Jazz | The Charlie Parker Jazz Festival

Joe Lovano - Grammy-winning saxophonist and composer Joe Lovano stands alone at the vanguard of large and small group jazz. In 2015 alone, two major ensembles will be on display: Joe Lovano’s Village Rhythms Band – a natural extension of the tenor giant’s evolving body of work where West African influences and party atmospheres connect New York City and Lagos, and the acclaimed Wayne Shorter-influenced Joe Lovano and Dave Douglas Quintet: Sound Prints.

Rudresh Mahanthappa - Few musicians share the ability of alto saxophonist/composer Rudresh Mahanthappa to embody the expansive possibilities of his music with his culture. What has materialized is a sound that hybridizes progressive jazz and South Indian classical music in a fluid and forward-looking form that reflects Mahanthappa’s own experience growing up a second-generation Indian-American. The current manifestations of that trajectory include his latest project Bird Calls, which issued its first release in February 2015. Mahanthappa has been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, and numerous commissions.

Myra Melford - Pianist, composer and Guggenheim fellow Myra Melford draws inspiration from a vast spectrum of cultural and spiritual traditions and artistic disciplines. In 2013, she released her first solo recording, Life Carries Me This Way and premiered Language of Dreams, her most ambitious project to date, combining narration, dance, and video with music for her quintet, Snowy Egret, which has a new release out in March 2015 (Enja/Yellowbird).

Michael Mwenso - Jazz vocalist and bandleader Michael Mwenso is a fixture of the Uptown jazz scene but is making his way downtown with his signature style and vocal chops. From a young age, the Sierra Leone-born singer has held his own with artists like James Brown in addition to playing and leading his own bands around the world.