Put six of today’s most compelling jazz artists together for an evening’s concert and it stands to reason that the Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour has come to town and will be lighting up the Music Center at Strathmore’s stage Friday for one performance only.
The illustrious group features the nine-time Grammy-nominated and 2010 National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master Kenny Barron on piano, Grammy-nominated violinist Regina Carter, Grammy-winning guitarist Russell Malone, nine-time Grammy-winning vocalist Kurt Elling, bassist Kiyoshi Kitagawa and Grammy-nominated drummer Johnathan Blake. As an ensemble, these six performers made their debut last year at the 52nd annual Monterey Jazz Festival in September 2009.
“We have created an ensemble that is both sonically interesting and hard-swinging,” said Tim Jackson, general manager of MJF. “These artists all embody the history, spirit and legacy of the [MJF], and each has a past relationship with [it] that includes performance and educational activities, both core components of Monterey’s mission statement. They are an amazing band that will embody the past, present and future of jazz.”
It is interesting to note that, taken all together, the members of the MJF/52 All-Stars have performed at the Monterey Jazz Festival 25 times.
Pianist Barron made the first of his eight appearances in “1962 or 1963,” he said, with the great Dizzy Gillespie.
“It’s a real jazz festival in terms of the music,” Barron said. “Some are kind of watered down, but this is a straight-ahead jazz festival.”
If you go
The Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour
Where: Music Center at Strathmore, North Bethesda
When: 8 p.m. Friday
Info: $28 to $62; 301-581-5100; strathmore.org
Barron explained that there will be original compositions performed as well as the standards — songs like “Body and Soul,” a popular piece composed in 1930 by Edward Heyman, Robert Sour, Frank Eyton and Johnny Green. A classic, the song soon became a jazz standard, and over the years singers like Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra have put their spin on it. “Although there are six people, we will also be playing in various combinations such as duos and trios,” Barron continued.
He described the music as very accessible and melodic, nothing “too far out.”
And to those who have yet to hear the MJF perform, he said, “Relax and enjoy the music — take the ride with us.”
