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OSPAC 7th Annual Jazz Festival: September 12-13 in West Orange (NJ)

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Two Hot Days of Cool Quintessential Jazz
7th Annual Jazz Festival
Oskar Schindler Performing Arts Center


Saturday and Sunday, September 12 and 13
West Orange New Jersey

The Oskar Schindler Performing Arts Center (OSPAC) announces that the Seventh Annual Jazz Festival will be held on September 12 & 13 at the spectacular OSPAC Amphitheater at Crystal Lake, 4 Boland Drive, West Orange. This event is $10 for adults and $5 for seniors. Children are free. Admission is taken at the entrance.

For the seventh consecutive year, the Oskar Schindler Performing Arts Center will present an entire weekend of world-class jazz entertainment emceed by WBGO’s Gary Walker, in an open-air setting, complete with international food vendors, artisans and crafts, health spa center, and entertainment and activities for children. This weekend will also include “Paint the Music” led by Nitza Horner, teaching artist and freelance educator affiliated with the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where patrons will paint what they hear.

“The OSPAC Jazz Festival has grown in seven years to be the most talked about jazz event in the area,” said internationally renowned jazz singer and OSPAC’s Executive Director, Kate Baker. “And this year’s event will be more spectacular than ever. Our lineup of artists is an international mix of quintessential jazz stylists and modern and cultural jazz interpreters.”

“What makes this venue special is not only the beautiful surroundings where you can stroll around the lake, but the superb sound that you can hear from every location,” said guitarist Vic Juris.

This year’s stellar lineup includes: GRAMMY Award-winning New York Voices, Dizzy Gillespie All-Stars featuring John Lee and special guests; A Tribute to Antonio Carlos Jobim with Vic Juris, Kate Baker, Nilson Matta, Mauricio Zottarelli, Caf, and Steve Wilson; Dave Stryker and the West Orange All-Stars featuring Billy Hart and Steve Slagle, Vocalist Jane Stuart Quartet, Cecil Brooks III and Hot D.O.G. featuring Matt Chertkoff, Ali Jackson Trio with Aaron Goldberg and Carlos Henriquez, Nat Adderley, Jr. Trio, Mayra Casales Latin Band with Cuban drummer Francois Zayas, Enrico Granafei, Pam Purvis and the Bob Ackerman Quartet, vocalist Steve Lovell, Bob Devos Organ Trio featuring vocalist Kevin Burke, and Oscar Perez Nuevo Comienzo. “OSPAC is considered New Jersey’s premier outdoor theater and we are proud of the great performances, like the Jazz Festival, that take place here,” says Mayor John F. McKeon, “I encourage everyone to come out to OSPAC and enjoy the beautiful surroundings at Crystal Lake and experience the season’s signature event.”

Schedule of Events

Saturday September 12th

12:30 pm Enrico Granafei

1:00 pm Pam Purvis and the Bob Ackerman Quartet

2:00 pm Vocalist Steve Lovell and Friends

3:00 pm Dave Stryker and the West Orange All-Stars featuring Billy Hart and Steve Slagle

4:00 pm Nat Adderley, Jr. Trio

5:00 pm Cecil Brooks III and Hot D.O.G., featuring Matt Chertkoff

6:00 pm Dizzy Gillespie All-Stars featuring John Lee and special guests

7:00 pm Mayra Casales Latin band with Cuban drummer Francois Zayas

Sunday September 13th

12:30 pm Jane Stuart Quartet

1:00 pm Bob Devos Organ Trio featuring vocalist Kevin Burke

2:00 pm Oscar Perez Nuevo Comienzo with special guests Emiliano Valerio and Charenee Wade

3:00 pm Tribute to Antonio Carlos Jobim with Vic Juris, Kate Baker, Nilson Matta, Mauricio Zottarelli, Caf, and Steve Wilson

4:00 pm Ali Jackson Trio featuring Aaron Goldberg and Carlos Henriquez

5:00 pm GRAMMY Award-winning New York Voices

This event is $10 for adults and $5 for seniors. Children are free. Admission is taken at the entrance. The amphitheater is located at Crystal Lake, 4 Boland Drive in West Orange N.J. Audience members should bring blankets or chairs to enjoy the relaxed outdoor setting.

For bios or event information, please visit: ospac.org or call 973- 669-7385.



The Oskar Schindler Performing Arts Center is a non-profit organization located at 4 Boland Drive in West Orange, N.J. Its mission is to bring performances of the highest caliber for free or at minimal cost to the public while maintaining a strong commitment to arts education through its annual Jazz and World Music Workshop.

Bios & Schedules of Events:

Saturday September 12th

12:30 pm Enrico Granafei
Enrico Granafei earned a masters degree in jazz performance at Manhattan School of Music, where he was the only student of Toots Thielemans. He has performed worldwide, particularly in France, Finland (Pori Jazz Festival), Italy, Estonia, and Hungary. He has played and recorded with Marc Johnson, Vic Juris, Eddie Gomez, Ted Curson, among others, and is featured on Nnenna Freelon’s CD Tales of Wonder, recorded in 2002 for Concord Records. Enrico is also the proprietor and musical director of Trumpets Jazz Club in Montclair, NJ. He developed a revolutionary technique that allows him to play guitar and chromatic harmonica simultaneously.

1:00 pm Pam Purvis and the Bob Ackerman Quartet
Pam Purvis’ most recent recording, I Had a Ball, is receiving airplay around the country and great reviews. Her band includes Brandon McCune (piano), Calvin Jones (bass), Cecil Brooks III (drums) and Bob Ackerman (woodwinds), performing her unique versions of classic tunes from the ‘60s and ‘70s as well as jazz standards. Grady Tate described her voice, with its deep sultry tone, as “like a fine glass of wine on a moonlit night.” Purvis is currently the Musical Director of the New Jersey Jazz Society’s youth out-reach program, Generations of Jazz. She began singing jazz in 1974 in Paterson, NJ at Gulliver’s and studied at American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

2:00 pm Vocalist Steve Lovell and Friends
Vocalist Steve Lovell, who was born in Newark, was a finalist in McDonald’s Gospelfest 2006 at New York City Center’s Main Stage and in 2007 was named Musician of the Year by the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) Wachovia Jazz for Teens Program. He studied at the prestigious Betty Carter Jazz Residency Program at the John F. Kennedy Performing Arts Center in Washington, DC with Carmen Lundy and Dr. Billy Taylor. Lovell has served as back-up vocalist for Donnie McClurkin, Vicki Winans, Bryon Cage, Jennifer Holliday, and Cissy Houston.

3:00 pm Dave Stryker and the West Orange All Stars featuring Billy Hart and Steve Slagle
Guitarist Dave Stryker leads an all-star group made up of fellow West Orange residents Ed Howard on bass and Steven Riley on tenor sax, with Brandon McCune on piano, Montclair drum legend Billy Hart, and alto saxophonist Steve Slagle. Stryker, voted a “Rising Star” for the fifth time in the 2008 Downbeat Readers Poll, worked with Stanley Turrentine for over ten years and has released 20 CDs under his own name. Billy Hart, who is known as one of the greatest drummers alive and has played with everyone from Miles Davis to Stan Getz, performed on Stryker's CD Strike up the Band (SteepleChase). Steve Slagle has 10 CDs of his own, as well as recordings with the Mingus Big Band and Joe Lovano Nonet.


Nat Adderley, Jr. is best known for his work as producer, arranger, songwriter and long-time pianist and musical director for Luther Vandross. His compositions include “Stop to Love,” “Wait for Love” and the GRAMMY-nominated “Give Me the Reason.” His many arrangements for Vandross include “Superstar,” “If Only for One Night,” “Creepin’,” and the GRAMMY-winning “Here and Now.” He produced numerous recordings for Vandross, including “My Favorite Things,” “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” and the GRAMMY-winning duet with Beyonce, “The Closer I Get to You” as well as Luther Live at Radio City Music Hall. He has also written arrangements for Natalie Cole, Aretha Franklin and Dionne Warwick. Adderley has also served as musical director for Ashford and Simpson and worked with Melba More and Angie Bofill. He is currently touring with Tom Scott.

5:00 pm Cecil Brooks III and Hot D.O.G. featuring Matt Chertkoff and Kyle Koehler
A West Orange resident, Cecil Brooks III is not only the proprietor of the world-famous Cecil’s Jazz Club and Restaurant, a small, West Orange club about 20 minutes west of Manhattan, but is also an internationally-known drummer and producer of many well-known recordings. A recent winner of Downbeat Magazine’s Critic’s Poll for “Producer Deserving Wider Recognition,” Cecil has performed with such jazz greats as Stanley Turrentine, John Hicks, Billy Eckstine, Jimmy Smith, Geri Allen, and Nat Adderley. His latest project, Hot D.O.G. (drums, organ, guitar) features B3 great Kyle Koehler and renowned guitarist Matt Chertkoff.

6:00 pm Dizzy Gillespie All-Stars featuring John Lee and special guests
The Dizzy Gillespie big band tradition lives on, nurtured by Gillespie alumnus John Lee, program director and bassist of the Dizzy Gillespie All-Stars. In the ‘early ‘70s Lee was bassist for the Max Roach Quartet. Moving to Europe, he worked and recorded with Gary Bartz, Joe Henderson, Charlie Mariano, and Toots Thielemans. In 1982, Lee joined the McCoy Tyner Quintet, leaving in ’84 to join the Dizzy Gillespie Group. He was a member of Dizzy's various bands, including the Dizzy Gillespie Quintet, the 70th Anniversary Big Band and the United Nation Orchestra, until 1992. Besides producing, writing and performing, Lee is program director for “DIZZY™: The Man and the Music,” the official concert and clinic program celebrating the life and work of John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie.

7:00 pm Mayra Casales Latin Band with Cuban drummer Francois Zayas
Mayra Casales, born in Havana, Cuba and raised in Miami, immersed herself in the Afro-Cuban musical culture of her environment. In Miami, she studied with Carlos “Patato” Valdez and soon was performing with some of the biggest names in Latin music: Celia Cruz, Machito, Joe Cuba, Miguelito Valdez and Tito Puente. In 1978, Mayra moved to New York where she worked with such artists as Dizzy Gillespie, Wayne Shorter, Angela Bofill, Tania Maria, and Grady Tate. She has toured with Sophie B. Hawkins and Regina Carter, with whom she has performed and recorded for the past eight years. Casales has just released her first CD, Woman on Fire/Mujer Ardiente, which has reached #19 on the world charts. The band includes Mayra Casales (percussion), Bill O'Connell (piano), Jennifer Vincent (bass), Francois Zayas (drums), Oriente Lopez (flute), and Mark Miller (trombone).

Sunday September 13th

12:30 pm Jane Stuart Quartet

1:00 pm Bob Devos Organ Trio featuring vocalist Kevin Burke

With long, blues-drenched lines; a warm, fat sound; and a horn-like, melodic approach, guitar powerhouse Bob DeVos has a strong following for his innovative work both in and outside of the Hammond B3 organ genre. Joined with organist Dan Kostelnik and drummer Steve Johns, his trio thrills audiences nationwide with their tight-knit performances of jazz standards, R&B, ballads, and Devos’ hip compositions and arrangements. His’ recent HighNote/Savant Records releases, Playing for Keeps and Shifting Sands, were in the top ten nationwide jazz radio airplay charts for 46 weeks. Vocalist Kevin Burke is a member of Jon Hendricks and Co.

2:00 pm Oscar Perez Nuevo Comienzo, with special guests Emiliano Varerio and Charenee Wade
Pianist Oscar Perez is a New York City native whose training has been as diverse as his musical tastes. During his high school years, he studied with two very prominent classical pianists, Robert Harris (Juilliard faculty) and Edgar Roberts (New York University faculty). He was later a student of Danilo Perez and Sir Roland Hanna at the New England Conservatory and the Aaron Copland School of Music, respectively. He has spent recent years traveling and playing in the musical groups of Wycliffe Gordon, Virginia Mayhew, and Steve Turre. He premieres his latest project, “Afro-pean Affair,” created with support from Chamber Music America’s New Works: Creation and Presentation Program. Oscar Perez Nuevo Comienzo includes Stacy Dillard (saxophones), Greg Glassman (trumpet), Anthony Perez (bass), Jerome Jennings (drums), Emiliano Valerio (percussion) and Charenee Wade (voice).

3:00 pm Tribute to Antonio Carlos Jobim with the Vic Juris Sextet featuring Kate Baker, Nilson Matta, Mauricio Zottarelli, Caf, and Steve Wilson
Vic Juris is one of the world’s premier jazz guitarists. Since his emergence on the scene in the 1970s, his international career has included associations with Dizzy Gillesie, Phil Woods, Jimmy Smith Sarah Vaughan, Michel Legrand, Chico Hamilton, Gary Peacock, Richie Cole, Mel Torme, Eddie Jefferson, Bireli LaGrene, and, since 1991, the renowned David Liebman Group. Juris is also one of the leading jazz educators in the world and has written two highly regarded guitar books published by Mel Bay. He currently teaches at The New School and Rutgers University and has conducted clinics throughout the U.S. and Europe. OSPAC Executive Director Kate Baker is an internationally renowned jazz singer who has performed at the Carini Jazz Festival, The North Sea Jazz Festival, and the JVC Jazz Festival. Her distinctive vocal style and lyrical expression have made her one of today’s most sought-after singers. Newsday said, “Kate Baker’s phrasing and rhythmic concept are brilliant.”

4:00 pm Ali Jackson Trio featuring pianist Aaron Goldberg and bassist Carlos Henriquez
Drummer Ali Jackson, the principal drummer and percussionist for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and a member of the Wynton Marsalis Quintet, studied with master teachers Elvin Jones and Max Roach. He has been part of Young Audiences, a program that educates New York City youth about jazz, and has also hosted “Jammin’ with Jackson,” a series for young musicians at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola. He has performed and recorded with Dee Dee Bridgewater, Aretha Franklin, George Benson, Harry Connick Jr., Joshua Redman, and Diana Krall. Jackson has released several CDs as a bandleader, including Wheelz Keep Rollin'. He was recently featured on the CD/DVD Two Men with the Blues, a Blue Note release with Wynton Marsalis and Willie Nelson.

5:00 pm GRAMMY Award-winning New York Voices
Celebrating their 21st anniversary this year, the GRAMMY Award- winning New York Voices are renowned for excellence in jazz and the art of group singing. Their critically acclaimed self-titled debut on GRP records in 1989 established the group on the cutting edge of vocal ensemble singing, breathing new life into a genre pioneered in the late ‘50s by Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross. The New York Voices Darmon Meader, Peter Eldridge, Kim Nazarian and Lauren Kinhan -- have performed at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the North Sea Jazz Festival, and the Blue Note Jazz Clubs (New York & Japan). They have performed and recorded with a variety of artists, including Ray Brown, George Benson, Paquito D'Rivera and the Count Basie Orchestra. In addition to their own CDs, the group has made many guest appearances on recordings and live performances. Their most recent release is 2007’s A Day Like This.

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