Jazz In July In New York

The 31st season of the 92Y Jazz in July Festival will run from July 21st to July 30th in the 92nd Street Y. The nonprofit cultural and community center on Lexington Avenue in Manhattan offers a wide range of cultural events the year round and has about 300.000 visitors each year.

Artistic director, pianist Bill Charlap, has once again come up with an impressive line-up for the new season and he will, of course, be featured in all of the participating bands. The Festival starts with Bill & Dick’s All Star Jazz Party which will feature Charlap’s New York Trio plus veteran pianist Dick Hyman with his trio and special guest, clarinetist Anat Cohen.

July 22nd is dubbed “Duke Ellington: Drop Me Off In Harlem” and will see a rare return to the New York stages by legendary singer Ernie Andrews. He will be accompanied by Charlap and Renee Rosnes on piano, Houston Person on tenor sax, Jeremy Pelt on trumpet, and Steve Nelson on vibes, among others.

July 23rd is piano night: “The Piano Men: From Jelly Roll To Oscar” will be a dedication to the great masters on the instrument and other than Charlap, sitting in the piano chair will be Jeb Patton and Marcus Roberts.

Vocal Jazz fans will opt for the July 28th event “Swing A Song Of Sinatra” where singer Kurt Elling will explore the music of the legendary voice of Frank Sinatra. Guests here will be Warren Vaché on cornet and Harry Allen on tenor sax.

For the evening of July 29th, both cabaret and Jazz fans will be delighted since the great Ann Hampton Callaway will be the featured guest in the “Jazz & Sondheim, Side By Side” programme with the music of Stephen Sondheim‘s great shows, where many of the included songs have become standards. Accompanying the singer will be, you guessed it, Bill Charlap but also pianist Renee Rosnes, saxophonist Steve Wilson, and drummer Matt Wilson.

The final night will pay tribute to some of the legends: “Benny, Basie & Bucky” is going to be a swinging affair with the music of Benny Goodman and Count Basie featuring the indefatigable Bucky Pizzarelli on guitar. He will be joined by a certain Bill Charlap on piano and also by Bill’s mom Sandy Stewart on vocals, Ken Peplowski on clarinet, Randy Sandke on trumpet, and Joe Locke on vibes.