JazzBuffalo Plans 10 Plus Concerts To Celebrate Jazz Appreciation Month And International Jazz Day

Last April, JazzBuffalo and the jazz community in Buffalo became first-time participants in the annual April Is Jazz Appreciation Month celebration taking place across the United States.  Since 2002, the Smithsonian National Museum of American History has been promoting this month-long celebration devoted to the American art form.

JazzBuffalo will host 10 concerts in conjunction with Smithsonian National Museum of American History and UNESCO International Jazz Day. Each year, one iconic jazz legend is selected to be the figure of a month-long celebration. This year’s choice iconic jazz figure is Norman Granz.  Granz was the founder of the famous Los Angeles-based Jazz At The Philharmonic sessions that began in the late 1940’s and were produced throughout the 1950’s and 1960’s.  Many of the leading jazz performers of that era performed and were recorded by Norman Granz.

Throughout WNY, JazzBuffalo will be partnering with Pausa Art House, The Screening Room Cinema and Café’, Hotel Henry, and The Hollow Bistro and Brew to host concert and music events celebrating April Is Jazz Appreciation Month.

The concert events line-up:

In a pre-JAM concert, the international jazz group based in New York City, Philippe Lemm Trio, will perform at Pausa Art House on Saturday, March 31st at 8 pm

On Saturday, April 7th at 11:30 am, a Jazz Brunch hosted by the Hollow Bistro and Brew in Clarence will feature the duo of Rick Strauss, guitar, and Bud Fadale, bass

The Paul Hage Mirage Band will perform their unique style of Mediterranean Jazz at Pausa Art House on Saturday, April 7th at 8 pm

The 2018 Hotel Henry Jazz Concert Series will begin on Wednesday, April 11th at 7:30 pm with a concert by the 9-piece ensemble, My Cousin Tone’, in a tribute to Jazz and the Great American Songbook

On Saturday, April 14th at Pausa Art House at 8 pm international vocalist and pianist Drea d’Nur, the creator of the Dear Nina performance at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery and the Spirit of Nina produced at Kleinhans Music Hall, will perform the first of two planned concerts in April

The 2017 JazzBuffalo Poll Winner for Best Jazz Male Vocalist, Zach Carr, will perform in a special JazzBuffalo Live event at Pausa Art House on Thursday, April 19th at 7:30 pm in a Tribute To The Greats

Drea d’Nur will return to Pausa Art House on Saturday, April 21st at 8 pm for the second of her two concerts planned

On Wednesday, April 25th at 7:30 pm Carina and the Six String Preacher will perform their unique brand of jazz noir in a multi-media event at the Screening Room Cinema and Café where they will play the music from their recent CD, The Great Hideaway

On Saturday, April 28th at 8 pm, JazzBuffalo will host a tribute to Norman Granz and the Jazz At The Philharmonic featuring clarinetist and saxophonist Sal Andolina of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra

The month culminates with a special event honoring International Jazz Day. International Jazz Day was created by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to coincide with Jazz Appreciation Month. Each year, April 30th, is designated as International Jazz Day. This year, International Jazz Day takes place on Monday, April 30th and will feature a performance by the 8-piece ensemble The Blue Note 8 at 7:30 pm at The Screening Room Cinema and Café. To be followed by a star-studded Live Streaming of the Global IJD Concert hosted by Herbie Hancock and broadcast live from St. Petersburg, Russia.