STINGRAY DJAZZ FESTIVAL SUMMER: SEVEN DECADES OF JAZZ FESTIVALS

On June 4, 1962, the first Festival International de Jazz ‘Adolphe Sax’ took place in the Belgian town of Dinant, where Adolphe Sax, the inventor of the saxophone, was born in 1814. Not surprisingly, most artists on the program are saxophonists. A Belgian quartet, consisting of tenor saxophonist Jacques Bailly, guitarist Willy Donni, drummer Bruno Castellucci, and bassist José Bedeur, opens the festival. The second highlight of the festival is a trio of Belgian pianist François Boland, who appeared with American bassist Jimmy Woode and Belgian drummer Freddy Rottier. They are joined by four international guest saxophonists: German tenorist Klaus Doldinger, Belgian altoist Jacques Pelzer, British altoist Derek Humble, and Austrian saxophonist Karl Drewo. Following individual solo features and a joint encore, a true saxophone legend appears on stage: veteran American tenorist Coleman Hawkins. Accompanied by his compatriots Jimmy Woode (bass) and “Kansas” Fields (drums) and French pianist George Arvanitas, Coleman Hawkins plays an hour-long concert that includes "Disorder At The Border", "Autumn Leaves", "Lover Come Back To Me", "Moonlight In Vermont", "All The Things You Are" and “Ow!”. This concert is the perfect conclusion of the first jazz festival in honor of Adolphe Sax.

In 1956, Duke Ellington and his Orchestra performed a legendary set at the third annual Newport Jazz Festival. It was tenor saxophonist Paul Gonsalves’ outstanding 27-chorus solo on “Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue” that revitalized Ellington’s career. The success generated during that performance carried him for the rest of his life. By 1973, festivals carrying the Newport name were organized all over the world. Less than a year before his death, Ellington and his Orchestra, with Gonsalves still in the fold, appeared in Brussels to deliver a timeless performance before a highly appreciative crowd.

Estival Jazz Lugano is an annual open-air music festival that takes place over five days at the picturesque city of Lugano, Switzerland. Since 1979, this musical Mecca has been a must-attend event for all jazz and world music fans worldwide. On July 3, 1985, pianist and space-faring jazz icon Sun Ra and his Arkestra crash-landed at Estival Jazz Lugano. Featuring saxophonists Marshall Allen, John Gilmore and Danny Ray Thompson, clarinetist Eloe Omoe, flautist James Jackson, trombonist Tyrone Hill and a cavalcade of other costumed talents, Sun Ra puts on a truly out-of-this-world concert.

Moondog, a gaunt, mysterious and extravagantly-garbed blind street musician was celebrated among New Yorkers for two decades before gaining acclaim in Europe as an avant-garde composer conducting orchestras before royalty. Artists such as Charlie Parker, Leonard Bernstein, Steve Reich and Philip Glass have called him one of the great musical visionaries of our century. Day in and day out, the man whose real name is Louis T. Hardin, was as taciturn and unchanging a landmark of the midtown Manhattan streetscape as the George M. Cohan statue in Duffy Square. No matter the weather, he invariably dressed in a homemade robe, sandals, a flowing cape, and a horned Viking helmet - the tangible expression of what he referred to as his “Nordic philosophy”. For this show, he teams up with renowned saxophone ensemble London Saxophonic for an eccentric performance.

When renowned jazz pianists of the old and new school meet at a "Solo Piano Summit," audiences are treated to many an interesting musical surprise. The "Solo Piano Summit" brings together a handful of top pianists with different musical backgrounds: Jacky Terrasson, Junior Mance, Geoff Keezer, Bill Charlap and Alex Wilson. Besides solo performances the all-stars used the occasion for spontaneous interplay, improvisation and a fantastic finale - in short for the pleasure of virtuoso jazz piano playing.

Legendary performer Tony Bennett made his debut appearance at London's iTunes Fest at the Roundhouse and this stellar performance features the multi-Grammy award winner performing his biggest hits, among them, "The Best Is Yet To Come," "Fly Me to the Moon," and his signature song "I Left My Heart in San Francisco."

Four exceptional musicians team up to perform classic pop and soul songs made famous by the likes of Gregory Porter, Stevie Wonder, U2, Seal, and many more. Pianist Alfio Origlio signed up to do the arrangements. Walter Ricci, an accomplished jazz vocalist from Naples, eases us into his musical universe with his stunning sensitivity. He is accompanied by an exceptional rhythm section composed of Manu Katché on drums, Jérôme Regard on bass, and Alfio Origlio on piano. This concert was recorded at Festival Jazz au Sommet 2020 in France.