JazzFest 2021

12pm – 1:30pm | Shah/Gomes/Belo Brazilian Jazz Trio (FREE & OUTDOORS)
White Plains Farmers Market, 59 Court Street
 
Vocalist and composer Kavita Shah deeply engages the jazz tradition, while also addressing and advancing its global sensibilities. A lifelong New Yorker of Indian origin, Shah incorporates her ethnographic research on Brazilian, West African and Indian musical traditions into her original repertoire.

12pm – 1pm | Gabrielle Garo Quartet (FREE)
Grace Church, 33 Church Street
 
Downtown Music at Grace Church presents Gabrielle Garo a multi-instrumentalist who plays flute, piccolo, alto, tenor, soprano saxophone and bass clarinet. She is the 2015 International Women in Jazz Youth in Action Winner and was an ambassador for the 2018 Latin Grammy Awards.
 
* This performance is presented by Downtown Music at Grace and will take place indoors in accordance with New York State and local health department guidelines.

6pm – 9pm | Jazz’n ARTSBASH ft. Ravi Coltrane Quartet, a benefit concert for ArtsWestchester
City Square Park, 50 Main Street, White Plains

ArtsWestchester and Ginsburg Development Companies present the first annual Jazz’n ArtsBash Benefit Concert with live music by the Ravi Coltrane Quartet. Join us under the stars for cocktails, music, and hors d’oeuvres. The night will include two sets at 7pm and at 8:15pm.

Ravi Coltrane is a critically acclaimed Grammy-nominated saxophonist, bandleader and composer. Ravi has released six albums as a leader. His albums include, “Moving Pictures,” “From The Round Box,” “Mad 6,” “In Flux,” “Blending Times,” and “Spirit Fiction.” Born in Long Island the second son of John Coltrane and Alice Coltrane, Ravi was named after Indian sitar legend Ravi Shankar. Ravi lives in Brooklyn, NY and maintains a fast-paced touring, recording, composing and performance schedule. He leads the effort to restore the John Coltrane Home in Dix Hills, Long Island (www.thecoltranehome.org) and presides over important reissues of his parent’s recordings.

To purchase tickets or event sponsorships, click here. Tickets are non-refundable. In the event of inclement weather, the concert event will be rescheduled. Date to be determined.

For ticketholders, proof of COVID-19 vaccination is required for entry. Given the outdoor setting and vaccination requirement, masks will be optional.

12pm | Jazz at Noon: Anaïs Reno with the Pete Malinverni Trio (FREE and OUTDOORS)
White Plains Public Library Plaza, 100 Martine Avenue
 
Anaïs Reno, having performed with highly acclaimed jazz artists since the age of 10, has had a rapidly growing career as a singer with a love for jazz and the Great American Songbook. Reno will attend SUNY Purchase in the fall as an Ella Fitzgerald Scholar. Pete Malinverni is Head of Jazz Studies at the Conservatory of Music at Purchase College. He has been a fixture on the New York City jazz scene since moving there in the early 1980s and has recorded fourteen times as a leader in solo piano, trio, quartet, quintet, big band and choral contexts.

7:30pm and 9pm | Emmet Cohen Trio | ($25/set | $40 for both 7:30pm & 9pm)
Grace Church, 33 Church Street
 
Returning for his third performance at JazzFest! Recognized as a prodigy who began playing at age three, multifaceted American jazz pianist and composer Emmet Cohen is in the vanguard of his generation’s advancement of jazz. Cohen is the winner of the 2019 American Pianists Awards and the Cole Porter Fellow of the American Pianists Association. In addition to leading the Emmet Cohen Trio, Cohen has appeared regularly with Ron Carter, Benny Golson, Jimmy Cobb, George Coleman, Jimmy Heath and Billy Hart, among others. During the 2020 lockdown, Cohen developed “Live From Emmet’s Place,” a series of weekly performances by his trio and special guests who livestreamed from his New York apartment, recalling the Harlem rent parties of yesteryear.  These concerts have received millions of internet views worldwide.

* For ticket holders, proof of COVID-19 vaccination and masks are required for entry.

12pm – 2pm | Music in Motion: Alphonso Horne and the Gotham Kings
Starting at White Plains Plaza, One North Broadway
 
Catch the Gotham Kings live in downtown White Plains as they serenade outdoor cafés! Eat at your favorite restaurant and enjoy the band’s performance as they stroll along the sidewalk playing music for outdoor diners.
 
A dining guide with restaurants providing outdoor seating can be found here.

4:30pm | Dinner and a Show: Carole Alexis Dance Theatre and Via Garibaldi
(Dinner price $58pp | Children 5-12 $29pp)
White Plains Plaza, One North Broadway
 
A family experience for all ages, The Dancing Caravan “Peter and The Wolf” and “Dance Jazz Mosaic” is choreographed by Carole Alexis to the music of Sergei Prokofiev and various jazz influenced artists. Enjoy a three-course menu provided by Via Garibaldi, an authentic Italian restaurant serving a traditional “family style” experience.
 
Ticket purchase includes:
•  prime seating on the plaza
•  3-course dinner inclusive of tax and gratuity
•  live performance by a professional dance company

View menu
 
* This performance will take place outdoors with advanced dining reservations required for prime seating. Patrons can also view the performance on the plaza, but must bring their own chair. Advanced tickets required. Show only tickets available here.

7:30pm and 9pm | Theo Croker Quartet ($25/set | $40 for both | 7:30 & 9pm)
The Playgroup Theatre, 1 North Broadway, #111

Theo Croker is a storyteller who speaks through his trumpet. The GRAMMY® Award-nominated artist, composer, producer, thought leader and influencer projects his voice through the music. After seven years of sojourn in Shanghai, Croker crash-landed with an original sound on the 2014 Dee Dee Bridgewater-assisted album Afro Physicist. Following the success of Escape Velocity in 2016, he ascended to a new stratosphere with Star People Nation in 2019. The record garnered a nomination in the category of “Best Contemporary Instrumental Album” at the 62nd GRAMMY® Awards. Along the way, he has also lent his sound to platinum-selling albums by everyone from J. Cole to Ari Lennox while touring his band across the globe. In 2020, he hunkered down at his childhood home in the midst of the global pandemic and wrote his sixth full-length album, which is set to be released this fall on SPN Records via Sony Music Masterworks.

* For ticket holders, proof of COVID-19 vaccination and masks are required for entry.

1pm – 1:45pm | Westchester Center for Jazz & Contemporary Music

The Westchester Center for Jazz & Contemporary Music provides opportunities for musicians of diverse backgrounds, abilities and ages to develop their skills in jazz and other related musical forms. This performance features a selection of the Center’s top student musicians and faculty.

2:05pm – 2:55pm | Gilberto Colón Jr. & Ensalada De Pulpo 

Gilberto “Pulpo” Colón Jr. is a pianist, composer, arranger, producer and band leader best known for his role as Musical Director for salsa superstar Héctor Lavoe. Colón has worked and recorded with some of Latin music’s most popular artists.

3:15pm – 4:05pm | Erena Terakubo Quartet

Born in Sapporo, Japan, Erena Terakubo began playing the alto saxophone at the age of nine. In 2010, Terakubo released her first album, “North Bird” with Kenny Barron, Christian McBride, Lee Pearson and Peter Bernstein, through the major Japanese label King Records. It marked No. 1 on the Japanese jazz charts and was awarded Swing Journal‘s Gold Disc. Terakubo has performed with Ron Carter, Jimmy Cobb, Louis Hayes, Vincent Herring, John Beasley’s MONK’estra, Lewis Nash and Lenny White, to name a few. Terakubo has released six albums as a leader.

4:25pm – 5:15pm | Kotoko Brass

Kotoko Brass melds the traditional drum rhythms of Ghana, the sturdy bass and keyboards of the Caribbean, and the joyous horns of New Orleans to forge a new sound of its own. The band has shared the stage with Femi Kuti, the California Honeydrops, Vieux Farka Toure, Innov Gnawa, Take 6, Boston Pops and more.

5:35pm – 6:30pm | Ray Blue Quartet with Special Guest Samara Joy 

Ray Blue is a soulful and tender saxophonist, composer and music educator. Ray has toured extensively both nationally and internationally. He has seven releases with his most recent project, Jazzheads. His newest recording, which features Kenny Barron on piano, is scheduled to be released this fall. Samara Joy, winner of the 2019 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition, has a voice as smooth as velvet. In her self-titled debut album (Whirlwind Recordings), she is backed by guitarist Pasquale Grasso, bassist Ari Roland and drummer Kenny Washington.