Saratoga Jazz Festival

Hudson is scheduled to perform Sunday on the Main Stage from 3:25 until 4:35.

• Buy Hudson’s self-titled debut on Amazon

Hudson featuring Jack DeJohnette, John Scofield, John Medeski & Larry Grenadier will come together at Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival in celebration of Jack DeJohnette’s 75th birthday. The Los Angeles Times has called Jack DeJohnette “one of the finest living jazz drummers, a limber musical thinker and technical dynamo, one who challenges tradition by pushing outward while digging in.” The all-star band’s name, “Hudson,” and the music on their debut album, honor the Hudson River Valley, where each of the members resides.

You may also want to check out the entire 2017 Lineup!

Photo credited to Giorgio Alto.

Jane Bunnett & Maqueque are scheduled to perform Sunday on the Main Stage from 12:30 until 1:30, and on the Gazebo Stage from 4:25 until 5:30.

• Listen to Jane Bunnett & Maqueque on Spotify
• Buy Oddara, the 2016 album by Jane Bunnett & Maqueque on Amazon
• Read Jane’s Wikipedia entry
• Visit Jane’s official website

Jane Bunnett & Maqueque brings the rhythms and culture of Cuba to Saratoga. An internationally renowned saxophonist and pianist, Bunnett has been nominated for two Grammy(r) Awards and received five Juno Awards, an Order of Canada, The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee medal, and, most recently, Ontario’s Premiers Award for Excellence. She will lead her all-female sextet with original music featuring lush, inventive vocals from their latest release, Oddara.

You may also want to check out the entire 2017 Lineup!

Photo by ataelw [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Dee Dee Bridgewater’s is scheduled to perform Sunday on the Main Stage from 5:00 until 6:10.

• Listen to Dee Dee on Spotify
• Buy Dee Dee’s Feathers on Amazon
• Read Quinn’s Wikipedia entry
• Visit Dee Dee’s official website

Renowned as a three-time Grammy(r) Award Winner, TONY(r) Award Winner, Laurence Olivier Award winner, UN Goodwill Ambassador, Producer, and vocalist, Dee Dee Bridgewater’s artistry has shaped the international jazz scene for over four decades. She returns to the Saratoga Performing Arts Center for her 6th festival appearance, featuring songs from her soon-to-be-released Memphis-inspired album and recently after she was be recognized as a National Endowment for the Arts 2017 NEA Jazz Master on April 3, 2017.

You may also want to check out the entire 2017 Lineup!

Photo by Alexandra Spürk (Alexi) (Own work) [GFDL, CC-BY-SA-3.0 or CC BY 2.5], via Wikimedia Commons

Quinn Sullivan is scheduled to perform Sunday on the Main Stage from 1:50 until 3:00.

• Listen to Quinn on Spotify
• Buy Quinn’s most recent album Midnight Highway on Amazon
• Read Quinn’s Wikipedia entry
• Visit Quinn’s official website

Quinn Sullivan will return to Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival after his unforgettable solo debut in 2014. The seventeen-year-old guitarist has spent the past decade as a professional musician, sharing the stage with Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton, Los Lobos, The Roots, Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi, Joe Bonamassa, and opening for B.B. King, who later invited him to play his treasured “Lucille” guitar. He has made guest appearances on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Oprah, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Conan and twice on The Ellen DeGeneres show. His third studio album, Midnight Highway, was produced by multi-Grammy(r) Award winner Tom Hambridge.

You may also want to check out the entire 2017 Lineup!

Photo is licensed via CC BY-NC-SA 2.0/Igor Moura.

Cécile McLorin Salvant is scheduled to perform Saturday on the Main Stage from 2:50 until 3:50.

• Listen to Cécile on Spotify
• Buy Cécile’s 2015 album FOR ONE TO LOVE from Amazon
• Read Cécile’s Wikipedia entry
• Visit Cécile’s offical website

Cécile McLorin Salvant, a 2016 Grammy(r) Award winner and the 2010 Thelonious Monk competition winner, was born and raised in Miami, Florida. She started classical piano studies at age 5, and began singing in the Miami Choral Society at age 8. She has developed a curiosity for the history of American music, and the connections between jazz, vaudeville, blues, and folk music. Cécile carefully chooses her repertoire, often unearthing rarely recorded, forgotten songs with strong stories. She will bring the songs from her Grammy(r) Award-winning album FOR ONE TO LOVE to SPAC.

You may also want to check out the entire 2017 Lineup!

Photo by ataelw [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons.

Dave Stryker Organ Quartet featuring Eric Alexander, Jared Gold, & McClenty Hunter is scheduled to perform Saturday on the Main Stage from noon until 1:00, and on the Gazebo Stage from 3:05 until 4:10.

• Listen on Spotify
• Buy Dave’s most recent album Eight Track II on Amazon
• Read Dave’s Wikipedia entry
• Visit Dave’s offical website

Dave Stryker Organ Quartet featuring Eric Alexander, Jared Gold, & McClenty Hunter will make their Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival debut. Stryker, a jazz guitarist, has recorded twenty-seven albums as a bandleader and has recorded and published over 150 of his own compositions. His 2015 album, Messin’ With Mister T, is a celebration of the man he worked with for over a decade – Stanley Turrentine. The work was named one of Downbeat’s Top CDs of 2015 and earned Stryker his 7th recognition in Downbeat Critics and Readers Poll.

You may also want to check out the entire 2017 Lineup!

Photo credited to Chris Drukker, provided by davestrkyer.com.

The Suffers are scheduled to perform Saturday on the Main Stage from 5:50 until 7:00.

• Listen to The Suffers on Spotify
• Buy The Suffers’s self-titled 2016 album on Amazon
• Read The Suffers’ Wikipedia entry
• Visit The Suffers’ offical website

The Suffers, the Houston band known for their unique, self-coined musical style “Gulf Coast Soul,” will play selections from their 2016 self-titled album at their Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival debut. In 2016, the band performed for NPR’s Tiny Desk, Newport Folk Fest Festival, Austin City Limits Festival, and The Late Show. NPR has described their blending of rock & roll, country, Latin and Southern hip-hop music as “a perfect mix of power and delicacy.” Their 10-musician ensemble is led by singer Kim Franklin, whose warm and powerful voice was compared to Chaka Khan’s by the New York Times writer Andy Langer.

You may also want to check out the entire 2017 Lineup!

Photo provided by The Suffers’ website.

Jacob Collier is scheduled to perform Saturday on the Main Stage from 7:30 until 8:40.

• Listen to Jacob on Spotify
• Buy his recent album, In My Room, on Amazon
• Read Jacob’s Wikipedia entry
• Visit Jacob’s offical website
• Watch Jacob’s YouTube Chnnel

Jacob Collier is one of the world’s most distinctive, inventive and prodigious young musicians. Based in London, Jacob has embraced the world of the internet to share his uniquely creative talent. He is best known for his trademark multi-faceted YouTube videos, wherein he sings all of the parts, plays all the instruments, and adds visual elements through a mosaic of video screens. Jacob has spent the last year collaborating with Ben Bloomberg at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), designing and building a groundbreaking solo live performance vehicle, which brings his one-man, multi-instrumental, multi-visual format of music making to the stage in a way that has never been seen or heard before. The Guardian heralded Collier as “jazz music’s new messiah.” His debut album, In My Room, released in July, ranked number one on the iTunes Jazz chart in twenty-three countries and debuted at number one on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Album chart.

You may also want to check out the entire 2017 Lineup!

Photo by Harald Krichel (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 or CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Jean-Luc Ponty is scheduled to perform Saturday on the Main Stage from 1:20 until 2:30.

• Listen to Jean-Luc on Spotify
• Buy Jean-Luc’s Enigmatic Ocean on Amazon. (This album reached #1 on the Billboard Jazz album chart in 1977.)
• Read Jean-Luc’s Wikipedia entry
• Visit Jean-Luc’s official website

Pioneering jazz and rock violinist Jean-Luc Ponty returns for his 4th Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival appearance with hits from his Atlantic Records albums including Imaginary Voyage, Enigmatic Ocean, and Cosmic Messenger. Ponty began his career in France as a classical violinist, but quickly developed his own horn-inspired style without vibrato. The recipient of lifetime achievement awards in four countries, Ponty was also awarded the 2016 Officier de la Legion d’Honneur, the highest civilian honor in France.

You may also want to check out the entire 2017 Lineup!

Jean-Luc’s photo at the Nice Jazz Festival in 2008 is licensed via CC-BY-SA 2.0/Guillaume Laurent.

The Gipsy Kings are scheduled to perform Sunday on the Main Stage from 8:35 until close.

• Listen to The Gipsy Kings on Spotify
• Buy Savor Flamenco or Best of Gipsy Kings on Amazon
• Read the Gipsy Kings’ Wikipedia entry
• Visit the Gipsy Kings’ official website

Also celebrating their 40th anniversary in 2017, The Gipsy Kings make their Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival debut with music from Savor Flamenco, their ninth studio album since their first release 25 years ago. Their distinctive blend of traditional flamenco styles with Western pop and Latin rhythms has reflected the diverse influences of the gypsy heritage, and has remained visible over the years throughout popular culture. Their rendition of “Hotel California” was included in the film The Big Lebowski and on the HBO series Entourage. The 2010 film Toy Story 3 featured a Gipsy Kings version of the movie’s popular, Randy Newman-penned theme, “You’ve Got a Friend in Me.”

You may also want to check out the entire 2017 Lineup!

Photo credited to Marie Claire Margossian-Fotor.