Wilmington gives a warm welcome to all of the jazz lovers attending our 33rd annual North Carolina Jazz Festival! This historic city located on the bank of the Cape Fear River has many interesting shops, art galleries, museums and restaurants, as well as a movie studio, nearby beaches, plus Revolutionary and Civil War sites to explore during your days here.
We will fill your evenings with exciting performances by some of the greatest traditional jazz musicians from around the globe!
Thursday Night Showcase
Thursday night – our opening night event, featuring different styles of jazz, will showcase “jazz strings”. First on the evening’s entertainment list will be a duet by guitartist Bucky Pizzarelli (age 87) and violinist Jonathan Russell (age 17) – sometimes known as the dynamic duo of strings - This will be followed by Frank Bongiorno With Strings (a ten piece ensemble) paying tribute to “Charlie Parker With Strings.” After a brief intermission the ballroom will be filled with the sounds of New Orleans, as Banu Gibson’s Hot Jazz takes the stage. All-Stars performing with Banu will be David Boeddinghaus, Kevin Dorn, Dan Levinson, Kerry Lewis, Randy Reinhart, and David Sager. Click on their photos to learn more about them.
Friday and Saturday Nights
On these evenings we will feature our All-Star musicians in seven sets each night, and each set with a different leader, playing their versions of classic jazz tunes. Concerts start at 7:30 and go until midnight! Cash bar available in the concourse.
Our musicians this year hail from such diverse places as Australia, Italy, British Columbia, New Orleans, NYC , Maryland and New Jersey! We are pleased to have Rossano Sportiello back on piano, along with David Boeddinghaus. Our senior jazz anchor, guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli, will be joined by Jonathan Russell, our favorite young jazz violinist. On horns we will have another of our jazz anchors, Ed Polcer, plus Randy Reinhart, David Sager, and Bria Skonberg. Our Australian jazzman Adrian Cunningham will be joined by Dan Levinson on woodwinds. Bassists Nicki Parrott and Kerry Lewis, along with Kevin Dorn and Chuck Redd will make up the rhythm section – Chuck will double on drums & vibes. Our featured vocalist Banu Gibson is a NOLA lady who has a worldwide reputation with her “Hot Jazz”!
Patron Brunch:
On Saturday from 10:30 until 2pm we treat our patrons to a musical brunch, when all of our All-star musicians play for their pleasure while everyone enjoys a delicious brunch. During the last hour we have a “jam” when the patrons who are musicians have the opportunity to play with the All-stars. Fun for all!
