In celebration of International Jazz Day on April 30, 2023, the Red Bank, NJ-based Jazz Arts Project will honor tenor saxophonist/flutist Don Braden (photo above) at a special fundraising event to be held at the Triumph Brewing Company from 3-6 p.m.
In addition to being a performer and composer, Braden is a renowned educator, having spent more than two decades giving master classes at countless schools and universities and running educational programs such as the Litchfield Jazz Camp, New Jersey Performing Arts Center’s Jazz For Teens, and the Harvard University Monday Jazz Band.
Other special guests at the event will be Doug Doyle, Host of the WBGO Journal on 88.3FM and drummer Ben Fig, a former Jazz Arts Academy student who is now attending the Berklee College of Music. He is also the Jazz Arts Project’s youngest Board member. There will be a performance by the Jazz Arts Academy All-Stars, the best and most advanced students in the program, which presents jazz education courses for area youth. For more information, log onto jazzproject.org or call (732) 784-3350.
Among other events in New Jersey celebrating International Jazz Day are “Dan Levinson and Friends” at 3 p.m. at the Morris Museum in Morristown; singer/pianist Daryl Sherman at 6 p.m. at Shanghai Jazz in Madison; and drummer Billy Hart leading a quartet at the Metuchen Library.
The “Friends” joining clarinetist/tenor saxophonist Levinson are cornetist Mike Davis, trombonist Jim Fryer, pianist Mark Shane, bassist Rob Adkins, and drummer Kevin Dorn. For information and tickets, log onto morrismuseum.org or call (973) 3700. Sherman, who received the Bistro Awards’ Enduring Artistry Award on April 17, will be joined by bassist Boots Maleson and guitarist James Chirillo. Log onto shanghaijazz.com or call (973) 822-2899.
The Billy Hart concert is a production of Metuchen Arts Council, Metuchen Library and Friends of Metuchen Arts. Grant funding has been provided by the Middlesex County Board of Commissioners through a grant award from the Middlesex County Cultural and Arts Trust Fund.
While the registration for this concert is currently full, there is a “wait list.” Use QR code or register on Eventbrite at http://bit.ly/40sRigp.
