BLUE NOTE!  Celebrating America’s Premiere Jazz Label

 Sunday, May 1, 2022, 4 pm, First Congregational Church, 10 W Lockwood Ave, Webster Groves, Missouri

The concert will be preceded by a 3 pm lecture on the BLUE NOTE record label’s legacy by

Paul DeMarinis, Director of Jazz Studies at Webster University

PERFORMERS:  Abbie Steiling, violin, Mike Parkinson, trumpet, Brett Stamps, trombone, Paul DeMarinis, Hugh Jones, Mike Karpowicz, Chris Hubbard & Zac Minor, saxophone, Steve Schenkel, guitar, Carol Schmidt, Carolbeth True & Kim Portnoy, piano, Willem von Hombracht & Ben Wheeler, bass, Kevin Gianino, Joe Meyer & Blake Nelson, drums.  

ADMISSION: $10 adults, $5 students.

TICKETS  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/blue-note-celebrating-americas-premier-jazz-label-tickets-318593480677

All proceeds benefit the 2022 International Summer Jazz Academy (ISJA), July 24-31, Krakow, Poland, which is presented by the Krakow School of Jazz & Contemporary Music.  

SAINT LOUIS POLONIA is the primary American sponsor for the International Summer Jazz Academy.

ABOUT BLUE NOTE RECORDS: Founded in 1939 in New York by Francis Wolff and Alfred Lion, BLUE NOTE first released modern jazz records in 1947 by Thelonious Monk. BLUE NOTE became internationally known for the music and album cover designs by Reed Miles.  The concert includes music of famed BLUE NOTE artists Art Blakey, John Coltrane, Kenny Dorham, Benny Golson, Dexter Gordon, Grant Green, Herbie Hancock, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Hank Mobley, Thelonious Monk, Lee Morgan, Wayne Shorter, Horace Silver and McCoy Tyner.  BLUE NOTE continues to release cutting edge albums by artists such as Ambrose Akinmusire, Terrence Blanchard, Robert Glasper, Norah Jones, Trombone Shorty, and Immanuel Wilkins, and reissues classic albums.  For more information, visit https://www.bluenote.com/.

The INTERNATIONAL SUMMER JAZZ ACADEMY (ISJA) celebrates its 26th anniversary in Krakow, Poland, July 24-31, with 95 students expected to attend.  From its inception in 1994, the ISJA has included faculty from the United States, Poland, and other nations, teaching over 2,000 students from across Europe and the US in an intense study of jazz (harmony, history,  improvisation, master classes, ensembles, and jam sessions), culminating in two public gala concerts. Prominent ISJA alumni include Dominik Wania, ECM piano artist and 2021 Polish Jazz Artist, Pawel Kaczmarczyk, ACT pianist/composer, Tomasz Kudyk, trumpet/composer, Maciej Lakomy, trombone professor, Paderewski Music Academy/Poznan, Dawid Rudnicki, pianist/organist/theatre composer, Przemek Jarosz, drums/recording engineer, and DAGADANA, pop vocal group,

The ISJA was founded in 1994 by Isidore Rudnick, Coordinator of Fine Arts for the Cincinnati Public Schools.  Mike Parkinson, former Webster University music department chair was an original ISJA instructor and served as Artistic Director from 1995-2005, assisted by Webster colleagues and students, including Willem von Hombracht, the Artistic Director from 2008-2014. Willem and Mike have been invited to return for a second year by the ISJA Director Grzegorz Motyka, head of the Krakow School of Jazz & Contemporary Music, the ISJA presenter. All proceeds from the May 1 concert will underwrite Mike and Willem’s travel to Poland, and cover shipping costs of materials donated by Jamey Aebersold for ISJA students.  Individuals may also donate funds for scholarships for Ukrainian students to attend the ISJA.

 Saint Louis Polonia, 11469 Olive Blvd #1115, Creve Coeur, MO 6314     https://stl-pl.org/

Nottelmann Music, 1590 Lemay Ferry Rd, St. Louis, MO 63125    https://nottelmannmusic.com/

First Congregational Church, 10 W Lockwood Ave, Webster Groves, MO 63119    https://firstchurchwg.org/