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X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Vermont Jazz Center
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DTSTART;TZID=America/Halifax:20260117T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/Halifax:20260117T220000
DTSTAMP:20260403T221636
CREATED:20250730T163929Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250826T131318Z
UID:9777-1768678200-1768687200@vtjazz.org
SUMMARY:2025-2026 Season: Zaccai Curtis Cubop Quintet
DESCRIPTION:Zaccai Curtis is a pianist\, composer\, and producer known for fusing the essential elements of Latin jazz and bebop languages. Most recently\, his album Cubop Lives!\, released under his own\, collective label (Truth Revolution)\, won the 2025 Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album. This concert will feature the actual musicians who recorded with Zaccai on his Grammy-winning release. \nA three-time ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Award recipient\, Zaccai Curtis has also been honored with the Connecticut Artist Fellowship\, Chamber Music America’s New Jazz Works grant (2017)\, and toured with the U.S. State Department’s Jazz Ambassadors program. In 2020\, he was named a Rising Star in the DownBeat Critics Poll. As co-founder of the artist-run label TRRcollective\, he has produced Grammy-nominated work\, including Entre Colegas by the legendary Latin bassist\, Andy González. \nCurtis has performed with a wide range of artists\, including Chief Adjuah (formerly Christian Scott)\, Donald Harrison\, Santana\, Cindy Blackman\, Eddie Palmieri\, Brian Lynch\, the Mambo Legends\, and Avery Sharpe. A dedicated educator\, Curtis teaches at the University of Hartford and Western Connecticut State University\, and is the author of two instructional books on jazz theory and Latin rhythms. \nFor the VJC’s event\, Curtis’ quintet will expand upon the Cubop era of the late 40s\, exploring and reimagining Afro-Cuban jazz concepts. Their repertoire is a mix of new compositions and classics from Dizzy Gillespie and Kenny Dorham to Machito and Mario Bauzá.
URL:https://vtjazz.org/calendar/2025-2026-zaccai-curtis/
CATEGORIES:Concert
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Halifax:20260221T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/Halifax:20260221T220000
DTSTAMP:20260403T221636
CREATED:20250730T164519Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260227T014825Z
UID:9780-1771702200-1771711200@vtjazz.org
SUMMARY:2025-2026 Season: Nate Smith
DESCRIPTION:— Below is our Program from the February 21\, 2026 Performance — \nWelcome to the Vermont Jazz Center. We are thrilled to present Nate Smith’s first live performance after winning two Grammy Awards on February 1st for Best Alternative Jazz Album (LIVE-ACTION)\, and Best Arrangement (for the composition\, “Big Fish”\, with the vocal group\, säje\, including Vermont vocalist Erin Bentlage). Nate’s career is surging forward\, and we are honored to present him in Brattleboro. Just last week it was announced that he will follow Christian McBride as Music Director of the Newport Jazz Festival. The Festival’s chairman wrote: “We were looking for someone willing and able to honor the rich traditions of jazz\, staying rooted in what the genre is at its core. At the same time\, we needed someone we could count on to push the envelope\, keeping the music fresh and forward-looking. That person is the remarkable Nate Smith.”  \n  \nTonight’s concert kicks-off a tour with Smith’s current trio including pianist/keyboardist Julian Pollack (J3PO) and electric bassist CARRTOONS (Ben Carr).  \n  \nNate Smith is considered a “deep pocket” drummer. When an ensemble is “in the pocket\,” each instrument locks into their own part and considers the overall group sound paramount. In the drummer-focused podcast “Go with Elmo\,” Smith said: “Pocket to me is about the space in which all of the musicians on stage agree on time. When a band plays ‘in the pocket\,’ they are all playing in the same space – they all agree on the distance between the notes\, they all agree on the length of the notes\, and they all agree on the way the notes are emphasized. Pocket always involves playing with other musicians.” The characteristics of Smith’s sound are solid time\, a commitment to the natural build of an arrangement\, funky when needed\, not overly busy\, and always responsive to the moment. In an interview with World Café he stated: “I think that space is very valuable in music – I’m not a chops drummer… my approach is to determine how to best utilize space\, how to make the best use of dynamics\, and how to develop rhythmic ideas in ways that are interesting.” \n  \nOver the years\, Nate Smith has collaborated and toured with renowned artists like Brittany Howard\, Pat Metheny\, Ravi Coltrane\, Childish Gambino\, Norah Jones\, Jon Batiste\, Vulfpeck\, The Fearless Flyers\, Chris Potter\, Charlie Hunter\, and Kurt Elling. He has graced the cover of Modern Drummer magazine and provided the backbeat for Late Night with Seth Meyers’ house band. He cut his teeth in vocal legend Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead program and toured and recorded as a member of bassist Dave Holland’s ensemble from 2003-2010. \n  \nOne of the reasons why Smith is currently so visible in the public eye is that he embraced social media early on to stay connected with his  fans. His undergraduate degree is in Media Arts and Design. He also had a natural affinity for using social media as a tool from an early age. Nate started posting videos of himself playing the drums on Instagram and Facebook around 2015 and was able to quickly generate a following that continues to this day. He is a smart strategist who intentionally applies the tools he has learned towards the goals of developing his own future and carefully cultivating his image.  \n  \nNate’s latest album\, Grammy award winning LIVE-ACTION\, is a snapshot of his current vision. The music has a retro cover illustrating the bevy of keyboards and drums that he plays. Many of the sounds and grooves he conjures embrace the analog music of the 70s and were inspired by his father’s record collection which was primarily R&B. A quote from Smith on his website states: “I always wanted to make a record that sounded like it was recorded on a cassette in my bedroom…I wanted it to be the most personal human expression I could muster with the gear I had in the moment.”  \n  \nTonight\, Nate Smith will appear in a trio setting with keyboardist J3PO (Julian Pollack) and bassist CARRTOONS (Ben Carr). J3PO is a Los Angeles-based pianist & keyboardist who was considered a child prodigy and appeared on Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz in his late teens. Now based in LA\, J3PO is primarily known for his keyboard work and sound design\, especially using analog synths\, FX pedals\, and contemporary keyboards.
URL:https://vtjazz.org/calendar/nate-smith/
CATEGORIES:Concert
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Halifax:20260307T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/Halifax:20260307T220000
DTSTAMP:20260403T221636
CREATED:20250730T164945Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260211T011350Z
UID:9783-1772911800-1772920800@vtjazz.org
SUMMARY:2025-2026 Season: Miguel Zenón Quartet
DESCRIPTION:Grammy-winning saxophonist and composer Miguel Zenón is widely regarded as one of the most visionary artists of his generation. A MacArthur and Guggenheim Fellow and 2024 Doris Duke Artist\, Zenón blends the rich traditions of his Puerto Rican heritage with the language of modern jazz.  \nZenón has received 13 Grammy nominations\, released seventeen albums as a leader\, and won a Grammy for his beautiful duo album El Arte Del Bolero Vol. 2 (2023) with pianist Luís Perdomo\, who will be performing at this concert as well.  \nZenón has worked with luminaries such as The SFJAZZ Collective\, Charlie Haden\, Fred Hersch\, Kenny Werner\, David Sánchez\, Danilo Perez\, The Village Vanguard Orchestra\, Kurt Elling\, Joey Calderazzo\, Steve Coleman\, Ray Barreto\, Andy Montañez\, Jerry Gonzalez & The Fort Apache Band\, The Mingus Big Band and Bobby Hutcherson. \nFor this performance\, Zenón is joined by his long-standing touring/recording ensemble: pianist Luís Perdomo\, Matt Penman (bass) and Henry Cole (drums).
URL:https://vtjazz.org/calendar/2025-2026-season-miguel-zenon/
CATEGORIES:Concert
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Halifax:20260321T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/Halifax:20260321T220000
DTSTAMP:20260403T221636
CREATED:20250730T165811Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260312T230240Z
UID:9786-1774121400-1774130400@vtjazz.org
SUMMARY:Windham County Heat Fund Benefit Concert feat. Cameron Brown
DESCRIPTION:Cameron Brown and Dannie’s Calypso\nDave Ballou (trumpet and flugelhorn)\, Jason Rigby (saxophones)\, Lisa Parrott (saxophones)\, Cameron Brown (bass)\, Tony Jefferson (drums) \nAbout Cameron Brown: \nDetroit-born bassist Cameron Brown has been playing jazz and free music professionally since the mid-1960s when he toured Europe with the bands of George Russell\, Archie Shepp\, Don Cherry and Donald Byrd. Career highlights include a fifty-year musical relationship with NEA  Jazz Master\, Sheila Jordan\, a tour of Japan with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers\, and a long tenure with the legendary George Adams/Don Pullen Quartet. \nBrown’s discography includes six albums under his own leadership and over two hundred recordings as a sideman with such legends as Dannie Richmond\, Joe Lovano\, George Russell\, Archie Shepp\, Lee Konitz\, Chet Baker\, Mal Waldron\, Grover Washington Jr.\, Charlie Persip\, Luicano Pavarotti\, Ed Blackwell\, Ronnie Cuber\, Ricky Ford\, Beaver Harris\, Grady Tate\, Mike Longo\, Sheila Jordan\, Jim McNeely\, Steve Grossman\, Betty Carter\, John Hicks\, Dewey Redman\, Houston Person\, Etta Jones\, Jane Ira Bloom\, and many others.  \nFor this concert\, Cameron brings the NYC-based group he formed to celebrate the music of his former band-mate\, Charles Mingus’ famed drummer\, Dannie Richmond. Dannie’s Calypso is a piano-less quintet with a three-horn front line: Dave Ballou\, Trumpet; Lisa Parrott\, saxes;  Jason Rigby\, Saxes; Cameron Brown\, upright bass; Tony Jefferson\, drums. VJC expects other surprise guests to join Cameron\, including a duo set with Harvey Diamond.
URL:https://vtjazz.org/calendar/2025-2026-season-cameron-brown/
CATEGORIES:Concert
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DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20260410
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20260412
DTSTAMP:20260403T221636
CREATED:20250730T165932Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260330T004559Z
UID:9788-1775779200-1775951999@vtjazz.org
SUMMARY:2025-2026 Solo Jazz Piano Festival
DESCRIPTION:10th Annual Solo Jazz Piano Festival\n2026 Headliners: Mathis Picard\, Rachel Z\, Camila Cortina and Geoffrey Keezer \n2026 Emerging Artists:  Mimi Terry and Dabin Ryu \nFOR ALL MUSIC LOVERS interested in the development of piano styles and techniques throughout the evolution of jazz. Together we will hear six brilliant pianists perform and discuss their musical aspirations and the expansion of their approaches to the instrument. The VJC invites you to participate in a festival that showcases artists who have invested their lives in the pursuit of creativity using the piano as their medium.  \nA Weekend of Concerts and Educational Opportunities that Celebrates the Distinct Practices and Vocabularies of Solo Piano in Jazz Music\nSchedule:\nFRIDAY\, April 10 \n7:30 pm Headliner performance:  \nMathis Picard and Rachel Z \nSATURDAY\, April 11 \n10:00 – 2:00 pm Masterclasses – accessible to all audience members \n10:00 am Mathis Picard – “The Art of Creation & Creativity”\n \n11:00 am Rachel Z – “Harmonic and Life Lessons of Wayne Shorter”\n \n12:00 am Camila Cortina – “Afro-Cuban Grooves and the Art of Solo Piano”\n \n1:00 pm Geoffrey Keezer – “Beyond Transcribing – The Next Step”\n \n3:00 – 4:00 pm Emerging Artist presentations – Mimi Terry and Dabin Ryu \n4:45 – 5:45 pm Panel discussion based on juried questions from the audience \n7:30 pm Headliner performance:  \nCamila Cortina and Geoffrey Keezer \n  \nREAD MORE ON THE ARTISTS \n 
URL:https://vtjazz.org/calendar/2025-2026-solo-jazz-piano-festival/
CATEGORIES:Concert
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Halifax:20260516T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/Halifax:20260516T220000
DTSTAMP:20260403T221636
CREATED:20260228T170542Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260301T165257Z
UID:9792-1778959800-1778968800@vtjazz.org
SUMMARY:2025-2026 Season: Sean Jones
DESCRIPTION:Sean Jones is one of the leading trumpeters in the jazz world. He is also a distinguished educator who has toured with Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock. Jones has released eight acclaimed albums as a leader and performed on over 100 as a sideman. \nSean Jones first discovered music through the church choir\, where the emotional depth of gospel laid the foundation for his sound. Known for his commanding presence and versatility\, he moves seamlessly across genres – leading his own ensembles\, collaborating with orchestras\, and mentoring emerging talent. \nAs a featured artist\, he has recorded with the Gerald Wilson Orchestra\, and with Nancy Wilson on her Grammy-winning album Turned to Blue (2006). He has performed as lead trumpet with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra under the direction of Wynton Marsalis (2004–2010)\, the SFJAZZ Collective (2015–2017)\, and currently appears with the Baltimore Jazz Collective. In 2011\, he was selected by Marcus Miller\, Herbie Hancock\, and Wayne Shorter to join the international Tribute to Miles tour. \nA leading voice in jazz education\, Jones is Chair in Jazz at Johns Hopkins University’s Peabody Conservatory and Artistic Director of Carnegie Hall’s NYO Jazz. He previously chaired the Brass Department at Berklee College of Music and served as President of the Jazz Education Network (JEN).
URL:https://vtjazz.org/calendar/2025-2026-season-sean-jones/
CATEGORIES:Concert
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Halifax:20260613T193000
DTEND;TZID=America/Halifax:20260613T220000
DTSTAMP:20260403T221636
CREATED:20250730T171033Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250826T131439Z
UID:9793-1781379000-1781388000@vtjazz.org
SUMMARY:2026-2026 Season: Convergence Project
DESCRIPTION:Eugene Uman is the director of the Vermont Jazz Center and performs as a pianist in numerous projects. His annual June concert is a representation of a year’s worth of composing and collaborating with various musicians and an opportunity for him to assemble a dream band that manifests his vision and unites his musical influences. Uman’s energetic playing and writing style is flavored with the Latin rhythms that he has absorbed during his tenure living in Colombia\, where he initiated the jazz studies programs at la Universidad de EAFIT and el Colegio de Música de Medellín. Several of his compositions employ forms and grooves adapted from Colombian music such as cumbia\, pasillo\, puya\, bambuco\, and currulao. They are also strongly influenced by his bebop mentors: Sheila Jordan\, Howard Brofsky\, Mike Longo and Jimmy Heath\, as well as by the sounds of his youth when he played in rock and blues bands. Uman’s compositions draw from a vocabulary of modern jazz\, hard bop\, rock\, soul\, Latin American rhythms and gospel; listeners can expect a “convergence” of the music he loves in a mash-up of styles where groove is king. \nThis presentation of the Convergence Project is the last show of the Vermont Jazz Center’s 2025-26 season.
URL:https://vtjazz.org/calendar/2026-convergence-project/
CATEGORIES:Concert
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://vtjazz.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Eugene-Uman-Convergence-Photo-2-2022-scaled.jpg
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