Houston Jazz Festival
This is a homecoming for native Houstonian Hubert Laws who is a 2011 NEA Jazz Master’s recipient and triple Grammy nominee. A founding member of The Jazz Crusaders, Laws studied at Julliard and under the tutelage of Julius Baker before going on to play with the MET Opera and the New York Philharmonic. Comfortable in a wide range of music styles Mr. Laws has recorded or played with Herbie Hancock, McCoy Tyner, Nancy Wilson, Quincy Jones, Paul McCartney, Paul Simon, Aretha Franklin, Ella Fitzgerald, Lena Horne, Leonard Bernstein, Stevie Wonder, J. J. Johnson, Kathleen Battle and Jessye Norman.
Opening the festival will be one of the last great Texas tenor saxophonists, Shelley Carrol and the Houston Jazz Collective featuring Mark Simmons, Andre Hayward, Tim Ruiz, and Bobby Sparks. With 17 Grammy awards between them, this supergroup of Texas native musicians perform as a traditional organ trio, honoring Houston’s rich legacy of blues-based jazz. . Carrol has is a 30 veteran of The Duke Ellington Orchestra and has recorded or performed with Sheryl Crow, Whitney Houston, Roger Waters, Marla Gibbs, Maureen McGovern, Marchel Ivery, Kirk Whalum, Tony Bennet, Roy Hargrove, Fingerprints, Phyllis Hyman, Nancy Wilson, Joe Williams and a host of others.
The set design features the sculptures, drawings, collages and paintings of critically acclaimed visual artist Jesse Lott. Known for his wild, frenetic lines in both his sculpture and drawings, predominantly from found material. The movement and energy in his works pairs perfectly with the every-changing fluidity of the music on stage. His work is in the permanent collections of and has been exhibited in major museums and universities in Texas and throughout the South as well as in the private collection of prominent collectors.
The Houston Jazz Collective is an organization that prides itself on showcasing the rich legacy of Jazz in Houston. We strive to accomplish this by producing and hosting cultural, jazz and tribute related events. Past events have featured critically acclaimed Houston based or native Houstonian musicians that have gone on to achieve great international notoriety.
All performances at Miller Outdoor Theatre are free!
This is a ticketed event for the covered seating area. Free tickets are available (4 per person over age 16 while they last) at the Miller Outdoor Theatre box office the day of the performance between the hours of 10:30 AM-1:00 PM. If tickets remain at 1:00 PM, the box office will re-open one hour before show time to distribute the remaining tickets.
As always, open seating on the hill.
The show goes on rain or shine.
Produced by The Houston Jazz Collective
