Buffalo, NY – Today the Albright-Knox announced the dates and lineups for Art of Jazz 2017–2018. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at the museum’s Admissions Desk, by phone at 716.270.8292, or on the Albright-Knox website at www.albrightknox.org/artofjazz1718.

Now entering its 18th season as the most successful music series of its kind in Western New York history, Art of Jazz has established the Albright-Knox Auditorium as one of the premier venues to experience live jazz in North America. This landmark season continues the series tradition by presenting some of the brightest international jazz stars—from Grammy Award– and poll-winners to the next generation of jazz legends. This season also marks the return of founding producer Bruce Eaton, who helmed the series from 1999 to 2014. 

BILL FRISELL & THOMAS MORGAN DUO
Saturday, December 2, 2017, 8 pm

Named “Jazz Guitarist of the Year” 15 times, multiple Grammy Award–winner Bill Frisell has established himself as one of the most admired and influential musicians across contemporary music. With his unmistakable trademark sound, his collaborations with a staggering range of artists from jazz, rock, film, and beyond—including Paul Motian, Elvis Costello, Paul Simon, Charles Lloyd, Bonnie Raitt, and John Scofield—have produced dazzling results, as evidenced by Small Town (ECM), his acclaimed recent release recorded live at New York’s famed Village Vanguard with rising bass phenom Thomas Morgan. Learn more at billfrisell.com.

THE MONTY ALEXANDER TRIO
Sunday, January 28, 2018, 3 pm

Pre-concert Conversation, 2 pm: The Importance of Ernest Ranglin
Series producer Bruce Eaton will discuss the career of the legendary Jamaican jazz and reggae guitarist.  

More than 50 years after moving to the US from his hometown of Kingston, Jamaica, pianist Monty Alexander is an American classic, touring the world relentlessly and delighting a global audience drawn to his vibrant personality and soulful message. One of the greatest of all living jazz pianists, his career is highlighted by more than seventy recordings as a leader as well as work with artists including Frank Sinatra, Dizzy Gillespie, Tony Bennett, Ray Brown, and Quincy Jones. With a repertoire spanning a broad range of jazz and Jamaican musical expression—the American songbook and the blues, gospel and bebop, calypso and reggae—Alexander takes the stage with a professed goal “to build up the heat and kick up a storm.” Learn more at montyalexander.com.

BILLY CHILDS QUARTET
Sunday, March 18, 2018, 3 pm

Pre-concert Conversation, 2 pm: The Art of the Arranger 
JazzBuffalo Executive Director and Series Associate Producer Tony Zambito will discuss the often-overlooked role of the arranger in jazz.

Four-time Grammy Award–winner (and 14-time nominee), pianist Billy Childs has established himself as perhaps the most distinctly American composer since Aaron Copeland. After launching his jazz career playing with Freddie Hubbard and Joe Henderson, Childs created a parallel niche as an in-demand composer and arranger, collaborating with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Detroit Symphony, and the Kronos Quartet, while also performing with artists ranging from Yo-Yo Ma and Renée Fleming to Chris Botti, Sting, and Wynton Marsalis. His recent release Rebirth (Mack Avenue) marks his long-anticipated return to scintillating hard-bop: "ultra-sophisticated, gracefully crafted jazz, but full of dynamism” (The Guardian). Learn more at billychilds.com.

MELISSA ALDANA 
Saturday, April 21, 2018, 8 pm

Pre-concert Conversation, 7 pm: The Sound of Don Byas
Series producer Bruce Eaton will explore the work of an oft-overlooked tenor saxophone giant.  

The first female instrumentalist and first South American to win the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition, tenor saxophonist Melissa Aldana has undertaken a remarkable musical journey since leaving her native Santiago, Chile, in 2007 to pursue jazz at the highest level in the U.S. With a powerful, fluid sound that bears the playful spirit of her first inspiration, tenor great Sonny Rollins, Aldana weaves the unmistakable roots of her heritage into both striking original compositions and jazz classics in ways that signify her as “bold new talent” (NPR)—"an essential voice . . . a very vital part of the present and future of our music" (producer Todd Barkan, 2017 NEA Jazz Master). Learn more at melissaaldana.com.

Tickets

Individual concert tickets are $29 general admission and $24 for Members. Season tickets for all four concerts are available at a discounted rate of $105 general admission and $85 for Members through the first concert on December 2, 2017. Individual concert tickets go on sale August 8, 2017. 

Art of Jazz is produced by Bruce Eaton in association with Tony Zambito and organized by the Albright-Knox Art Gallery. It is supported by Hunt Real Estate.

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