VJC Blog

Today’s Date: March 31, 2023 Written by Eugene Uman and Dan Langa (please give author’s credit) Who: 7th Solo Jazz Piano Festival What: A two day celebration of solo piano via concerts and educational offerings; in-person and livestreamed Artists: Headlining......

12 April, 2023

BIO:  Born​ ​and​ ​raised​ ​in​ ​Havana, Cuba, ​Grammy​ ​nominated​ ​pianist​ ​and​ ​composer​ ​Manuel​ ​Valera​ is a Guggenheim Fellow who has​ ​recorded​ ​13​ ​CDs ​as​ a​ ​​bandleader​ ​with​ ​touring​ ​projects ranging​ ​from​ ​his​ ​Grammy​ ​nominated​ ​group​ ​New​ ​Cuban​ ​Express​ ​to​ ​​modern​......

24 April, 2020

BIO: Born in Denver, Colorado, Shamie Royston is, according to JazzTimes, “a vigorous, versatile pianist.” She grew up alongside her sister, the award-winning Tia Fuller, in a musical and academically-minded household. The daughters of two public school teachers, the sisters......

23 April, 2020

BIO: Philadelphia-based Orrin Evans has been categorized as a bebop player, one of the “young lions” that emerged in the 1990s. But Evans’ style and repertoire are deeply personal, they are broad-ranging and convey a sense of thoughtful intelligence and......

21 April, 2020

 BIO: Over the course of a seven-decade career, NEA Jazz Master Toshiko Akiyoshi has made a unique and vital contribution to the art of jazz. In 1929, at the time of her birth, Akiyoshi’s Japanese family resided in Manchuria,......

21 April, 2020

by Louis Erlanger When I was in college in the early 1970s I had the good fortune to have as a classmate Phil Schaap, whose deep passion for jazz bordered on the weird. Phil had grown up in a neighborhood......

28 March, 2019

By Jon Dreyer The Vermont Jazz Center has a knack for presenting world-class musicians who are about to become even more widely recognized. On February 9, 2019, they hosted Sullivan Fortner just one day before he became a Grammy winner......

22 March, 2019

by Julian Gerstin Julian Gerstin, Ph.D. is an ethnomusicologist and percussionist specializing in music of Africa and the Caribbean. He has taught at Wesleyan University, Clark University, Marlboro College, and Keene State College. At the Vermont Jazz Center, Julian co-leads......

16 November, 2013