelve acclaimed albums under his own name and several more as a co-leader of cooperative ensembles including Trio 149, Envisage Collective, and Playdate, earning praise from Downbeat, Jazz Times, Jazziz, the NYC Jazz Record, WNPR's Jazz Corridor, and the Village Voice. [...]

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 [...]

A new music series at Never Ending Books on the 2nd Thursday of every month.  It will feature groups and ad hoc combinations of New Haven Improvisers Collective folks. If you would like to join COMBO NHIC,  show up and be ready by 7pm. Hypostatic Soundblast Awakening (Adam Matlock and Michael Larocca) Nick DiMaria, Conor [...]

Micah Thomas Trio: Micah Thomas (piano), Dean Torrey (bass), Kayvon Gordon (drums) "I am already tagging him as one who has a unique style as well as all the tools needed to make a major contribution to the world of jazz piano." - Fred Hersch Micah Thomas was born in 1997 in Columbus, Ohio. He [...]

Join us for a joyful holiday celebration at Jazzy’s in New Haven! Waterbury native Jonathan Michel brings his acclaimed holiday revue, *Is It Kwanzaa Yet?*, to Connecticut for the first time. This one-night-only event blends jazz, soul, and holiday classics with vibrant arrangements celebrating the cultural connections of the African diaspora and the American songbook. [...]

$37 - 7pm and 9pm Giacomo Gates does more than sing “a bunch of songs.” He is truly an entertainer, for all ages and styles. Audiences thoroughly enjoy the music, the interaction on the bandstand between Gates and his musicians, the spontaneity, the humor, the stories about the music and composers, along with their relation [...]

Carlos Manuel Gomez, piano Jeff Fuller, bass Ben Bilello, drums Carlos Manuel Gomez was born in Havana, Cuba, in 1974 and has lived in New Haven for the past 5 years. He spends part of his time playing both classical piano and Latin jazz piano, and the rest of his time as a labor organizer [...]

Raised in Connecticut, Evan Wood has been playing drums since a year old. His passion for music began at a young age through playing music with his dad, a rock guitar player. With his roots in groove-based music, Evan spent his time listening to music and playing along to recordings. This self-taught approach was important [...]

The incomparable Samara Joy returns to Jorgensen Center for the third time - this time for a special holiday concert featuring members of her talented muscial family who have shared the influences of gospel, Motown, and jazz across the generations. With her father, uncle, and cousins, the three-time Grammy winner delivers a sparkling evening brimming [...]

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 […]

Kirk Knuffke (cornet), Joe McPhee (sax, trumpet), Michael Bisio (bass) “Rhythmically precise, New Orleans funky and full of grace, Kirk Knuffke’s music is a reflection of his multifaceted personality: part musical sage, part jazz philosopher, a self-taught musician with wide interests, endless curiosity and an abundance of good humor,” writes DownBeat. Reflecting on his guiding […]

Hendrik Meurkens, a virtuoso on both the chromatic harmonica and the vibraphone, is the most important jazz harmonica player since Toots Thielemans. German-born but now based in New York, Meurkens’ recordings and performances garner worldwide acclaim because the transcendent beauty of his music has universal appeal. A two-mallet player in the tradition of Milt Jackson […]

The Stompers were started at New Haven's Neighborhood Music School more than 20 years ago by Jim Fryer. When Jim moved to Manhattan he asked Art Hovey to join the NMS faculty and take over the Stompers. Brooks Low soon became the regular clarinetist, then Don Harvey, playing trombone. By then they had acquired Jim […]

This is the Congabop septet featuring an All Star lineup including: Kris Jensen - flute Rick Germanson-piano Michael O’Brien-bass Jorge Fuentes-percussion Ed Fast- vibraphone & percussion superstar Anthony Carrillo on timbales, bongo, & percussion And our very special featured guest: The legendary conguero, band leader, and multiple Grammy nominated musical artist - Sammy Figueroa This […]

Olli Soikkeli - Guitar TBA - Bass Ben Zweig - Drums Olli Soikkeli, a riveting finnish guitarist who combines astonishing dexterity and speed with pure soul in a way that places him among the worthiest current day successors to the legacy of the great Django.” Wall Street Journal Olli Soikkeli was born in Nurmes, Finland […]

Meet Loston Harris. His piano playing has been described as "percussive" with "incredibly fluid". His vocals noted as "suave." Loston himself will tell you he has worked hard during his career but knows he's been blessed with the opportunities to play the music closest to his heart, jazz. Loston has left his indelible touch at […]

“Mr. Gates is a solid example of a performer who is doing something that no one else does. He evokes an age (that I would hope is not so terribly bygone) when musicians were entertainers and entertainers were musicians, and a sense of humor was as important as a sense of rhythm.” — Will Friedwald *Show […]