Litchfield Jazz Festival
Encyclopedia
The Litchfield Jazz Festival began in 1996 at the White Memorial Conservation Center in the Litchfield Hills
in Connecticut. The parent organization that runs the festival is Litchfield Performing Arts, Inc, a not-for-profit founded in 1981. After two years at the White Memorial Conservation Center the festival moved to the Goshen Fairgrounds in Goshen, Connecticut
where it was held until 2008. Following an invitation to move the Litchfield Jazz Camp to the grounds of Kent School in Kent, Connecticut
, the Litchfield Jazz Festival made the move to in 2009 where the festival is held today.
The Main stage performances are held in the Springs Center on the Grounds of Kent School. There is indoor and outdoor seating. The lawn audience can see the stage on an LED screen and hear with stellar outdoor speakers. There is no direct view of the performers in the Springs Center.
, Tito Puente
, Ray Charles
, Dr. John
, the Heath Brothers
, and Slide Hampton
as well as introduced new talent and fostered the careers of Diana Krall
, Brad Mehldau
, Jane Monheit
, Matt Wilson
, Don Braden
, Robert Glasper
and many others.
began in 1997. The camp has been featured in TIME Magazine, on CNN and in the JazzTimes Education Guide. Litchfield Jazz camp offers students of all ages and abilities the opportunity to study with internationally recognized jazz musicians on the campus of a Connecticut boarding school. Students learn in an intensive, noncompetitive environment, in courses ranging from one to four weeks. Students work in skill-matched combos, both at the camp and on the Gazebo Stage at The Litchfield Jazz Festival.
Litchfield Jazz Camp’s music director is tenor saxophonist Don Braden. He and resident artists guide students through classes in performance, improvisation, jazz history, rhythm and percussion, music theory, the business of music, and composition. Instruction is offered in voice, piano, guitar, bass, drums, Latin rhythms, saxophones, clarinet, flute, and brass. Evening jam sessions and resident and visiting artist concerts add to the course work.
On festival weekend students receive instruction from Litchfield Jazz Festival performers. These have included Toots Thielemans
, Sonny Rollins
, Tom Harrell
, Bill Charlap
, Kenny Werner
, Kenny Rankin
, Stanley Turrentine
, Paquito D’Rivera, James Moody
, Danilo Perez
, Jane Monheit
, Béla Fleck
, and many others.
Litchfield Hills
The Litchfield Hills is a geographic region of the U.S. state of Connecticut located in the northwestern corner of the state. It is a term that is roughly coterminous with the boundaries of Litchfield County, for which it is named...
in Connecticut. The parent organization that runs the festival is Litchfield Performing Arts, Inc, a not-for-profit founded in 1981. After two years at the White Memorial Conservation Center the festival moved to the Goshen Fairgrounds in Goshen, Connecticut
Goshen, Connecticut
Goshen is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 2,697 at the 2000 census.Each July, the Connecticut Agricultural Fair is held in town. It is also home to the Goshen players.-Geography:...
where it was held until 2008. Following an invitation to move the Litchfield Jazz Camp to the grounds of Kent School in Kent, Connecticut
Kent, Connecticut
Kent is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, alongside the border with New York. The population was 2,858 at the 2000 census. The town is home to three New England boarding schools: South Kent School, Kent School and The Marvelwood School. The Schaghticoke Indian Reservation is also located...
, the Litchfield Jazz Festival made the move to in 2009 where the festival is held today.
About the festival
The Litchfield Jazz Festival is held the first weekend of August each summer. There is an opening night gala, three days of jazz, a juried craft show, a variety of food vendors, performances on a second stage by students from the Litchfield Jazz Camp, a kid's craft corner, an Artist Talk Tent where the Artist-in-Residence leads interviews and MC's clinics by festival stars. Plus after parties and jam sessions at local restaurants which are free and open to the public.The Main stage performances are held in the Springs Center on the Grounds of Kent School. There is indoor and outdoor seating. The lawn audience can see the stage on an LED screen and hear with stellar outdoor speakers. There is no direct view of the performers in the Springs Center.
Past performers
Over the years the Litchfield Jazz Festival has presented legends like Dave BrubeckDave Brubeck
David Warren "Dave" Brubeck is an American jazz pianist. He has written a number of jazz standards, including "In Your Own Sweet Way" and "The Duke". Brubeck's style ranges from refined to bombastic, reflecting his mother's attempts at classical training and his improvisational skills...
, Tito Puente
Tito Puente
Tito Puente, , born Ernesto Antonio Puente, was a Latin jazz and Salsa musician. The son of native Puerto Ricans Ernest and Ercilia Puente, of Spanish Harlem in New York City, Puente is often credited as "El Rey de los Timbales" and "The King of Latin Music"...
, Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
, Dr. John
Dr. John
Malcolm John "Mac" Rebennack, Jr. , better known by the stage name Dr. John , is an American singer-songwriter, pianist and guitarist, whose music combines blues, pop, jazz as well as Zydeco, boogie woogie and rock and roll.Active as a session musician since the late 1950s, he came to wider...
, the Heath Brothers
Heath Brothers
The Heath Brothers was an American jazz group, formed in 1975 by the brothers Jimmy , Percy , and Albert "Tootie" Heath ; and pianist Stanley Cowell in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Tony Purrone and Jimmy's son Mtume joined the group later...
, and Slide Hampton
Slide Hampton
Locksley Wellington "Slide" Hampton is an American jazz trombonist, composer and arranger.He was a 1998 Grammy Award winner for "Best Jazz Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist", as arranger for "Cotton Tail" performed by Dee Dee Bridgewater...
as well as introduced new talent and fostered the careers of Diana Krall
Diana Krall
Diana Jean Krall, OC, OBC is a Canadian jazz pianist and singer, known for her contralto vocals. She has sold more than 6 million albums in the US and over 15 million worldwide; altogether, she has sold more albums than any other female jazz artist during the 1990s and 2000s...
, Brad Mehldau
Brad Mehldau
Brad Mehldau is an American jazz pianist. Besides leading his own group, the Brad Mehldau Trio, he has performed with many renowned artists, including Pat Metheny, Wayne Shorter, Larry Grenadier, Peter Bernstein, Jeff Ballard, Joshua Redman, Christian McBride, Michael Brecker, Chris Potter, Kurt...
, Jane Monheit
Jane Monheit
Jane Monheit is a jazz and adult contemporary vocalist for Concord Records. She has collaborated with artists such as Michael Bublé, Ivan Lins, Terence Blanchard and Tom Harrell, and has received Grammy nominations for two of her recordings.-Early life:Jane Monheit was raised in Oakdale, New York...
, Matt Wilson
Matt Wilson
Matthew Wilson may refer to:* Matt Wilson , Irish international footballer of 1880s.* Matt Wilson , of Trip Shakespeare and the Flops* Matt Wilson , New York jazz drummer & composer* Matthew Wilson, British rally driver...
, Don Braden
Don Braden
Don Braden is an American jazz tenor saxophonist.Braden was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and raised in Louisville, Kentucky. He began playing tenor sax at age 13 and started playing professionally at 15. As a high schooler he played in the McDonald's All-American High School Jazz Band...
, Robert Glasper
Robert Glasper
Robert Glasper in Houston, Texas is an American jazz pianist and record producer.-Career:Glasper’s earliest musical influence was his mother, Kim Yvette Glasper, who sang jazz and blues professionally. She would bring him with her to club dates rather than leave her son with babysitters...
and many others.
Litchfield Jazz Camp
The Litchfield Jazz CampLitchfield Jazz Camp
The Litchfield Jazz Camp began in 1997. The camp has been featured in Time magazine, on CNN and in the JazzTimes Education Guide. Litchfield Jazz Camp offers students 13 to adult of varying abilities the opportunity to study with internationally recognized jazz musicians on the campus of the Kent...
began in 1997. The camp has been featured in TIME Magazine, on CNN and in the JazzTimes Education Guide. Litchfield Jazz camp offers students of all ages and abilities the opportunity to study with internationally recognized jazz musicians on the campus of a Connecticut boarding school. Students learn in an intensive, noncompetitive environment, in courses ranging from one to four weeks. Students work in skill-matched combos, both at the camp and on the Gazebo Stage at The Litchfield Jazz Festival.
Litchfield Jazz Camp’s music director is tenor saxophonist Don Braden. He and resident artists guide students through classes in performance, improvisation, jazz history, rhythm and percussion, music theory, the business of music, and composition. Instruction is offered in voice, piano, guitar, bass, drums, Latin rhythms, saxophones, clarinet, flute, and brass. Evening jam sessions and resident and visiting artist concerts add to the course work.
On festival weekend students receive instruction from Litchfield Jazz Festival performers. These have included Toots Thielemans
Toots Thielemans
Jean-Baptiste Frédéric Isidor, Baron Thielemans , known as Toots Thielemans, is a Belgian jazz musician well known for his guitar and harmonica playing as well as his whistling. Thielemans is credited as one of the greatest harmonica players of the 20th century...
, Sonny Rollins
Sonny Rollins
Theodore Walter "Sonny" Rollins is a Grammy-winning American jazz tenor saxophonist. Rollins is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. A number of his compositions, including "St...
, Tom Harrell
Tom Harrell
Tom Harrell is a renowned American post-bop jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, composer and arranger.-Biography:Tom Harrell was born in Urbana, Illinois but moved to the San Francisco Bay Area at the age of five. He started playing trumpet at eight and within five years, started playing gigs with...
, Bill Charlap
Bill Charlap
William Morrison Charlap is a jazz pianist born October 15, 1966 in New York City.Bill Charlap comes from a musical background and is a distant cousin to famed jazz pianist Dick Hyman. His mother, Sandy Stewart , is a singer who had a hit in 1962 with My Coloring Book, while his father was Broadway...
, Kenny Werner
Kenny Werner
Kenny Werner is an American jazz pianist.-Biography:Kenny Werner is a world-class pianist and composer. His prolific output of compositions, recordings and publications continue to impact audiences around the world....
, Kenny Rankin
Kenny Rankin
Kenny Rankin was an American pop and jazz singer and songwriter, originally from the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City, New York.-Biography:...
, Stanley Turrentine
Stanley Turrentine
Stanley William Turrentine, also known as "Mr. T" or "The Sugar Man", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.-Biography:Turrentine was born in Pittsburgh's Hill District into a musical family...
, Paquito D’Rivera, James Moody
James Moody (saxophonist)
James Moody was an American jazz saxophone and flute player. He was best known for his hit "Moody's Mood for Love," an improvisation based on "I'm in the Mood for Love"; in performance, he often improvised vocals for the tune.-Biography:James Moody was born in Savannah, Georgia...
, Danilo Perez
Danilo Pérez
Danilo Pérez is a Panamanian pianist and composer.-Early life:Danilo Pérez was born in Panama in 1965. He is considered one of the finest contemporary pianists and jazz composers of our era....
, Jane Monheit
Jane Monheit
Jane Monheit is a jazz and adult contemporary vocalist for Concord Records. She has collaborated with artists such as Michael Bublé, Ivan Lins, Terence Blanchard and Tom Harrell, and has received Grammy nominations for two of her recordings.-Early life:Jane Monheit was raised in Oakdale, New York...
, Béla Fleck
Béla Fleck
Béla Anton Leoš Fleck is an American banjo player. Widely acknowledged as one of the world's most innovative and technically proficient banjo players, he is best known for his work with the bands New Grass Revival and Béla Fleck and the Flecktones.-Early life and career details:Fleck was born in...
, and many others.