Jazz Fest
About BHCC Jazz Fest
The BHCC Jazz Celebration series began in the spring of 1999 with a 100th birthday celebration for Duke Ellington. Continuing in this tradition for nearly two decades, the BHCC Jazz Fest has paid tribute to the contributions of jazz luminaries such as Miles Davis, Charlie Parker and Billie Holiday, as well as the lesser known, but still important jazz musicians
An essential feature of the series from the beginning has been the collaboration between program organizers, professors Cindy Fong and Tim McLaughlin, and the Visual and Media Arts department. Each semester, students in a graphic design course create original posters to promote the upcoming concert.
BHCC Jazz Celebration History
BHCC JAZZ CELEBRATION SERIES FROM THE BEGINNING…
| Spring 1999 | Duke Ellington 100th Anniversary Celebration |
| Fall 1999 | Gershwin 101 |
| Spring 2000 | The World of Folk Music |
| Fall 2000 | Louis & Tiger – 100th Birthday Celebration for Louis Armstrong featuring Tiger Okoshi |
| Spring 2001 | Old Ship of Zion: A History of the Gospel Tradition , written and performed by Dr. Horace Boyer |
| Spring 2001 | Tribute to Miles Davis featuring Webster Young |
| Fall 2001 | Return of the Tiger – Tiger Okoshi |
| Spring 2002 | Semenya McCord’s Tribute to Billie Holiday: I Know About the Life |
| Fall 2002 | Langston Hughes, the Blues, and All That Jazz |
| Spring 2003 | Charlie Parker Tribute featuring Andy McGhee |
| Fall 2003 | Celebrating 100 Years of the Blues featuring Mighty Sam McClain |
| Spring 2004 | A Love Supreme: John Coltrane Tribute featuring Carl Grubbs |
| Fall 2004 | Carol Sloane Sings Ella and Carmen : A Tribute to Jazz Greats Ella Fitzgerald and Carmen McRae |
| Spring 2005 | Misterioso: Thelonious Monk Tribute with John Kordalewski Trio and special guest Bill Pierce |
| Fall 2005 | Carol Sloane Sings (Mostly) Ellington with Brad Hatfield, piano |
| Spring 2006 | The Makanda Project: The Music of Makanda Ken McIntyre |
| Fall 2006 | Jazz Brasil: The Music of Antonio Carlos Jobim, featuring Fernando and Sergio Brandão |
| Spring 2007 | Better Get Hit in Your Soul: A Tribute to Charles Mingus, featuring Ku-umba Frank Lacy |
| Fall 2007 | Chasin’ the Blues Away: Celebrating Horace Silver, featuring Horace Silver Quintet Alumni: Ralph Bowen, Michael Mossman and Yoron Israel |
| Spring 2008 | Swingin’ with Count Basie, featuring the Greg Hopkins Jazz Orchestra with guest vocalist Paul Broadnax |
| Fall 2008 | Where in the World’s Music Is Dizzy Gillespie? featuring the Bill Lowe Afro-Cuban Jazztet |
| Spring 2009 | The Beat Goes On: A Tribute to Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, featuring Bill Pierce |
| Fall 2009 | Music Is the Magic: A Tribute to Abbey Lincoln, featuring Diane Richardson, Bill Lowe, John Kordalewski, John Lockwood, and Yoron Israel |
| Spring 2010 | Miles Davis and Birth of the Cool, featuring the Greg Hopkins Nonet |
| Fall 2010 | Out There! Oliver Lake’s Tribute to Eric Dolphy, featuring Oliver Lake |
| Spring 2011 | “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free”: Tribute to Dr. Billy Taylor, Jazz Ambassador to the World, featuring the Christian Sands Trio |
| Fall 2011 | What’d I Say: Genius + Soul – A Tribute to Ray Charles, featuring the Love Dogs |
| Spring 2012 | Supercussion: The Makanda Project featuring Warren Smith |
| Fall 2012 | VISIONS: The Music of Stevie Wonder, featuring Yoron Israel and High Standards |
| Spring 2013 | Gypsy Jazz: Celebrating the Music of Django Rheinhardt and Stephane Grappelli, featuring the Ben Powell Gypsy Quartet |
| Fall 2013 | Celebration of Jazz, Blues and the Poetry of Langston Hughes, featuring Diane Richardson and Lloyd Sheldon Johnson with the John Kordalewski Quartet |
| Spring 2014 | A Tribute to Piano Masters Cedar Walton and Mulgrew Miller, featuring Laszlo Gardony, piano, with Stan Strickland, saxophone; John Lockwood, bass; Yoron Israel, drums |
| Fall 2014 | To the Max! A Tribute to Max Roach, featuring Billy Hart with Bill Lowe and John Lockwood |
| Spring 2015 | Before the Deluge: The Music of New Orleans, the Birthplace of Jazz, featuring Made in the Shade |
| Fall 2015 | Billy Strayhorn 100th Anniversary Retrospective featuring Greg Hopkins and the Berklee Concert Jazz Orchestra |
| Spring 2016 | Jazz South Africa, featuring the Music of Ndikho Xaba performed by the Makanda Project |
| Fall 2016 | Wayning Moments: A Tribute to Wayne Shorter, featuring Joe Ford, saxophone, with Kevin Harris, piano; John Lockwood, bass; Yoron Israel, drums |
| Spring 2017 | 3hree for Louis: A tribute to Louis Armstrong, featuring three all-star trumpet players performing jazz legend Louis Armstrong’s greatest hits |
| Fall 2017 | Jazz from South Africa: “le Ngoma” (This Music) |
| Spring 2018 | Mary Lou Williams Tribute with Cecilia Smith and The Ron Savage Trio |
| Fall 2018 | PoemJazz with Robert Pinsky, three time U.S. Poet Laureate. |
| Spring 2019 | "Tenor for Our Times" featuring saxophonist Ricky Ford |