Free Jazz Virtually
Covid-19 shows no respect for anything. For a quarter century, the Litchfield Jazz Festival has strived to bring excellence in entertainment to Northwest Connecticut. Then, for its 25th anniversary, the virus upended everything.
But the Festival’s organizers are nothing if not tenacious. Allowing a pandemic to cancel their 25th anniversary was not an option so they turned to the virtual world to present their programs. They ran a virtual version of the acclaimed Litchfield Jazz Camp, complete with free live-streamed concerts each evening from a soundstage with the best microphones money could buy, ten cameras to cover the action and a live stream over Telefunken Elecktroakustik in South Windsor CT.
Now, Litchfield Jazz is presenting Litchfield Jazz Fest Presents, a live stream concert series from the Telefunken Soundstage beginning October 23rd.
Three performances are scheduled. The concerts will be offered free. Viewers can tune into the shows on the Litchfield Performing Arts YouTube page, Litchfield Jazz Camp or Festival Facebook pages or use the links on the LitchfieldJazzFest.com homepage.
First up will be Mario Pavone & his Dialect Trio on October 23rd at 7:30PM. The program marks the 80th birthday of the avant garde bassist whose career spans 60 years. For this performance he will perform with Matt Mitchell on piano and Tyshawn Sorey on drums.
He is followed on December 17th, also at 7:30PM, by the Emmet Cohen Trio. Cohen, a gifted 30-year-old jazz pianist, a Monk Competition finalist and winner of the 2019 American Pianists Awards, will present jazzy renditions of some treasured holiday tunes.
On February 26th, the Chad LB Quartet will perform. Lefkowitz-Brown (Chad LB these days) has been termed a “sax phenom” by The New York Daily News. At 31, he has toured globally as a soloist and with jazz stars and pop icons such as Arturo O’Farrill, Chris Botti and Taylor Swift. He will appear on the Litchfield Jazz live stream with Manuel Valera on piano, Dan Chmielinski on bass, and Bryan Carter on drums.
