Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild 2013-2014 Concerts

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MCG Jazz is thrilled to announce our 27th annual jazz concert season. The series begins on July 12, 2013 with three summer concerts, two at Robert Morris University's Sewell Center in July and August and one at The Hillman Center for Performing Arts at Shadyside Academy in September. MCG Jazz' subscription concert series kicks off September 28, 2013 and runs through May 3, 2014, showcasing over 20 headlining artists ranging in diversity from Joshua Redman to Diane Schuur to Brad Mehldau to the Pittsburgh Jazz Orchestra with Freddy Cole. The series is comprised of 17 subscription concerts and a special opening "Jazz Legends Party" on September 28, 2013 honoring 20 Pittsburgh Jazz Legends and a special concert by Ahmad Jamal.

After a successful joint venture to present Pat Metheny Unity Band, Robert Morris University and MCG Jazz have partnered again for Summer 2013 to present two concerts. On July 12, Dave Koz and Friends Summer Horns Tour 2013 with special guests Mindi Abair, Gerald Albright and Richard Elliot. The second concert at the Sewell Center on the RMU campus will be Poncho Sanchez Latin Jazz Band on August 9.

"All We Are Saying" Bill Frisell Explores the Music of John Lennon featuring: Greg Leisz, Rudy Royston, Jenny Scheinman and Tony Scherr will be the first time MCG Jazz will partner with The Hillman Center for Performing Arts at Shadyside Academy. On Saturday, September 7, western Pennsylvania's newest cultural venue will live up to is mission to present programs of excellence that represent Pittsburgh's cultural traditions while celebrating global, artistic innovation when it presents Frisell.

During MCG Jazz annual subscription in 2013-2014 several groups are celebrating milestones such as Gary Burton's 70th Birthday tour with the New Gary Burton Quartet, Take 6's 25th anniversary tour, Paul Winter Sextet's 50th anniversary of their performance at the White House, Newport Jazz Festival Now 60, Bobby Watson & Horizon's 30th anniversary tour and Ramsey Lewis's Sun Goddess tour. From groups celebrating milestones to artists who are new to performing at MCG Jazz we bring you the British guitar ensemble, Acoustic Alchemy, Spanish Harlem Orchestra, Kevin Eubanks and Latin Jazz Master Chucho Valdes.

MCG Jazz is excited to welcome back Bob James and David Sanborn but this year touring together for the first time. Also returning to MCG Jazz will be native son, Allan Harris in a special presentation honoring generations of male jazz vocalists with The Gentlemen Sing: Three Generations of Song.

Joining Harris will be Philadelphia born Ernie Andrews and a yet to be discovered new male jazz vocalist. MCG Jazz will be conducting a nationwide search for that new, next young singer who will have the opportunity to take the stage with his forerunners. Details on the selection process and how to audition will be forthcoming this summer. And, finally, to close the concert series, MCG Jazz is honored to present Cassandra Wilson for her MCG Jazz debut.

MCG Jazz Legends Party 2013
featuring Ahmad Jamal and the Pittsburgh Jazz Legends Saturday, September 28, 2013

An exclusive presentation by acclaimed Pittsburgher and NEA Jazz Master, Ahmad Jamal, is the feature of this year's celebration. MCG Jazz will induct the new class of Pittsburgh Jazz Legends, adding them to an honor roll of artists who have made Pittsburgh their home. Dinner, drinks and special presentations and guest appearances including the 13 surviving Pittsburgh Jazz Legends and the five new awardees on stage, make this evening a not-to-be-missed unforgettable experience.

The MCG Jazz Pittsburgh Jazz Legends are:
Don Aliquo Sr.
Charles "Chuck" Austin (d. 2012)
Harold Betters
Cecil Brooks II
Frank Cunimondo
Joe Dallas
Nelson Harrison
Roger Humphries
James Johnson Jr.
Gene Ludwig (d. 2010)
Art Nance
Joe Negri
George "Duke" Spaulding
J. Warren Watson
John Wilson

Special Features
Dave Koz and Friends Summer Horns Tour 2013
with Special Guests Mindi Abair, Gerald Albright and Richard Elliot

Friday, July 12, 2013 at Robert Morris University's Sewell Center
A celebration of the instrument that has fueled some of the world's best‐loved songs, promises to be one of the high points of the summer concert season. Koz – hailed by The New York Times as "a musician of unflappable rhythmic aplomb, which he happily squares against the airtight funk of his band" – will be joined by Mindi Abair, featured saxophonist on the 2011 and 2012 seasons of "American Idol" who joined Aerosmith on their 2012 Summer Tour; Gerald Albright, known for his renowned solo recordings and performances with Anita Baker, Whitney Houston, and The Temptations; and Richard Elliot, a former member of Tower of Power who has since forged a successful solo career.

Poncho Sanchez Latin Jazz Band
Friday, August 9, 2013 at Robert Morris University's Sewell Center

For more than three decades as both a leader and a sideman, conguero Poncho Sanchez has stirred up a fiery stew of straight-ahead jazz, gritty soul music, and infectious melodies and rhythms from a variety of Latin American and South American sources. His influences are numerous, but among the more prominent figures that inform his music are two of the primary architects of Latin jazz – conga drummer and composer Chano Pozo and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie. Sanchez pays tribute to these two titans on his most recent release, Chano y Dizzy!, his 25th recording as a bandleader on Concord Picante. For the first time, Sanchez and Francisco Torres, long time band member (trombone/vocals), join forces to produce the new album. If music were about pictures, Poncho's music would best be described as a kaleidoscopic swirl of some of the hottest colors and brightest lights to emerge from either side of the border. At any given show, on any given record, fragments of Latin jazz, swing, bebop, salsa and other infectious grooves collide and churn in a fiery swirl, with results that are no less than dazzling.

"All We Are Saying" Bill Frisell Explores the Music of John Lennon
Featuring Greg Leisz, Rudy Royston, Jenny Scheinman and Tony Scherr
Hillman Center for the Performing Arts, Shadyside Academy Saturday, September 7, 2013

Bill Frisell assembles a trusted ensemble consisting of Greg Leisz (guitars), Jenny Scheinman (violin), Tony Scherr (bass) and Rudy Royston (drums) to present his take on the classic songs of John Lennon. The project had long been in the works—one could go as far back as the first time he heard The Beatles at the age of 13. Fast forward a few decades and Frisell was asked to put together a performance in honor of Lennon as part of a special event in Paris. The arrangements and interpretations came to fruition with this project on the release All We Are Saying... (Savoy Jazz) “This is a glorious hymn to the art of playing together, of which Lennon would surely approve." - The Independent (London)

MCG Jazz 2013-2014 Subscription Series Concerts
The New Gary Burton Quartet, 70th Birthday Tour Saturday, October 5, 2013

Gary Burton and the New Gary Burton Quartet showcase the new rock stars of the jazz world: the astounding wunderkind guitarist, Julian Lage; Pat Metheny’s favorite drummer, Antonio Sanchez; and up-and-coming bassist, Scott Colley. This Quartet meets “On Common Ground” to present a new project of the same name. With interesting time signatures, lyrical and buoyant new tunes and some hot arrangements of standards like “My Funny Valentine”, Gary says that this group really clicks. They’ve quickly become a hot ticket in New York and, according to Gary, “[are] proving to be one of the standout bands of my career.” MCG Jazz is so excited to see Gary Burton and band and celebrate Gary’s 70th birthday.

Take 6 Friday, October 11, 2013
Take 6 celebrates their 25th anniversary with a brand new tour full of new arrangements, great storytelling and their unbeatable and unmistakable harmonies. Take 6 (Claude McKnight, Mark Kibble, Joel Kibble, Dave Thomas, Alvin Chea and Khristian Dentley), heralded by Quincy Jones as the ‘baddest vocal cats on the planet!’ is the quintessential a cappella group and model for vocal genius. Six virtuosic voices united in crystal clear harmony, against a backdrop of syncopated rhythms, innovative arrangements, and funky grooves that bubble into an intoxicating brew of gospel, jazz, R&B, and pop.

Bob James, David Sanborn featuring Steve Gadd Friday, October 25, 2013
Two of the seminal figures in contemporary jazz in one hot concert! 27 years after the release of ‘Double Vision’ (their million selling Grammy Award-winning collaboration), David Sanborn and Bob James, are collaborating again! In 2013 they will record and release their second album scheduled for release in May. Don’t miss these two influential and timeless artists share the stage in what will surely be an amazing night of jazz at its very best.

Paul Winter Sextet Friday & Saturday, November 8 & 9, 2013
The Paul Winter Sextet 50th Anniversary celebrates the group’s invitation from First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy to play at the White House. The Sextet’s performance in the East Room on November 19, 1962, happened to be the first-ever jazz concert in the White House. Their recently released 50th Anniversary Anthology features 12 never-released tracks, a selection of which you will hear in these awe-inspiring 2 nights.

Acoustic Alchemy Thursday, November 14, 2013
For nearly 25 years, Acoustic Alchemy has pushed the limits of the acoustic guitar’s potential by embracing a spectrum of musical styles ranging from straight-ahead jazz to folk to rock to world music and beyond. In the two and a half decades since the

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