According to Victor Goines, Jazz St. Louis president and CEO, the theme promotes elevating musicians on stage and through educational programs for future Jazz generations.
“The organization will uplift and inspire youth through Jazz Academy and JazzU, and with the help of classrooms across the region, students will interact with touring professional artists throughout the week before the artists perform on stage,” Groines said in a release.
The season kicks off with saxophonist David Sanborn, and follows up with Grace Kelly, and beloved veteran St. Louisans the Yellowjackets!
Ferring Jazz Bistro at the Harold and Dorothy Steward Center for Jazz in the Grand Center Arts District will feature pianists Peter Martin, Bill Charlap, and Billy Childs with special guests Sean Jones and St. Louis native Alicia Olatuja.
Also scheduled to perform during the 2023-24 season are vocalists Rene Marie and Luciana Souza, trombonist Wycliffe Gordon, trumpeter Marquis Hill, saxophonists Camille Thurman and Sherman Irby, clarinetist Anat Cohen, bassist Carlos Henriquez, drummers Terri Lyne Carrington and Herlin Riley, and vibraphonist Jason Marsalis.
The holidays include the return of A Very Manley Holiday featuring Jim Manley’s Mad Brass & Rhythm, Denise Thimes’ Swingin’, Soulful Holiday, Soul Train award winner Nicole Henry, Ellington’s Nutcracker played by the Jazz St. Louis Big Band, and Jazz St. Louis will bring in 2024 with New Year’s Eve with Victor Goines & Friends.
Keyon Harrold returns in November for a weekend of shows, before closing the season with performances of music dedicated to his work. Harold’s three-year commitment as JSL’s first creative advisor, supported by the Mellon Foundation, ends at the close of the season.
"It will be an exciting season with something for everyone,” said Goines. “Jazz St. Louis is thrilled to raise the vibe this year with exciting returning artists Grace Kelly, Yellowjackets, and Anat Cohen; National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Jazz Masters Terri Lyne Carrington and Jason Marsalis.
“We will also welcome first-time leaders in the venue including Carlos Henriques; and a host of others.”
Goines has also had a productive summer leading into the 23-24 Jazz St. Louis season.
He performed his 13-movement work, The Woodlawn Suite, at the Lincoln Center on July 13, 2023, which celebrates the lives of prominent New Yorkers now at rest at the historic Woodlawn Cemetery.
Commissioned by the Woodlawn Conservancy to create a modern memorial, Goines composed the biographical sketches that link listeners to the lives of those who transformed American culture.
“The Woodlawn Suite represents an opportunity to pay homage to American leaders who made significant contributions to American society that rest at Woodlawn Cemetery,” said Goines, a native of New Orleans and former member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.
“‘The New Orleans Function,’ a dirge and up-tempo song, commemorates all who have departed this world and gone to a better place. The closer in this 13-movement work, ‘Woodlawn’, is a reminder of how peaceful and comforting the cemetery and its history are and will continue to be.”
In addition to its live performances, the season will also have recorded shows aired on “The Next Set: From Jazz St. Louis,” which will be broadcast at 8 p.m. Fridays and Sundays on KWMU 90.7 FM St. Louis Public Radio.
For concert dates, purchase tickets, and learn more about the 2023-24 season visithttps://jazzstl.org/.