If you want to jazz up the last week of the year, I have your Jazz Best Bets for the Holidays. I have nine concerts and a week-long jazz festival for you plus a jazz archive that is not only filled with dozens of great performances and documentaries, but has a promotion right now so you can access it for .98 for the first two months.
So let’s get right to my Jazz Best Bets for the Holidays:
Adam Shulman Plays Vince Guaraldi’s A Charlie Brown Christmas – SFJAZZ – December 24th – December 26th
This week’s Fridays at Five performance is running for three days. Appropriately it finds pianist Adam Shulman playing composer Vince Guaraldi’s music for A Charlie Brown Christmas.
The beloved half-hour cartoon first aired in 1965 and is considered amongst the best of all holiday specials. Shulman’s performance was recorded in December 2019.
Joining Schulman are bassist John Wiitala and drummer James Gallagher.
As with all Fridays at Five programming you need to have either a monthly membership ($5) or an annual membership ($60) to view the show. If you pop down to the end of these listings you’ll see what they have in mind for New Year’s Day (which would be included in either membership.)
Norwegian Digital Jazz Festival – Big Ears Festival – December 25th – January 1st
For eight consecutive nights, Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, Tennessee is making available the Norwegian Digital Jazz Festival.
The line-up is as follows (note that all times are EST)
Dec 25 – Double Bill: Bugge Wusseltoft, solo (7pm) + Gard Nilssen Acoustic Unity (8pm)
Dec 26 – Tord Gustavesen Trio (8pm)
Dec 27 – Double Bill: Bendik Hofseth’s Woodland (7pm) + Mathias Eick Quintet (8pm)
Dec 28 – Double Bill: Silje Nergaard (7pm) + Ketil Bjørnstad, solo (8pm)
Dec 29 – Double Bill: Mats Eilertsen, solo (7pm) + Trygve Seim ‘Rumi Songs’ (8pm)
Dec 30 – Double Bill: Hedvig Mollestad Trio (7pm) + Eivind Aarset Quartet (7pm)
Dec 31 Double Bill: Beady Belle (7pm) + Arild Andersen Group (8pm)
Jan 1 Double Bill: Elephant9 (7pm) + Nils Petter MolværTrio (8p)
Tickets are $8 per performance or all performances for $50. You must purchase the ticket for a given show on or during its scheduled streaming. Once you do, you’ll have 48 hours to replay the concert(s).
This is a great way to get introduced to some stellar jazz musicians you might not know.
Bill Charlap & Wynton Marsalis – Village Vanguard – December 25th – December 27th
Originally streamed in September, this Village Vanguard concert with pianist Bill Charlap and trumpeter Wynton Marsalis is being re-streamed for the holiday weekend. This was an absolutely delightful concert and I strongly recommend spending the $10 to see these two brilliant musicians trading leads and sharing the stage.
Once you purchase a ticket to view the performance, you’ll have 24 hours to watch it.
Jeremy Pelt & George Cables – Mezzrow – December 26th – 5:00 PM EST/2:00 PM PST & 7:00 PM EST/4:00 PM PST
Trumpeter Jeremy Pelt and pianist George Cables perform from New York’s Mezzrow for two live-streaming concerts on Saturday.
Pelt is a sublime musician whose album The Art of Intimacy Vol. 1 is one of my favorite jazz albums of the year. Cables is a jazz legend who has been recording beautiful music since the early 1970s. Together they are amazing. (Did you catch them together Live From Dizzy’s in October?)
There’s no charge to watch this concert.
Jane Monheit – Feinstein’s at Vitello’s – December 30th – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST
Jazz vocalist Jane Monheit will be performing live from Feinstein’s at Vitello’s. She’s recorded a dozen albums (and also has a Greatest Hits record out). Her most recent record was 2016’s The Songbook Sessions: Ella Fitzgerald. Monheit has been singing and recording professionally for almost half her life.
Tickets to watch the live stream are $36.75 (which includes a service charge). There is also an Encore post-show event which is available for $26.75 (also including service charges). This will feature Monheit in conversation with Brad Roen.
Chris Potter Quartet – Village Vanguard – December 31st – January 3rd
New York’s Village Vanguard is ringing in the New year with a concert by the Chris Potter Quartet. Potter plays saxophone and is joined by David Virelles on piano; Joe Martin on bass and Marcus Gilmore on drums.
Since 1993 Potter has been releasing one critically-acclaimed album after another. His most recent release was There Is a Tide which came out earlier this year.
As a sideman, he’s recorded with Dave Holland, Pat Metheny, Paul Motian, John Patitucci and Steely Dan.
Ticket prices had not been announced at press time. Usually these shows are $10.
NYE in NOLA – Tipitina’s – December 31st – 10:00 PM EST/7:00 PM PST
Actor John Goodman is the host for a New Year’s Eve concert that’s going to have a little bit of everything and a whole lot of fun. A different artist will perform each hour from various venues around New Orleans as each time zone enters 2021.
Kicking the show off is Samantha Fish from Chickie Wah Wah. In the second hour leading up to New Year’s on the East Coast will be Anders Osborne live from DBA. The Central Time zone will have Galactic performing from Tipitina’s as their musical guide. The Mountain Time zone will have Rebirth Brass Band from The Maple Leaf. Finally the West Coast will start the New Year with the music of Dumpstaphunk from The Howlin’ Wolf.
Popping in along the way will be special guests Ani Di Franco, George Porter, Jr., Kermit Ruffins and Big Sam.
If you’ve ever been to New Orleans, you know this will not allow you to go quietly into that New Year. Get yourself some beads, perhaps a costume or two, certainly some cocktails and let the good times roll.
Tickets are $29.99.
Emmet Cohen Trio – Live from Dizzy’s – December 31st – 7:30 PM EST/4:30 PM PST
Jazz pianist Emmet Cohen will be performing with Russell Hall on bass and Kyle Poole on drums in this New Year’s Eve concert from Dizzy’s at New York’s Lincoln Center Jazz. Joining the trio will be saxophonist Houston Person and vocalist Samara Joy.
On the program will be music by George Gershwin, Cole Porter and some holiday classics.
Cohen has found a way to continue performing throughout the pandemic with multiple livestream concerts. He’s proven time and time again what a talented jazz pianist he is.
Tickets have a suggested price of $10. Additional donations are encouraged.
Hiromi: New Year’s Eve Countdown in Tokyo – Blue Note – December 31st – 11:00 PM EST/8:00 PM PST
Japanese jazz pianist Hiromi performs in this fundraiser for Blue Note New York from Blue Note Tokyo. The concert is scheduled to run about 75 minutes which means it will continue into 2021 making it a true New Year’s Eve concert.
Her most recent album is 2019’s Spectrum. It’s an ambitious solo album that includes her own version of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. In this version she takes some interesting liberties with Gershwin’s composition. (Marcus Roberts did the same thing and has a very different take on his Portraits in Blue recording). It’s definitely worth listening to and probably not going to be included in this New Year’s Eve show.
Tickets are $20 but additional donations are encouraged. Viewing will be available after purchase of a ticket through January 1st.
Maceo Parker – SFJAZZ – January 1st – 8:00 PM EST/5:00 PM PST
Saxophonist and R&B legend Maceo Parker will make sure you enter 2021 with some funk in your step with this concert from 2015.
Parker regularly makes SFJAZZ his home for New Year’s Day. And what a great way to keep the party going.
He’s recorded 18 albums including this year’s Soul Food: Cooking with Maceo. He’s had an amazing career recording with James Brown, George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, Parliament, Prince and the Red Hot Chili Peppers – to name just a few.
Amongst the musicians joining Parker for this concert are Nikki Glaspie (Beyoncé, Dumpstaphunk, Nth Power) and P-Funk bass master Rodney “Skeet” Curtis.
As with all Fridays at Five programming you need to have either a monthly membership ($5) or an annual membership ($60) to view the show. If you pop up to the top of these listings you’ll see what they have in mind for Christmas weekend (which would be included in either membership.)
Lastly I want to direct you to QwestTV (owned by Quincy Jones). There is an incredible archive of concert performances, documentaries and profiles available. This library will certainly appeal to any serious jazz fan. There’s an end-of-year promotion that allows for two months of access for less than one dollar. You can sign up for that here.
The New Yorker recently ran a story about how impressive and valuable this library is.
That’s all for my Jazz Best Bets for the Holidays! I hope you have swingin’ holidays!
I have other Holiday Best Bets for you in Classical Music, Dance and Muscials/Cabaret if you want even more choices.
Photo by Les Anderson