Northampton Jazz Festival Celebrates Drummer Max Roach’s Centennial on Saturday, September 30
The Northampton Jazz Festival will kick off its two days of live jazz concerts at Pulaski Park on Friday, Sept. 29 with an evening Jazz Strut throughout downtown Northampton, and free performances will continue at four locations on Saturday, September 30.
The headliner for this year’s festival is Max Roach Centennial Celebration with the Joe Farnsworth Quintet, featuring special guest NEA Jazz Master George Coleman on saxophone performing at The Academy of Music on Saturday, September 30 at 7:30 p.m. The quintet, which Joe Farnsworth assembled exclusively for this concert, also includes Grammy nominated Christian Sands on piano, Peter Washington on bass and Jeremy Pelt on trumpet. The concert is the only ticketed event of the festival and will be at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy of Music; tickets are $30 to $50 available at AoMTheatre.com or at the Academy of Music Box Office Tuesday through Friday from 3 to 6 p.m.
Ruth Griggs, president of the festival’s board of directors, said the festival is excited to honor Max Roach’s musical legacy at this year’s festival. “Max Roach is unique to folks here in Western Mass., as he was a professor at UMass for over twenty years, along with being a world-renowned drummer, composer, bandleader and social activist. It is thrilling to hear the stories from musicians, educators, and jazz aficionados in the Valley who remember Max fondly – whether expressed through their compositions, their interviews with him, or his teachings. We are hoping that many will join us on Jazz Fest Day at the Academy to celebrate him with us!” Griggs said.
Drummer Joe Farnsworth, who will lead the quintet of world-class jazz musicians exclusively for the Max Roach Centennial Celebration, is a South Hadley native who considers Max Roach one of his heroes. “I started playing along with Max Roach since I was in 4th grade. I’ve spent my life trying to be like him and play like him. When I was invited to play at the festival it was like the Holy Trinity: playing the drums at the festival, playing in my old neighborhood, and celebrating Max Roach – it seemed too good to be true,” Farnsworth said.
The Friday, Sept. 29, Jazz Strut kicks off the festival and will run from 4:30 to 11:30 p.m. this year, starting at Pulaski Park with the Jeff Holmes Big Band featuring vocalist Dawning Holmes. Jeff Holmes is Professor, Director of Jazz & African American Music Studies, Composition, and a Conductor at UMass-Amherst, and well-known for his big band arrangements. Local, regional, and New York City-based musicians will then perform for two hours at each of the following venues: Molly Plaisted Trio at Northampton Brewery from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.; Melanie Giselle at Spoleto from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.; Rich Goldstein at The Deck Bar from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.; Ron Smith’s Soulful Jazz Quartet at Progression Brewing Company from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.; The Dwonztet at Fitzwilly’s from 8:00 to 10:00 p.m.; Bar Filipowicz at Wurst Haus from 8:30 to 10:30 p.m. and the new Late Night Jam Session at The Toasted Owl from 10:00 to 11:30 p.m. led by bassist Matt Dwonszyk.
The full lineup of free daytime festival performances on Jazz Fest Day, Saturday, September 30 is as follows: the Expandable Brass Band will march from Pulaski Park around town and back starting at 11:00 a.m.; the Avery Sharpe Quartet and the Extended Family Choir will perform at Edwards Church from 12:30 to 1:45 p.m.; the Mark Whitfield guitar trio performs two concerts at the Parlor Room, one from 1:00 to 1:45 p.m. and another from 2:30 to 3:15 p.m. vocalist Vuyo Sotashe and pianist Chris Pattishall perform “Songs of Protest and Peace” at the Unitarian Society of Northampton and Florence from 1:30 to 2:45 p.m.; a UMass Jazz Ensemble will play in Pulaski Park at 1:30 p.m.; DJ Matthew “Fat Cat” Rivera of Hot Club of New York will spin rare 78-rpm records from his collection from 2:15 to 4:00 p.m. in Pulaski Park; vocalist and saxophonist Camille Thurman performs with the Darrell Green Quartet from 3:30 to 4:45 p.m. at Edwards Church; vocalist Vanisha Gould will sing with her trio at Unitarian Society of Northampton and Florence from 4:30 to 5:45 p.m.; and Danny Jonokuchi and the Revisionists, a swing dance band, will perform in Pulaski Park from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. New this year is a free swing dance lesson by the Lindy League of Western Mass. before the Danny Jonokuchi performance from 4:00 to 4:45 p.m. in Pulaski Park.
Now in its 12th year, the Northampton Jazz Festival has become an anticipated event, appreciated for the visitors and visibility that it brings to Northampton. “Part of our mission is to create a positive spirit and more vitality in downtown Northampton. There is nothing like live jazz music, community gathering, dancing and clapping to raise people’s spirits. Witnessing this is the best reward for all our hard work to stage the festival each year,” said Griggs.
The Northampton Jazz Festival is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation and is funded by local business, organizations, foundations and individuals to provide free live music to the general public each year.
