6/20: Hendrik Meurkens Quartet
Link to site: http://hendrikmeurkens.com

Hendrik Meurkens is perhaps one of the most important jazz harmonica players on the scene today. He has recorded fifteen albums on Concord Records, and continues to perform as both a guest artist, and with his own groups, both in festivals and clubs globally.

6/27: Svetlana & The Delancey Five
Link to site: http://svetlanajazz.com/delancey-five-1/

Svetlana is a vocalist, songwriter, and arranger from New York. She has toured internationally with the Delancey Five, and the band’s record “Night at the Speakeasy,” featuring trombonist Wycliffe Gordon has received a 4-star rating from AllAboutJazz, and gathered accolades as “The Best of 2016” on the Classicalite Music news site.

7/11: Alma Micic Group
Link to site: http://www.almajazz.com

Since moving to New York City in 2000, Alma Micic released two critically acclaimed albums and has been featured in magazines such as Downbeat, JazzTimes, Jazzwise, AllAboutJazz and in The New York Times. Alma’s singing has been described as “confident, soulful, vulnerable, rhythmically savvy, with the most sensual vibrato you’re likely to hear” (All About Jazz).

7/18: David Weiss Sextet
Link to site: http://davidweissmusic.com

Moving jazz forward has been David Weiss’s modus operandi ever since he appeared on the scene in the late eighties when he established himself in New York by touring and/or recording with Billy Harper, Slide Hampton, and James Moody among many others.

7/25: Monte Croft Quartet
Link to music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ep_1iHkDY_s

An excellent vibraphonist, Monte Croft had a Columbia Record release and a more commercial follow-up, while maintaining a fairly low profile. He moved to New York and played with Branford Marsalis, the Terence Blanchard-Donald Harrison group, James Spaulding, and others before forming his own group and making his Columbia albums.

8/1: Nick Hempton Organ Quartet
Link to site: http://nickhemptonband.com

Nick Hempton is an alto and tenor saxophonist, composer, and bandleader, producing new music in the modern/mainstream tradition. Based in New York, he headlines clubs throughout the city, as well as concert halls and festivals around the world.

8/8: Lauren Sevian’s “LSQ”
Link to site: https://www.laurensevian.com

Grammy award-winning saxophonist Lauren Sevian has been performing professionally since the age of 12 and has played with Christian McBride, George Duke, Billy Harper and backed up artists such as Maceo Parker and Fred Wesley. Her band released “Blueprint” in 2008 which spent many weeks in the top 20 on the Jazzweek chart, and received rave reviews in DownBeat, Cadence Magazine, and AllAboutJazz.

8/15: Mel’s Jazz Zone

Link to site: http://www.melnusbaum.com

Mel Nusbaum’s piano and guitar work is very rhythmic, at home in a hard driving rhythm section. Currently living in New Jersey, he has played jazz, funk, Latin and fusion guitar with Cecil Payne, George Coleman, The Brecker Brothers, Booker Ervin and Lonnie Smith and has performed at the Newport Jazz Festival.

8/22: Monika Herzig’s SHEroes
Link to site: https://monikaherzig.com

Monika Herzig is a German-born jazz pianist. She recorded with the jazz fusion group BeebleBrox and has produced four albums as leader of the Monika Herzig Acoustic Project. Peace on Earth was released nationally in 2009 on the Owl Studios label.

8/29: Bird’s Birthday Bash! Vincent Herring Quartet
Link to site: https://www.vincentherring.com

Celebrating the legendary alto saxophonist Charlie Parker (aka “Bird”), Grammy award-winning saxophonist Vincent Herring’s intense, multi-noted style and ebullient swing pays homage to the style and life of “Bird.” Herring has appeared on stage and on recordings with Freddie Hubbard, Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers, Horace Silver Quintet and Jack DeJohnette’s Special Edition, among others.