($15-$25 tickets | 6pm-8pm) Come celebrate the opening night of the Tucson Jazz Festival with a special performance with the Armen Donelian Quartet! Arturo Sandoval performs across the street at the Rialto Theater at 8pm, so come get in the mood with some more live jazz and cocktails at the Century Room! Doors open at 5pm with live music starting at 6pm.

Free General Admission to Tucson Jazz Festival members!

($10 | 10:30pm show) Following the Tucson Jazz Festival’s programming, keep the night going with Arthur Vint and his quartet for the TJF Late Night Jazz Jam!

Limited number of advanced reserved tickets offered. GA tickets sold at the door.

($35-$45 Tickets | Sets at 7pm & 9pm) The Tucson Jazz Festival presents pianist Isaiah J. Thompson and his trio.

**Isaiah J. Thompson**

Isaiah J. Thompson is the winner of the 2023 American Pianists Awards and the Cole Porter Fellowship in Jazz of the American Pianists Association. Originally from West Orange, New Jersey, the pianist, bandleader and composer began studying at The Calderone School of Music from an early age. Soon after, Isaiah continued his studies with Jazz House Kids and NJPAC Jazz For Teens and was later admitted to The Juilliard School graduating with both his Bachelor’s in 2019 and Master’s of Music degrees in 2020. Isaiah has performed with major artists, including Ron Carter, John Pizzarelli, Christian McBride, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Steve Turre and Buster Williams. His recording debut was featured on Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Blue Engine Records’ Handful of Keys album with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, and he has since released multiple recordings as a leader.

He worked on the Golden Globe nominated soundtrack for Motherless Brooklyn, was named a Steinway Artist and has been awarded other accolades including, the 2018 Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award, and second place in the 2018 Thelonious Monk Competition. As a performer, Isaiah tries to emit love, spirit and respect and convey his personal experiences through his artistry and his everlasting love of jazz.

($10 | 11:00pm show) Following the Tucson Jazz Festival’s programming, keep the night going with Alex Kautz for the TJF Late Night Jazz Jam!

Limited number of advanced reserved tickets offered. GA tickets sold at the door.

Alex Kautz

Musicality, groove and knowledge of a variety of styles are some of the adjetives that makes Alex Kautz a unique musician.

Alex has been a part of the NY competitive music scene for the last fifteen years and has played and/or recorded with some of the top artists in the industry today including Tim Ries, Chico Pinheiro, Magos Herrera, Nilson Matta, Steve Willson, Lenny Andrade, Fabio Gouvea, Adam Rogers, Helio Alves, Victor Prieto and Lionel Loueke to name a few.

Alex has also led his own groups where he explores the sounds and textures of Brazilian music mixed with jazz and he is currently working on a new album to be released next fall.

A Magna Cum Laude graduate from Berklee College of Music in Boston, Alex received the “Best Achievement merit Scholarship” while attending the prestigious institution in pursuit of a Bachelor’s Degree in Music. He later received a full scholarship award from Mexico’s National Fund for Culture and Arts (FONCA) to study a Masters of Arts Degree in Aaron Copland School of Music in New York.

As an active educator since 2001, Alex has been an important part of the artistic community in different countries including USA, Mexico, India, and Brazil teaching private lessons as well as master classes. In addition he has been a guest professor in Souza Lima Conservatory and College of Music in Sao Paulo, Brazil, JAZZUV School of Music in Veracruz Mexico, Swarnabhomi School of Music in India and he is currently teaching at the New School and Mannes School of Music in NYC.

($25-$35 | 7pm & 9pm sets) The Tucson Jazz Festival presents drummer Alex Kautz and his quartet.

John Ellis – Sax, Tenor and Soprano

Fabio Gouvea – Guitar

Hamish Smith – Bass

Alex Kautz – Drums

**Alex Kautz**

Musicality, groove and knowledge of a variety of styles are some of the adjetives that makes Alex Kautz a unique musician.

Alex has been a part of the NY competitive music scene for the last fifteen years and has played and/or recorded with some of the top artists in the industry today including Tim Ries, Chico Pinheiro, Magos Herrera, Nilson Matta, Steve Willson, Lenny Andrade, Fabio Gouvea, Adam Rogers, Helio Alves, Victor Prieto and Lionel Loueke to name a few.

Alex has also led his own groups where he explores the sounds and textures of Brazilian music mixed with jazz and he is currently working on a new album to be released next fall.

A Magna Cum Laude graduate from Berklee College of Music in Boston, Alex received the “Best Achievement merit Scholarship” while attending the prestigious institution in pursuit of a Bachelor’s Degree in Music. He later received a full scholarship award from Mexico’s National Fund for Culture and Arts (FONCA) to study a Masters of Arts Degree in Aaron Copland School of Music in New York.

As an active educator since 2001, Alex has been an important part of the artistic community in different countries including USA, Mexico, India, and Brazil teaching private lessons as well as master classes. In addition he has been a guest professor in Souza Lima Conservatory and College of Music in Sao Paulo, Brazil, JAZZUV School of Music in Veracruz Mexico, Swarnabhomi School of Music in India and he is currently teaching at the New School and Mannes School of Music in NYC.

($10 | 10:30pm show) Following the Tucson Jazz Festival’s programming, keep the night going with Benny Benack III for the TJF Late Night Jazz Jam!

Limited number of advanced reserved tickets offered. GA tickets sold at the door.

**Benny Benack III**

By age 31, Emmy-nominated trumpeter and singer Benny Benack III has proven to be that rarest of talents: not only a fiery trumpet player with a stirring command of the postbop trumpet vernacular in the vein of Kenny Dorham and Freddie Hubbard, but also a singer with a sly, mature, naturally expressive delivery in the post-Sinatra mold, performing standards and his own astute songs with a thrilling sense of showmanship. This duel-threat ability was recognized by the 2022 Downbeat Critics Poll where he appeared as not only the #2 Rising Star Male Vocalist, but a top Rising Star Trumpeter as well. His superb intonation and bracing virtuosity enable him to handle astounding feats of originally composed vocalese (complex solos with written lyrics). On top of it all, he’s a highly capable pianist as well.

($25-$35 Tickets | Sets at 7pm & 9pm ) The Tucson Jazz Festival presents the 17-piece Century Room Jazz Orchestra with a very special surprise guest…

**Century Room Jazz Orchestra**

Inspired by the Village Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, the 17-piece CRJO performs classic big band repertoire every Monday night at the Century Room starting at 7pm. Expect music from the Count Basie Orchestra, Duke Ellington Orchestra, the Thad Jones/Mel Louis Jazz Orchestra and much more with a special guest vocalist!

Arthur Vint (drums) Scott Black (bass) Angelo Versace & Peter Saxe (piano) Matt Mitchell (guitar) Joseph Rader (bari sax) Brice Winston & Kevin Ravellette (tenor sax) Eric Nakanishi & Simeon Roth (alto sax) Jordan Robison, Joshua Schanie, Benjamin Constantinides, Max Goldschmid (trombone) Alex Melnychuck, Anthony Gibes, Tony Belletti, Jason Carder (trumpet)

($25-$35 | 7pm & 9pm sets) The Tucson Jazz Festival presents pianist Sean Mason.

**Sean Mason**

Sean Mason is in no rush. The young pianist and composer takes his time in playing and composing, imagining his music as a physical space through which to guide the listener. He sees much of that music taking place in the south, specifically North Carolina, where he grew up playing piano in church. “It’s something about … that feeling of going to that part of the south that always sticks with me,” he says. “And so I can’t really get that out of my music.”

Mason’s music is also exceptionally groovy – as he puts it, “my purpose is to play dance music,” citing ragtime and stride piano as two of his greatest inspirations, along with early hero Ray Charles.

Mason moved to New York in 2018 to attend Juilliard, where he connected with the late pianist Frank Kimbrough, who became his private instructor and an important friend. Mason also caught the attention of both Wynton and Branford Marsalis, who have selected him for the piano chair on some highly prestigious gigs, from an all-Ellington program at Jazz at Lincoln Center to the soundtrack for the film Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.

($30-$40 Tickets | Sets at 7pm & 9pm ) The Tucson Jazz Festival presents Miguel Zenón Quartet, with Luis Perdomo, Hans Glawischnig & Henry Cole!

**Miguel Zenón**

Multiple Grammy Nominee and Guggenheim and MacArthur Fellow Miguel Zenón represents a select group of musicians who have masterfully balanced and blended the often- contradictory poles of innovation and tradition. Widely considered one of the most groundbreaking and influential saxophonists and composers of his generation, he has also developed a unique voice as a conceptualist, concentrating his efforts on perfecting a fine mix between jazz and his many musical influences.

Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Zenón has released fifteen recordings as a leader, including the Grammy-nominated Música De Las Américas (2022), El Arte Del Bolero (2021) and Sonero: The Music of Ismael Rivera (2019) and Yo Soy La Tradición (2018). He has worked with luminaries such as The SFJAZZ Collective, Charlie Haden, Fred Hersch, Kenny Werner, David Sánchez, Danilo Perez, The Village Vanguard Orchestra, Kurt Elling, Joey Calderazzo, Steve Coleman, Ray Barreto, Andy Montañez, Jerry Gonzalez & The Fort Apache Band, The Mingus Big Band and Bobby Hutcherson.

Zenón has been featured in publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe and The Chicago Tribune. In addition, he topped both the Jazz Artist of the Year and Alto Saxophonist of the Year categories in the 2014 JazzTimes Critics Poll and was selected as Alto Saxophonist of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association in 2015, 2018, 2019 and 2020 (when he was also recognized as Arranger of the Year). In 2023 he was recognized by the same organization as the Composer of the Year.

As a composer he has been commissioned by SFJAZZ, NYO Jazz, The New York State Council on the Arts, Chamber Music America, Logan Center for The Arts, The Hyde Park Jazz Festival, The John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, MIT, Spektral Quartet, Miller Theater, The Hewlett Foundation, Peak Performances, PRISM Quartet and many of his peers. Zenón has given hundreds of lectures and master classes at institutions all over the world and is a faculty member in the Music & Theater Arts Department at MIT, as well as the current Visiting Scholar for the Harmony and Jazz Composition Department at Berklee College of Music.

In April 2008 Zenón received a fellowship from the prestigious John Simon Guggenheim Foundation. Later that year he was one of 25 distinguished individuals chosen to receive the coveted MacArthur Fellowship, also known as the “Genius Grant.” In 2011 he founded Caravana Cultural, a program which presents free-of-charge Jazz concerts in rural areas of Puerto Rico. In 2022 he received an Honorary Doctorate from La Universidad del Sagrado Corazón in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the highest honor bestowed by the institution.

($30-$40 Tickets | Sets at 7pm & 9pm ) The Tucson Jazz Festival presents Melanie Sholtz & Aaron Rimbui.

**Melanie Sholtz**

Melanie Scholtz is a South African born, multi award winning jazz singer and composer. She started playing the piano from the age of 5 and went on to study Opera at The University of Cape Town Opera School where she graduated Cum Laude with a Performer’s Diploma in Opera 2000. Melanie went on to teach at the University of Cape Town from 2004-2005. In 2010, Melanie was named the Standard Bank Young Artist for Jazz and In 2012, won all three prizes at the prestigious Jazz Revelations competition as part of the Jazz a Juan Festival in Nice, France.

She has performed all over the world including her native country, South Africa, Czech Republic, Slovakia , Germany , France, Italy, Norway, Sweden and the United States.

Currently residing in New York City, Melanie hopes to further her career as a solo artist and songwriter. Besides performing with a jazz trio, whether it be jazz or her own music, Melanie has a solo project called The Lone Looper, using a looping machine, which enables her to create compositions using only the voice.

**Aaron Rimbui**

Aaron was born in Nairobi, Kenya. Rimbui’s ear for music was displayed while still a toddler. His father would play everything from Stevie Wonder records to Henry Mancini and take him to local restaurants where he heard the music of groups like Les Wanyika, Maroon Commandos and Samba Mapangala. This had a significant influence on how he developed his sound in later years. Rimbui’s individual expression in music continued to form in his high school years. It is at this time that he picked up the piano. Rimbui began to gravitate toward jazz as he listened to the music of David Sanborn, Joe Sample, Yellowjackets and Fourplay and later, Herbie Hancock and George Duke. Rimbui served as head the Tusker Project Fame band.

($10 | 10:30pm show) Following the Tucson Jazz Festival’s programming, keep the night going with Pete Swan and his quartet for the TJF Late Night Jazz Jam!

Limited number of advanced reserved tickets offered. GA tickets sold at the door.

($35-$45 Tickets | Sets at 7pm & 9pm ) The Tucson Jazz Festival presents pianist and vocalist Bill Cantos and his trio.

**Bill Cantos**

The music and lyrics of Bill Cantos have been recorded by artists spanning the worlds of pop, jazz, theater, gospel, and world music: Ramsey Lewis, Lea Salonga, Patti Austin, Brenda Russell, Herb Alpert, Cheryl Bentyne, The Imperials, Flora Purim, Clay Crosse, Helen Baylor, Mark Winkler, and many others. He has written songs (with Alan and Marilyn Bergman and Mari Falcone) for the new musical CHASING MEM’RIES, which recently premiered at the Geffen Playhouse in LA.

Since 2008, Bill has collaborated live and in the recording studio with Herb Alpert & Lani Hall, contributing to six albums including the Grammy-winning STEPPIN’ OUT . He also performed with Burt Bacharach as keyboardist and featured vocalist from 2011 until Burt’s final live show in 2019. He was a backing vocalist on three world tours with Phil Collins and has also toured with Diane Schuur, David Foster, Deniece Williams, Debby Boone, Freddie Hubbard, Vikki Carr, and Rita Coolidge; the artists with whom he has recorded include Elton John, Leon Russell, Josh Groban, Tony Bennett, Barry Manilow, Bob Dylan, Brian Bromberg, Jay Graydon, Andrae Crouch, Clint Black, and Kirk Whalum.

​Bill sang and co-wrote the main title song “All Right Day” for the film HOME RUN SHOWDOWN. He has sung on the soundtrack of over sixty films including FROZEN 2, SING & SING 2, STAR WARS: ROGUE ONE, WALL-E, RIO & RIO 2, and contributed to the music for the Oscar-winning documentary 20 FEET FROM STARDOM. He can be seen performing with Dick Van Dyke in the HBO film IF YOU’RE NOT IN THE OBIT, EAT BREAKFAST.

($10 | 10:30pm show) Following the Tucson Jazz Festival’s programming, keep the night going with Max Goldschmid and his quartet for the TJF Late Night Jazz Jam!

Limited number of advanced reserved tickets offered. GA tickets sold at the door.

($35-$45 Tickets | Sets at 7pm & 9pm) The Tucson Jazz Festival presents bassist Linda May Han Oh and her Quintet.

“Her innovative range and stellar improvisations have made [her] one of the most dynamic rising stars in jazz today.” – The Wall Street Journal

“A major bass voice arrives” – JazzTimes

**Linda May Han Oh**

Based in New York City, Linda May Han Oh is a bassist and composer who has performed and recorded with artists such as Pat Metheny, Kenny Barron, Joe Lovano, Dave Douglas, Terri Lyne Carrington, Steve Wilson, Geri Allen, and Vijay Iyer.

Born in Malaysia and raised in Perth, Western Australia, she has received many awards such as 2nd place at the BASS2010 Competition, a semi-finalist at the BMW Bass competition and an honorary mention at the 2009 Thelonious Monk Bass Competition.

Linda also received the 2010 Bell Award for Young Australian Artist of the Year and was the 2012 Downbeat Critic’s Poll “Rising Star” on bass. She was voted the 2018 and 2019 Bassist of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association, as well as 2019 Up-and-coming Artist of the Year. Linda recently received a Jerome Foundation Fellowship, as well as the Chamber Music America New Jazz Works Grant for 2019. She also was voted 2019 Bassist of the Year in Hothouse Magazine and 202 recipient of the Margaret Whitton Award.

She has had five releases as a leader which have received critical acclaim. Her most recent release “Aventurine” is a double quartet album, featuring string quartet and vocal group Invenio.

Linda has written for large and small ensembles as well as for film, participating in the BMI Film Composers Workshop, Sundance Labs at Skywalker Ranch and Sabrina McCormick’s short film, “A Good Egg”.

Linda is based in New York City and is currently on faculty at the New School – School of Jazz , as well as Berklee College of Music. As an active educator she has created a series of lessons for the BassGuru app for iPad and iPhone. Linda is currently bassist of Pat Metheny’s quartet.

($10 | 11:00pm show) Following the Tucson Jazz Festival’s programming, keep the night going with Brice Winston and his quartet for the TJF Late Night Jazz Jam!

Limited number of advanced reserved tickets offered. GA tickets sold at the door.

($25-$35 | 7pm & 9pm shows) TOM WAKELING’S “STRINGS & THINGS” Down-home Blues and Jazz meets Brazilian Choro.

Bassist Tom Wakeling’s “Strings and Things” embraces jazz’ past, present, and future with vibrant rhythms and an elegant, hard-swinging style. From beautiful and exciting Brazilian Choro rhythms to down-home Blues and Jazz, their joyful spontaneity and unique repertoire is filled with surprise, beauty, and creativity.

Featuring seven-string guitar legend Howard Alden, six-string bass guitarist, Todd Johnson, bass violinist Tom Wakeling, and special guest Arthur Vint (drums).

**TOM WAKELING**

Bassist Tom Wakeling’s musical travels have taken him throughout Europe, Asia, and North America to perform and record at major festivals, jazz clubs, and concert halls.

Wakeling has put his bass to work with many of the jazz greats, including Arturo Sandoval, Lee Konitz, Mel Torme, Benny Golson, James Moody, Herb Ellis, Mose Allison, Charlie Rouse, Houston Person, Ken Peplowski, Ernie Watts, Scott Hamilton, Charles McPherson, Carl Fontana, and Herb Geller..

Tom has shared the stage with some of the most significant jazz pianists and drummers of our time, including Albert “Tootie” Heath, Lewis Nash, Jeff Hamilton, Mickey Roker, Butch Miles, Grady Tate, Dave Frishberg, Bill Mays, Roger Kellaway, Mike Wofford, Larry Fuller, Bruce Barth, Randy Porter, and Art Lande.

Wakeling’s “show biz” credits include playing in the orchestras of national touring shows such as “Cats”, “A Chorus Line”, the Joffrey Ballet, “Grease”, and “Damn Yankees” (with Jerry Lewis). He’s also backed up such showbiz figures as Della Reese, Mickey Rooney, Red Skelton, Rich Little, and the Fifth Dimension.

“…Excellent, exciting playing….” – TorontoJazz.com

“Bassist Tom Wakeling provides the great foundation upon which all else is built…” – Jazz Times

**HOWARD ALDEN**

Virtuoso guitarist Howard Alden, acknowledged as “…the best of his generation” by JazzTimes, can be heard on the soundtrack to the Woody Allen movie “Sweet and Lowdown”, starring Sean Penn. Howard not only played all the guitar solos, but also coached Mr. Penn on playing the guitar for his role in the film.

“A modern maestro…an original virtuoso…one of the 75 Great Guitarists of all time”, is how Downbeat, the world’s leading jazz magazine, describes Alden.

Having lived in New York City and toured the world many times over, Howard’s impressive performing, touring, and recording credits include such artists as Dizzy Gillespie, Mel Torme, Charlie Byrd, Mavis Rivers, Benny Carter, Joe Williams, Flip Phillips, Mel Powell, Bud Freeman, Kenny Davern, Clark Terry, George Van Eps, Woody Herman and scores of others.

Howard’s inimitable playing has also been sought out by rock-blues-pop icon Steve Miller for recording projects and live appearances.

Alden plays the seven-string guitar, which imparts a greater range and harmonic richness to Alden’s already colorful tonal palette, as evidenced on so many of his remarkable recordings. He has appeared on over 100 recordings, including more than 30 recordings under his own name.

“I’m meat and potatoes, but he’s the real deal!” – Vince Gill

“It’s the best recording of the seven-string guitar I’ve ever heard.” – Leo Kottke

“If there is such a thing as a complete jazz guitarist, then Alden is it.” – The London Observer

**TODD JOHNSON**

Todd Johnson is recognized as a pioneer of the six-string electric bass. Todd has developed an innovative technique where he plays chord changes and bass lines simultaneously. His ability to play “chord melody” and bass lines gives him a uniquely rich and full sound. A unique musician with a unique instrument, Johnson stretches the limits in creating new sounds and directions with the electric bass guitar.

Todd was an integral member of the critically acclaimed jazz trio of guitarist Ron Eschete for many years. He has performed, toured and/or recorded with such artists as Mike Stern, Poncho Sanchez, Frank Potenza, Dave Weckl, Scott Henderson, Plas Johnson, Lew Tabackin, Jack Sheldon, Rufus Reid, Mundell Lowe, Michael Manring, Paul Humphrey, Kristin Korb, and Frank Gambale.

In demand for residencies and master classes at prestigious institutions such as the Academy of Contemporary Music (London), Basscool (Lille, France), and Berklee College of Music, Todd’s instructional videos and books are published worldwide by Alfred Publishing, Inc.

“Johnson’s sophisticated chord melodies are unrivaled amongst his contemporaries…his innovative bass playing style is anything but traditional.” – Bassically.net

“Todd Johnson brings more than mastery to the electric bass; he brings a new vision of the instrument that greatly expands its musical horizon. Todd has found the freedom of extra strings, and as such has developed a distinctive solo voice on his instrument.” – Jim Fisch

($25-$35 | 7pm & 9pm shows) ***West by Northwest*** brings together four highly acclaimed artists who have performed worldwide with a who’s who of jazz.  The band’s live performances embrace jazz’ past, present, and future, with a great chemistry and an adventurous, hard-swinging style.

Trumpet master **Jason Carder** (Yanni, Maria Schneider, Ray Charles, Woody Herman), Tucson, AZ pianist **Angelo Versace** (Take 6, Jon Faddis, Slide Hampton), and the swinging rhythm team of bassist **Tom Wakeling** (Lee Konitz, James Moody, Mel Torme), and drummer **Dom Moio** (Clark Terry, Herb Ellis, Ahmad Jamal) join forces only a handful of times each year to perform as West by Northwest. Their time together on the bandstand is always a musical highlight of the year, both for them and for their audiences!

West by Northwest’s compositional maturity, musicality, humor, energy, and crushing groove always leave audiences wanting more!