We are thrilled to celebrate our 25th Anniversary Healdsburg Jazz Festival with 9 days of concerts in Wine Country. With ticketed and free community concerts, the Festival has something for everyone. Join us for this spectacular celebration as we honor our glorious past and pave the way for the next quarter century!

Schedule:
Saturday, June 17, 2023
2pm- 8pm : Juneteenth Celebration
Juneteenth is the African American celebration of liberation two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed. Soon after the end of the Civil War, Black communities throughout the nation celebrated independence every June 19th with gatherings, delicious food, and of course good music. Healdsburg Jazz is proud to present a diverse range of music, art, culture and education in honor of this holiday, free to the public in the Healdsburg Plaza. Our Juneteenth performances celebrate the wide range of Black music and art including gospel, early blues, New Orleans jazz, funk, R&B, spoken word, and straight ahead modern swing. We will also have an arts, crafts, and music workshops in the plaza for families and young people led by esteemed teaching artists. This is a free event, open to the public.

Location: Healdsburg Plaza

Tickets: Free

9pm: Howard Wiley Quartet
Oakland tenor saxophonist Howard Wiley returns to the festival with his soul-charged quartet, a potent combo that blends jazz, gospel, and funk with state-of-the-art grooves. A commanding improviser, Wiley has earned national and international renown, recording and performing with an array of heavyweights including Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Miss Lauryn Hill, Kamasi Washington, Miles Mosley, Sheila E, Corey Henry, Christian McBride, Jason Moran, and Hammond B-3 organ greats Chester Thompson and Doug Carn. His quartet features bassist Marcus Phillips, who’s been touring recently with Jennifer Hudson, drummer Dante “Taz” Roberson, and organist LJ Holoman, a sought-after studio player with recording credits that include Mary J. Blige, 50 Cent, Busta Rhymes, Nas, and The Game.

This is an outdoor concert.

Location: Elephant in the Room

Tickets: $30, 21 and over

Tickets

Sunday, June 18, 2023
7pm-8:30pm: Samara Joy
FATHER’S DAY CELEBRATION

At only 23, vocalist Samara Joy has established herself as jazz’s most exciting new voice with her lush, extravagantly beautiful sound and social media smarts. She’d already posted a series of viral TikTok videos before her triumphant night at the 2023 Annual Grammy Awards when she took home “best new artist” and “best jazz vocal album” trophies (for her 2022 Verve debut “Linger Awhile”). Hailing from an illustrious family of gospel singers, Joy has already soaked up a good deal of jazz wisdom, regularly attending classes with piano hero Barry Harris, an indefatigable keeper of the bebop flame until his death in 2021 at 91. In what can only be described as a booking coup, the hottest new artist in America today comes directly from the Hollywood Bowl to perform for you at our Healdsburg Jazz’s Father’s Day concert at Bacchus Landing. The band will feature: Samara Joy (vocals), Luther Allison (piano), Donavan Austin (trombone), Jason Charos (alto saxophone), Davis Mason (trumpet), Kendric McCallister (tenor saxophone), Mickey Migliore (bass), Evan Sherman (drums). With Joy and her band, modern jazz sounds as fresh as tomorrow.

Location: Bacchus Landing

Tickets: $25 – $150 (Group Seating Available)

Tickets

Monday, June 19, 2023
6pm-9:30pm : Artist in Residence John Santos Filosofía Caribeña Concert
Far more than a master percussionist, John Santos is an invaluable educator and cultural activist, a keeper of the Caribbean flame steeped in folkloric traditions of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Haiti and beyond, as well as Latin jazz and salsa. The 2023 Healdsburg artist-in-residence, he’s thrived outside of Latin music’s commercial domain by recording and self-producing an expansive, Grammy Award-nominated discography. Celebrating the release of 2023’s Filosofía caribeña Vol.3: A Puerto Rico del alma, the John Santos Sextet takes over the Raven with a blazing set of Latin jazz centered on Puerto Rican and Cuban dance rhythms. The band brims with Bay Area Latin music greats including Dr. John Calloway on flute and piano, Marco Díaz on piano and trumpet, bassist Saul Sierra, drummer David Flores, saxophonist Charlie Gurke, and special guests such as vocalists Jose Roberto Hernandez and Juan Luis Pérez, violinist Anthony Blea, and Orestes Vilató, the legendary timbalero who helped ignite the salsa flame in New York City with the Fania All-Stars.

The evening opens with a screening of the new documentary Santos: Skin to Skin by Kathryn Golden and Ashley James, followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers. Filmed over the course of a decade, the documentary offers an intimate look at the percussionist on and off the bandstand. In many ways it’s a family portrait that situates Santos amidst a dense web of relationships, including his wife, award-winning author Aida Salazar, and their two children. There’s no shortage of musical peers singing his praises as an inspirational force responsible for expanding the international reach of the Bay Area’s Latin jazz scene. But one of the film’s primary pleasures is that it lets the drums do plenty of talking.

Documentary Film SANTOS: Skin to Skin
6pm-7:15pm Documentary
7:15pm-8pm Q&A with Filmmaker
8pm-9:30pm Concert

Location: Raven Performing Arts Theater

Tickets: $50 / $25 Student Rate

Tickets

Tuesday, June 20, 2023
Noon – 2pm: Grupo Falso Baiano featuring Natalie Cressman Lunch Concert
Grupo Falso Baiano
After nearly 20 years together as Grupo Falso Baiano, this Bay Area choro and jazz group will share the intersection between Brazil’s first national music with classical roots giving birth to Brazilian jazz, samba and more! G.F.B.’s exploration of choro spans nearly 100 years, including everything from the traditional to more contemporary versions and jazz influenced reinterpretations. G.F.B. is Zack Pitt-Smith, reeds, Brian Moran, 7 string guitar, and Ami Molinelli, percussion. This line up will feature rising star Natalie Cressman on trombone and vocals.

Natalie Cressman
Possessing a voice as cool and crystalline as an Alpine stream, Natalie Cressman is a rising singer/songwriter and trombonist who draws inspiration from a vast array of deep and powerful musical currents. Auburn Whisper —her latest album with guitarist, composer, and vocalist Ian Faquini—not only serves as a testament to the couple’s symbiotic musical partnership but also to their resilience during unprecedented times. Written and recorded in 2020, Auburn Whisper finds the two artists blending traditional Brazilian rhythms with modern, expansive arrangements—reflecting on people and places they miss while discovering joy within the present moment.

Carlitos Medrano and Sabor de mi Cuba Concert
After extensive participation in various musical groups, Carlitos decided to start his own projects with local Bay Area musicians: Cuban-style salsa performed by Sabor de mi Cuba where he debuts his musical talents through original songwriting and composition. The fundamental characteristics of this project are fusions of Afro-Cuban roots influenced by world music. Sabor de mi Cuba hopes to bring forth edginess to local exponents of music in the Bay  Area. By December 2012, he decided to create his own recording entitled Sabor de mi Cuba, where he experimented with composition and arrangements. The project was recorded and mastered in the prestigious Egrem Studios in Havana, Cuba. According to Tom Ehrlich of Timba.com Magazine, Sabor de mi Cuba is a strong recording, full of elaborate, innovative arrangements, interesting use of chorus, rumba, and jazz-influenced dance music. The result is a beautiful, swinging recording that should establish Carlitos as a composer, percussionist, and band leader to be reckoned with.

Thousands attend this outdoor celebration and summer tradition in the heart of downtown Healdsburg – relaxing on the shaded lawn, picnicking, and strolling the picturesque walkways and Plaza fountain.

Location: The Madrona Lawn

Tickets: $75

6pm - 8pm: Tuesday Concert in the Plaza FREE Carlitos Medrano and Sabor de mi Cuba Concert
Minutes from downtown Healdsburg and situated on eight acres, replete with hidden corners, emerald-green gardens, panoramic valley views, and a grand, historic Jay Jeffers reimagined estate, The Madrona enchants guests. Gardens fill the kitchen, bar, and guest rooms with the scents and flavors of the region. Gracious and artful dining inspire moments of joy, connection, imagination, and merriment. The freshest ingredients grown in the estate’s garden, the uninhibited creativity of our culinary team, the breathtaking backdrop of verdant California in full flush, that’s the setting for this concert. Enjoy Michelin-starred Executive Chef Jesse Mallgren’s iconic fried chicken picnic lunch (veg option avail) while luxuriating outdoors on the garden lawn to the sounds of Grupo Falso Baiano. Bring your blanket or low back chair for this afternoon concert. Drinks available for purchase.

Location: Healdsburg Plaza

Wednesday, June 21, 2023
Stella Heath: The Billie Holiday Project
Billie Holiday didn’t just change the course of jazz singing. The iconic vocalist reconfigured the music itself with performances that transformed pop songs into soul-revealing emotional x-rays. Stella Heath and her quintet are keenly aware of Holiday’s less-is-more aesthetic, and her voice can eerily call Lady Day to mind even as she puts her own stamp on the timeless material. Featuring some of the Bay Area’s top Jazz musicians, Heath’s Billie Holiday Project conjures the crackling electricity that Lady Day brought to intimate 1930s nightclub. The Band features Stella Heath, invoking the vocal stylings of Billie Holiday; Neil Fontano, piano virtuoso from Sonoma County; Robby Elfman, rich and inventive on tenor saxophone and clarinet; Trevor Kinsel, interchanging between upright bass and cornet; and Spike Klein on the drum kit.

The Garden Courtyard, situated in the sophisticated Hotel Healdsburg, is an open area bordered by wisteria-lined trellises, evoking a lush garden feel. An elegant three-course fine dining meal from the Dry Creek Kitchen will be served, starting with an artisanal cocktail. The later concert includes a Dry Creek Kitchen dessert with a glass of sparkling.

Time:
5pm Dinner Show
7:30pm Dessert & Sparkling Show

Location: Hotel Healdsburg Garden Courtyard

Tickets:
Dinner Show (5pm): Three-course dinner, starting with a cocktail, $175 Tickets
Dessert & Sparkling Show (7:30pm): $75 Tickets

Thursday, June 22, 2023
6:30pm – 7:30pm: Camille Thurman with the Darrell Green Quartet
The opening act offers a bracing glimpse at jazz’s glorious future. Camille Thurman is a triple threat as a velvet-toned tenor saxophonist, inventive vocalist, and accomplished composer (who also plays bass clarinet, flute and piccolo). Her rich sax sound has been compared to Joe Henderson and Dexter Gordon, while her vocal skills encompass steeplechase scatting and caressing, time-melting balladry. Nothing better captures her singular ascendance than the fact Wynton Marsalis featured her as a vocalist in his jazz opera The Ever Fonky Lowdown, and then she went on to tour and perform full-time with Jazz At Lincoln Center as a saxophonist, the ensemble’s first female member. When she’s not touring with the JALCO, Thurman is on the road leading her band, The Camille Thurman Quartet and is also featured with Oakland-reared drummer Darrell Green’s band, with whom she performs at Bacchus Landing.

8pm – 9pm: Bill Frisell Trio Featuring Morgan & Rudy Royston
Embodying Healdsburg’s spectacular history and commitment to showcasing artists forging bold new paths for jazz in the 21st century this double bill packs a one-two punch of improvisation. Among the era’s most influential and prolific guitarists, Bill Frisell is a sonic sculptor who planes away every extraneous note to reveal the luminous beauty within even the most familiar songs. A long-time Healdsburg favorite whose past appearances include thrilling duo encounters with saxophone seeker Charles Lloyd in 2016 and fellow guitar virtuoso Julian Lage in 2018, Frisell performs with his exquisite trio featuring bassist Thomas Morgan and drummer Rudy Royston.

Doors open 5:30pm

Location: Bacchus Landing

Tickets: $25 – $75

Tickets

9pm-11pm: Amy D. and Dillon Vado
The soulful, effortless sounds of vocalist and songwriter Amy D. envelop listeners in a dream-like fusion of jazz, soul, world, and R&B styles, bridging genres and generations alike. Combined with inspiring lyrics and heartfelt storytelling, her music is a timeless soundscape inviting reflection, healing, and growth. Her debut album ‘Like You’ was released in 2019 on Unspeakable Records, in collaboration with producer and master keyboardist Michael Aaberg (Goapele, Lalah Hathaway, Derrick Hodge).

Dillon Vado is a drummer and vibraphonist who plays music that is an honest representation of a broad range of influences. His music is known for being dynamic and complex, yet memorable and relatable. As comfortable laying down Brazilian grooves on drum set as he is improvising with poets on vibraphone, Dillon can be found playing with many of his own projects including The Table Trio, Amy D on vibes, and drumming/composing for Never Weather, who released their debut album Blissonance in 2020.

Location: Elephant in the Room

Tickets: Tickets: $30, 21 and over

Tickets

Friday, June 23, 2023
6:30pm – 9pm: Tribute to Pharoah Sanders & Joey DeFrancesco, Honoring Healdsburg Jazz Founder Jessica Felix
Healdsburg Jazz will honor its founder and original artistic director Jessica Felix (from 1999-2020) with a powerful concert opening with international Rising Star Joel Ross (vibraphone) and his innovative quartet “Good Vibes” followed by a soaring tribute produced by Jessica Felix to Pharoah Sanders and Joey DeFrancesco, both of whom passed away in 2022. Pharoah Sanders and Joey DeFrancesco were dear friends with founder Jessica Felix and performed for Healdsburg Jazz in past festivals.

Opener: Joel Ross’ Good Vibes
Joel Ross’ Good Vibes Quartet plays the opening set, representing the brilliant wave of young musicians who are defining the contemporary scene. With three increasingly ambitious albums for Blue Note, Ross has established himself as a major voice on the vibes and a dauntingly accomplished composer and arranger eager to explore extended themes. His latest album, 2022’s The Parable of the Poet, is a seven-piece album-length suite that emerged from improvisational explorations, and delves into mysterious territory where powerful emotional currents contest with probing reason.

Band Members Joel Ross (vibraphone), Jeremy Corren (piano), Kanoa Mendenhall (bass), Jeremy Dutton (drums).

Location: Bacchus Landing

Tickets: $25-$75

Tickets

9pm – 11pm: Lorca Hart Bridges Quartet
The Lorca Hart Bridges Quartet, featuring Brian Ho (organ), Mike Scott (guitar), Lyle Link (sax), and Lorca Hart (drums), is rooted in the classic Jazz organ band sound –Jimmy Smith, Larry Young, Jazz Standards, and Bebop –, while also exploring more contemporary elements –original compositions, John Scofield, Joshua Redman, Pat Metheny, R&B and pop tunes –, to create its own unique musical identity.

Lorca has performed in a vast array of musical situations, working with many of the West Coast’s (and beyond) finest artists including Bobby Hutcherson, Ralph Moore, Carmen Lundy, Freddie Hubbard, Stanley Jordan, Craig Handy, Bennie Maupin, Azar Lawrence, Julian Lage, Hugh Masekela, Meklit, actor/musicians Jeff Goldblum and Peter Weller, Kyle Eastwood, Red Holloway, Plas Johnson, John Heard, Danny Grissett, Justo Almario, Phil Ranelin, Dave Pike, Don Menza, the Clayton Brothers, Anthony Wilson, Calvin Keys, storyteller/radio personality Joe Frank, Ronald Muldrow, Anton Schwartz, Kenny Washington, Nicolas Bearde and the Cross Hart Jazz Experience. This is an outdoor concert.

Location: Elephant in the Room

Tickets: $30; 21 and over

Tickets

Saturday, June 24, 2023
9 am-Noon: HBG Jazz Future All-Stars FREE
The Healdsburg Jazz Future All-Stars is a select ensemble of young musicians primarily based in and around Sonoma County. The group consists of high school and college level students and perform at Healdsburg Jazz events, including our annual summer festival. The music director for the ensemble is led by the extraordinary pianist Neil Fontano.

Location: Healdsburg Farmers’ Market

7pm-8:30pm: Dianne Reeves with Romero Lubambo
We thank Healdsburg Jazz VIP Patrons Louis & Lynda Jordan for underwriting this concert

Ever since trumpet legend Clark Terry discovered Dianne Reeves as a preternaturally poised high schooler she’s sought out an expansive array of musical experiences. Her jazz roots run deep—growing up, she spent time with her cousin George Duke–but she made an early impression on the world music scene in the 1980s touring with Brazilian piano star Sergio Mendes and calypso legend Harry Belafonte. She’s earned an unprecedented five “best jazz vocal album” Grammy Awards and was named an NEA Jazz Master in 2018. It’s no surprise that when the time comes to launch a major new cultural institution, Reeves gets the call, like her inaugural performance at the famed Walt Disney Concert Hall, where she was also the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s first creative chair for jazz. In carving out a singular career Reeves has followed her muse with a repertoire far beyond the usual American Songbook standards. Drawing on her love of Brazilian music, Afro-Caribbean grooves, R&B, and pop, she applies her infectious and embracing jazz vision to songs by the likes of Bob Marley, Marvin Gaye, Joni Mitchell, and Ani DiFranco. In this rare duo performance, she’s accompanied by a Rio-born guitar master and frequent Healdsburg Jazz performer, Latin Grammy Award Winner Romero Lubambo, widely hailed as his generation’s finest Brazilian jazz guitarist. A true heir to the legacy of Billie, Ella, Sarah, and Carmen, Dianne has become a jazz legend by pouring all of her influences into the music.

Doors open 5:30pm

Location: Bacchus Landing

Tickets: $25 – $75

Tickets

9pm – 11pm: The Freedom Jazz Choir dir. Tiffany Austin & Gaea Schell Quartet
The Healdsburg Freedom Jazz Choir, led by Music Director Tiffany Austin, will perform an exciting program that represents compositions and arrangements by Tiffany Austin and Artistic Director Marcus Shelby that has been part of the choir’s repertoire for the past decade. In 2012, founder Jessica Felix, current artistic director Marcus Shelby, and current music director Tiffany Austin created a Sonoma county-wide choir called the Healdsburg Freedom Jazz Choir to unite the community using music. The choir is a free educational program that performs annually and continues to thrive under the leadership of vocalist, composer, and arranger Tiffany Austin. Their concert program for the 2023 Healdsburg Jazz Summer Festival will include spirituals, freedom songs, music made famous by Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington, and a funky rhythm and blues medley arranged by Tiffany Austin. The Healdsburg Freedom Jazz Choir rehearses monthly and promotes freedom, love, hope, and justice in its music.

Location: St Paul’s Episcopal Church

Tickets: $25

9pm – 11:30pm: Late Concert and Jam Session with Sylvia Cuenca Trio
San Jose-reared drummer Sylvia Cuenca had only been in New York City for a few months when Joe Henderson hired her for a European tour, starting a four-year working relationship with the tenor saxophone legend. She spent 17 years performing regularly with trumpet great Clark Terry, with whom she accompanied distinguished guest artists such as Al Grey, Red Holloway, Jimmy Heath, Frank Wess, Marian McPartland, Dianne Reeves, Joe Williams, and Lou Donaldson, to name a few. Now a deft bandleader in her own right, she plays a trio set of hard swinging blues-tinged modern jazz featuring Peter Horvath (piano) and Gary Brown (bass) before her group hosts an exciting all-star jam session featuring musicians in town for the festival in the beautiful club atmosphere of the Spirit Bar located in the Hotel Healdsburg.

The Spirit Bar is a favorite of locals and visitors alike, offering a menu of enticing small bites, craft cocktails and beer, and a broad sampling of wine.

Location: Hotel Healdsburg Spirit Bar

Sunday, June 25, 2023
10 am – 2pm.: Brunch Concert with Rob Reich & music in the outdoor wine tasting area
You can also enjoy jazz throughout the day, starting at Ferrari Carano’s Sunday brunch with world-class accordion player Rob Reich* and music in their outdoor tasting room

Rob Reich will be part of Ferrari-Carano’s Sunday brunch and he has performed in concert halls, circus tents, dance clubs, and chapels. He grew up in Long Island, NY, studying piano from age three. He graduated with a degree in music composition from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, where he studied with John Luther Adams and Pauline Oliveros. In 2000 he moved to the Bay Area, where he discovered the accordion, now his primary instrument. Mr. Reich’s music defies genre, combining strong melodic ideas, rhythmic drive, and a spirit of irreverence and experimentation. His many musical projects include serving as a long-time musical director for Circus Bella. He is also known for his work with Tin Hat & Gaucho. Mr. Reich recently released an EP of original music, Cloisters, available on Bandcamp.  

5pm – 7pm: Celebrating New Orleans
Ferrari-Carano is offering optional pre-concert experiences with Luxury Add-Ons by reserving seating inside the beautifully appointed Salon or outside in the luxurious Fontana Pergolas, with packages that include wine, food, a dedicated wine host, and additional festive New Orleans flair. Advance reservations are required for luxury add-ons through Ferrari-Carano , and seating is limited.

Ferrari-Carano Luxury Add-Ons:
Fontana Pergola seating for up to 8 guests
Exclusive Salon Table seating for up to 4 guests

Add-On Tickets

Dr. Michael White and his Original Liberty Jazz Band: Tribute To Sidney Bechet with Special Guest Big Chief Donald Harrison
Louis Armstrong usually gets the credit as jazz’s first great soloist, but before Satchmo, there was soprano saxophonist and clarinetist Sidney Bechet (1897–1959), a player so commandingly virtuosic that until the mid-1920s only Armstrong could contend with him as an equal. Dr. Michael White, a clarinetist and dynamic force on the traditional New Orleans jazz scene for over four decades, brings the Original Liberty Jazz Band featuring Big Chief Donald Harrison to celebrate Bechet’s music and legacy. As budding young players, Dr. White and Harrison first played together in the OLJB. Harrison went on to a celebrated stint in Art Blakey’s Jazz Messenger alongside Terence Blanchard, who became his co-leader in one of the 1980s definitive bands. Leading his groups since the 1990s, he honed his influential nouveau swing sound while his devotion to New Orleans traditions led to Harrison receiving the nation’s highest jazz honor in 2022, the A.B. Spellman NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship for Jazz Advocacy. A similarly distinguished New Orleans advocate, Dr. White has long championed Bechet’s music. This concert focuses on classics written or recorded by Bechet, including “Si Tu Vois Ma Mere,” “Egyptian Fantasy,” “Moulin A Café,” “Maple Leaf Rag,” “Blame It On the Blues,” and 1952 original “Petite Fleur” (which became an international pop hit for UK clarinetist Chris Barber in 1959).

Doors open 3pm

Location: Ferrari-Carano Vineyards and Winery

Tickets: $50 – $85

Tickets

Date: June 17 - 25, 2023

Location: Various Venues in Healdsburg, CA

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