MARCUS JOHNSON MOTHER'S DAY CONCERT

Mother’s Day Concert featuring Marcus Johnson
May 13, 2018 – 7:00 pm

City Winery
609 Lafayette Street
Nashville, Tennessee 37203

3rd ANNUAL JAZZ SPECTACULAR

The hottest Jazz Concert of the summer will play under the stars Father’s Day Weekend as New Day Entertainment presents the “3rd Annual Jazz Spectacular!” This year’s all-star lineup includes Paul Taylor, Michael Lington, Kenny Lattimore, Alexander Zonjic, Avery Sunshine, Jean Carne, Roy Ayers, Ronnie Laws, Lonnie Liston Smith and Gregory Porter at Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill as part of the Fifth Third Bank Concert Series on Saturday, June 16 at 5:30 p.m.
Tickets ($24 on the Kroger lawn; $44, $64 and $84 in the Crest Ford pavilion) go on sale Saturday, March 31 at 10 a.m. and can be purchased at 313Presents.com, Little Caesars Arena XFINITY box office and Ticketmaster.com. To charge tickets by phone, call (800) 745-3000. Lineup is subject to change.
The “3rd Annual Jazz Spectacular!” features an exceptional line-up of jazz greats. The collaboration of dazzling vocals from extraordinary musicians will make for a memorable evening of jazz synthesis.
The jazz unit Paul Taylor, Michael Lington and Kenny Lattimore will kick off the night with soulful sounds followed by gifted jazz flutist Alexander Zonjic who be the host for the evening. The Jazz Spectacular will continue to build with the radiance of pianist/vocalist Avery Sunshine.
Superstars of Jazz Fusion, Jean Carne, Roy Ayers, Ronnie Laws and Lonnie Liston Smith, are guaranteed to leave jazz fans on a melodious high with their ensemble leading into the finale.
Two-time Grammy®-winning vocalist, Gregory Porter will close the night out with his sweet and sophisticated ballads promised to feed your musical soul.

Saturday, June 16, 2018 – 5:30 PM
Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre
14900 Metro Pkwy.
Sterling Heights, Michigan 48312

FRIDAY JAZZ @ THE HIGH

FRIDAY JAZZ @ THE HIGH
http://www.high.org/

High Museum of Art
1280 Peachtree St NE
Atlanta,Ga. 30309

Mark your calendar for live jazz in the High’s atrium on the third Friday of every month, hosted by Jamal Ahmad from Jazz 91.9 WCLK, Atlanta’s jazz station! Music, drinks, art—no matter the month, every Friday Jazz offers a great lineup featuring different styles of jazz, from straight ahead to free jazz, bebop to swing, and more.
Performances are free with Museum admission

Upcoming Friday Jazz
May 18, 2018
Friday Jazz featuring Che Marshall

LOVE & LAUGHTER
Join us this Sunday for a night of Love & Laughter featuring
Bill Bellamy & Chante Moore
presented by Wade Ford Smyrna
Gates open at 5pm and the show begins at 6pm

Mable House Barnes Amphitheatre
5239 Floyd Rd SW
Mableton, Georgia
http://www.mablehouse.org

MOTHER'S DAY MUSIC FESTIVAL
STARING MAXWELL, THE LEGENDARY GLADYS KNIGHT, AND SPECIAL GUEST VIVIAN GREEN
Boardwalk Hall
2301 Boardwalk
Atlantic City, 08401 NJ
GOING DOWN ON SATURDAY MAY 12, 2018
IT WILL BE A NIGHT TO REMEMBER.
www.platinumshows.com FOR MORE INFORM

26th ANNUAL CAPITAL JAZZ FEST 2018

26th Annual Capital Jazz Fest
June 1-3, 2018
The jazz festival with soul...
Merriweather Post Pavilion
10475 Little Patuxent Pkwy.
Columbia, Maryland 21044
http://www.capitaljazz.com

Tickets for the 2018 Capital Jazz Fest are on sale now! The festival will take place at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland and will feature over 25 national acts on two big stages!
Performing this year will be Anita Baker, Earth, Wind & Fire, Diana Krall, Ledisi, Smokey Robinson, Joss Stone, Damien Escobar, Fantasia, Boney James, Brandy, Snarky Puppy,
Larry Graham & Graham Central Station, Keith Sweat, and many more, including a special tribute to the legendary
Phyllis Hyman
FRIDAY, JUNE 1, 2018
7:30pm – 11pm
(Gates open 6:30pm)
“Friday Night Soul!” Kickoff Concert featuring…
Earth, Wind & Fire
Ledisi
Also…
Introducing…Butterscotch
_______________________________________________________
SATURDAY, JUNE 2, 2018
12 noon – 10pm
(Gates open 10am)
PAVILION STAGE
(Hosted by Marcus Miller)
Diana Krall
Boney James
Rachelle Ferrell
Snarky Puppy
Keiko Matsui
“Lean On Me”: A Tribute to Bill Withers (featuring José James)
Jeff Bradshaw & Friends
SYMPHONY WOODS STAGE
(Hosted by Cayman Kelly)
Smokey Robinson
Fantasia
Keith Sweat
After 7
Dave Hollister
Liv Warfield & The NPG Hornz
____________________________
SUNDAY, JUNE 3, 2018
12 noon – 10pm
(Gates open 10am)
PAVILION STAGE
(Hosted by Marcus Miller)
Anita Baker
Bob James
“As You Are”: A Tribute to Phyllis Hyman
Michael Franks
Damien Escobar
Lizz Wright
Moonchild
SYMPHONY WOODS STAGE
(Hosted by Cayman Kelly)
Larry Graham & Graham Central Station
Brandy
Joss Stone
“Luther Re-Lives”: A Tribute to Luther Vandross
Tevin Campbell
The Hamiltones

GREGORY PORTER... Nat King Cole & Me

GREGORY PORTER ANNOUNCES OCT. 27 RELEASE OF "NAT KING COLE & ME"
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjX8KHJeTI8

On October 27, 2-time GRAMMY-winning vocalist Gregory Porter will release his 3rd Blue Note album, Nat King Cole & Me, a heartfelt tribute to his idol, the legendary singer, pianist and Capitol recording artist Nat King Cole. With the help of 6-time GRAMMY-winning arranger Vince Mendoza, the London Studio Orchestra, a core band featuring pianist Christian Sands, bassist Reuben Rogers, and drummer Ulysses Owens, and special guest trumpeter Terence Blanchard on two tracks, Porter revisits some of Cole’s most cherished classics such as “Mona Lisa,” “L-O-V-E,” “Nature Boy,” “The Christmas Song,” and the lead track “Smile”
For Porter, the influence of Cole on his life and music runs deep, a through-line that reaches back into some of his earliest childhood memories. “He was one of a kind. He left such great music – such beautiful things to listen to that you can’t help but be influenced by that extraordinary timbre, style, and ultimate cool,” Porter enthuses. “It’s only natural that I go to the root of my inspiration and where I come from. And that root would be my mother and gospel music and Nat King Cole,” Porter says.
“My mother said I wrote this little song when I was 5 and put it on a tape and played it for her when she came home from work,” recalls Porter. Upon hearing it his mother, Ruth Porter, exclaimed “Boy, you sound like Nat King Cole,” a compliment that sent the curious young Gregory delving into her record collection.
“I remember thinking how strange that name was, going through her records, and first seeing his image: this elegant, handsome, strong man sitting by a fire, looking like somebody's daddy. Then I put the vinyl on the player and out of those speakers came that voice, that nurturing sound. It filled a void in me. My father wasn’t in my life; he wasn’t raising me; he wasn’t showing any interest in me. So Nat’s words, ‘pick yourself up, dust yourself off, start all over again’ – all of these life lessons and words of wisdom were like fatherly advice. They were coming out of the speakers like Nat was singing those words just to me. I would listen to his albums and imagine that Nat was my father.”
Earlier in Porter’s career – after his role in the Tony-nominated musical It Ain’t Nothin’ But the Blues but before rising to international acclaim as his solo artist – Porter dramatized his deep appreciation for Cole in a semi-autobiographical musical, Nat King Cole & Me, which premiered in 2004.
“That musical was a way of me trying to find my father,” Porter explains. “I wrote it after my father [Rufus Porter] had passed. The musical was of Nat King Cole; and half of the music was of my original writing. But the story is how I came to Nat’s music in the absence of my father. So in a way, it was some self-prescribed, self-written therapy and emotional medicine for myself.”
That musical underpins Nat King Cole & Me, the follow-up to Porter’s GRAMMY-winning Blue Note albums Liquid Spirit (2013) and Take Me to the Alley (2016), which established Porter as a global superstar and his generation’s most soulful jazz singer-songwriter. The album will be available on the following formats: deluxe vinyl, deluxe/standard CD, deluxe/standard download, and on streaming services.
“I went about selecting the songs like I always do – first in a very emotional way,” Porter says. “I just gathered the songs that meant something to me over the years. There was a period in college when I had an injury to my shoulder and I needed music to soothe me at that time. So I ended up going back to Nat’s records. Then I did the same thing during the passing of my mother. In a way, there’s a familiarity and a calming effect to Nat’s music. Recording Nat’s music was very personal because I could hear and feel my mother. And I still feel myself searching for my father.”