LENSIC News:

SANTA FE ― Lensic Performing Arts Center will feature some of the world’s most accomplished jazz musicians this fall in four can’t-miss New Mexico Jazz Festival concerts.

The 16th annual New Mexico Jazz Festival—a collaborative project of Lensic Performing Arts Center and Outpost Performance Space—runs Sept. 15-Oct. 7, with concerts at venues in Albuquerque and Santa Fe.

For a complete schedule of events, visit this link.

The Legendary Count Basie Orchestra:
7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 15 / $49–$75

• The Legendary Count Basie Orchestra has won 18 Grammy awards, performed for royalty, and appeared in several movies and television shows, as well as at every major jazz festival and major concert hall in the world. They most recently received a 2022 Grammy nomination for their album Live At Birdland, following a 2019 Grammy nomination for All About That Basie. Some of the greatest soloists, composers, arrangers, and vocalists in jazz history (Lester Young, Billie Holiday, Thad Jones, Sonny Payne, Freddie Green, Frank Wes, Joe Williams, among others) became international stars once they began working with the Count Basie Orchestra. Today, under the longtime direction of trumpeter Scotty Bernhardt, the orchestra continues its illustrious history of delivering world-renowned big-band jazz.

Ravi Coltrane Cosmic Music Project with Brandee Younger:
7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 16 / $39–$65 / with support from Kathy Love, Xavier Scovil, and Geoff Scovil

• Critically acclaimed and Grammy-nominated post-bop saxophonist, bandleader, and composer Ravi Coltrane comes from a long line of jazz legends: he’s the second son of John and Alice Coltrane and is named after sitarist Ravi Shankar. Still, over the course of a twenty-year career, he has established a sound and group concept that stands undeniably on its own. Coltrane is joined by Grammy nominated harpist Brandee Younger, who plays in the avant-garde tradition of Dorothy Ashby and Alice Coltrane and has worked and recorded with Jack DeJohnette, Pharoah Sanders, Christian McBride, and Charlie Haden as well as R&B and hip-hop artists John Legend, Drake, and Lauryn Hill. Coltrane’s Cosmic Music Project features Gadi Lehavi on Fender Rhodes piano; David Gilmore on guitar; Lonnie Plaxico on bass; and Elé Howell on drums.

Terri Lyne Carrington + Social Science:
7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 17 / $39– $65 /sponsored by Jean McCray and Phyllis Subin

• Grammy-winning drummer, producer, and educator Terri Lyne Carrington is joined by her all-star Social Science ensemble to perform music from her latest release, Waiting Game. Described as her most audacious and politically charged project to date—and celebrated as one of the best releases of 2019 by Rolling Stone, Downbeat, Boston Globe, and Popmatters, Waiting Game expresses an unflinching, inclusive, and compassionate view of humanity’s breaks and bonds through an eclectic program melding jazz, R&B, indie rock, contemporary improvisation, and hip-hop. Special preshow event, free and only for concert ticketholders: Carrington will join jazz historian (and retired deputy chair at the National Endowment for the Arts) A.B. Spellman for a Meet the Jazz Master discussion onstage starting at 6 p.m.

Tower of Power:
7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 6 / $60 – $120 / sponsored by La Cumbre Brewing Co.

• The scorching ecstasy of Tower of Power’s horn section leads the way as they continue to punch out the soul, funk, and R&B hits that have made them music legends for over 50 years. With their signature “Oakland soul” sound—inspired by the music of Detroit (where Tower of Power’s Emilio Castillo grew up), Memphis, and Philadelphia —the band’s hits include “What Is Hip?,” “You’re Still a Young Man,” “So Very Hard to Go,” and “You Ought to Be Having Fun.” Along with recording their own hit singles, Tower of Power has backed legendary artists including Otis Redding, Elton John, Santana, the Grateful Dead, John Lee Hooker, Aerosmith, Bonnie Raitt, and countless others

All Events in the 16th Annual New Mexico Jazz Festival Sept. 15–Oct. 7:
NMJF events are held in Santa Fe at Lensic Performing Arts Center and Dave’s Jazz Bistro at Santa Fe
School of Cooking. In Albuquerque events are held at Outpost Performance Space and Albuquerque Civic Plaza.

• 7:30 p.m. Sept. 15, The Legendary Count Basie Orchestra at the Lensic;
• 7:30 p.m. Sept. 16, Ravi Coltrane Cosmic Music Project with Brandee Younger at the Lensic;
• 11 a.m. Sept. 17, Jazz Brunch with New Mexico Latin Jazz Continuum at Dave’s Jazz Bistro;
• 7:30 p.m. Sept. 17, Terri Lyne Carrington + Social Science at the Lensic
  Plus, join the Lensic at 6 p.m. for a pre-show talk, Meet the NEA Jazz Master with A.B. Spellman and Terri Lyne Carrington (for ticket holders only);
• 7:30 p.m. Sept. 18, Doug Lawrence Quartet featuring Carmen Bradford at the Outpost;
• 7:30 p.m. Sept. 20, The Cookers at the Outpost;
• 7:30 p.m. Sept. 22, Joel Ross Quartet at the Outpost;
• 6:30 p.m. Sept. 25, Blues Night featuring Ruthie Foster, Hillary Smith with Chillhouse, and Levi Platero at the Albuquerque Civic Plaza;
• 7:30 p.m. Sept. 27, Eric Vloeimans and Will Holshouser at the Outpost;
• 7:30 p.m. Sept. 28, Samara Joy at the Outpost;
• 7:30 p.m. Oct. 1, Peter Erskine Quartet with George Garzone, Alana Pasqua, and Darel Oles at the Outpost;
• 7:30 p.m. Oct. 6, Tower of Power at the Lensic; and
• 7:30 p.m. Oct. 7, Kurt Rosenwinkle Quartet at the Outpost.