By David Manson
The St. Petersburg Jazz Festival
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February 23-27
Palladium Theater
Details here
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In late February, we will have our 13th annual St. Petersburg Jazz Festival. The event is produced by the longtime Pinellas County nonprofit organization, EMIT. This year, the Palladium Theater is a partner. I am the director of the St. Petersburg Jazz Festival.
It was never my plan to be a presenter of concerts or to direct a nonprofit organization. I just wanted to play the trombone, compose and lead a simple life. That was a pipe dream!
When I returned to this area in 1989, I found that there were few opportunities to hear (much less perform) music that was of interest to me. I like modern jazz, Latin jazz, new classical, experimental, sound art, interactive and electro-acoustic music.
I also saw incredibly dedicated and talented musicians struggling to survive in an environment where there were few opportunities for them to perform and grow as artists. Yes… I said artists. I consider creative musicians to be artists worthy of respect.
With the help of similar-minded musicians and supporters of music, the nonprofit EMIT was formed in roughly 1995 and has consistently presented concerts and educational events. We do not have a building or a massive number of staff members. We are “lean and mean” and prefer to channel most of our income back to the artists that we present.
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EMIT presents adventurous music and educational activities including the St. Petersburg Jazz Festival, Recording Arts Program (RAP) with Boys & Girls Club students at the Royal Theater in South St. Pete, the new EMIT Latin Jazz Fest (in the summer) as well as concerts during the year.
During its 25 years of service, EMIT has programmed over 500 concerts, classes and music workshops. In addition to the outside artists programmed on EMIT events, EMIT is also dedicated to supporting local talent. During the past 16 years, EMIT has placed over $240,000 in the hands of area musicians.
We are fortunate to have support this year from the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Arts and Culture, Florida Council on Arts and Culture, City of St. Petersburg, Pinellas Community Foundation, HomeLight, St. Petersburg Arts Alliance and Creative Pinellas. The 2022 St. Petersburg Jazz Festival is also funded in part by a grant from South Arts in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.
The artists and groups represented in the 2022 St. Petersburg Jazz Festival are very diverse in style, but they all share the EMIT focus on virtuosity, innovation and creativity.
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The Lineup. . .
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O Som Do Jazz with Rafael Pereira,
Jose Valentino Ruiz & Andrea Moraes Manson
Wednesday, February 23
7:30 pm
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O Som Do Jazz opens the St. Petersburg jazz Festival with samba, Bossa Nova, MPB, balanço and Baião with Rio de Janeiro singer Andrea Moraes Manson, Latin Grammy recipient and multi-instrumentalist Jose Valentino Ruiz (flute) and special guest Rafael Pereira (percussion). Rafael’s performing resume includes the Grammys, SNL, David Letterman and Arsenio Hall with artists such as Janelle Monae, Prince, India Arie, Bruno Mars and many more.
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O Som Do Jazz features Rio de Janeiro singer Andrea Moraes Manson, Jose Valentino Ruiz, Jeremy Douglass, Alejandro Arenas, Mark Feinman and David Manson. With three CDs, placements of their original music on HBO and Fox and performances on the Miami International Jazz Fest and Clearwater Jazz Holiday, O Som Do Jazz is the premier Brazilian jazz group in Florida.
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Best of Blue Note
with the James Suggs/Austin Vickrey Sextet
Thursday, February 24
7:30 pm
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The Blue Note record label (established in 1939) is responsible for releasing many significant, influential and iconic jazz recordings in the history of the genre. From Bebop in the ‘50s to Hard/Post Bop and Soul Jazz of the ‘60s and ‘70s, Blue Note continues to be a driving force in jazz.
This concert will feature music composed by some of the most prominent and prolific Blue Note jazz artists including Horace Silver, Art Blakey (The Jazz Messengers), Freddie Hubbard, Wayne Shorter, Lee Morgan, Herbie Hancock and more, with a program including songs such as “Moanin’,” “The Sidewinder,” “Speak No Evil” and other notable jazz compositions.
Trumpeter James Suggs and saxophonist Austin Vickrey lead this concert with an incredible lineup of musicians. They bring with them trombonist Derrick Harris, pianist John O’Leary III and bassist Alejandro Arenas of local jazz ensemble La Lucha, and professor, percussionist and outstanding drummer David Hardman.
Suggs and Vickrey both perform in a variety of ensembles regularly throughout the Tampa Bay area. Their combined credits include performing with jazz greats such as Kenny Burrell, Kenny Garrett, Joshua Redman, Maria Schneider, Bob Mintzer, Curtis Fuller, John Clayton, Houston Person and many others.
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RADIOJazzHEAD
Friday, February 25
7:30 pm
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From their birth as an underground project for musicians from the St. Louis Symphony, RADIOjazzHEAD explores the fusion of ‘90s rock with jazz in a postmodern jazz orchestra setting.
The wunderkind of saxophonist/composer Pete Carney, RADIOjazzHEAD is a 12-piece orchestra with vocals dedicated to Radiohead and their super friends from the ‘90s. Chicago singer/trombonist Frederick Johnson adds soulful lead vocals to the project.
Other musicians include Naima Barake, Savannah Brady, James Suggs, Clark Gibson, Rebecca Zapen, Chris Barbosa, Tom Kersey, Travis Lewis, Adam Mannes, Hiram Hazley and Mark Feinman. With a string quartet, horns, rhythm section and video images, this concert features rock anthems from Thom Yorke, Beck, Cobain, Portishead, Soundgarden and Radiohead with a serious jazz twist.
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Emma Hedrick with the Helios Jazz Orchestra
Saturday, February 26
7:30 pm
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“Totally engaging performances, very expressive. Enormous talent here.”
– DownBeat magazine adjudicator
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Rising star Emma Hedrick is a four-time DownBeat award-winning, vocalist, composer and arranger. The 21-year old Indianapolis native is currently a vocal jazz performance major at the Frost School of Music in Miami.
Emma was a finalist in the International Ella Fitzgerald Vocal Competition and performed in the Telluride All-Stars Ensemble at the Telluride Jazz Festival in Colorado in 2018. She was the selected vocalist for the Aspen Summer JAS Academy directed by Christian McBride in 2020. Emma has also headlined at various venues including Indy Jazzfest (NextCon) and The Jazz Kitchen.
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The 18-member Helios Jazz Orchestra is directed by Dr. David Manson (me). The big band has performed at the Clearwater Jazz Holiday, Ybor Jazz Fest, WMNF Jazz Fest and has backed singers Kevin Mahogany, Alexis Cole, Kathy Rosins, Fred Johnson and many other guest vocalists.
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Chris Dingman Trio
Sunday, February 27
7:30 pm
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Chris Dingman is a vibraphonist and composer known for his sonically rich and expansive approach to the instrument, bringing listeners on a journey to a beautiful, transcendent place merging jazz and global influences. This music has a healing property so needed in these difficult times.
Dingman has been profiled by NPR, the New York Times, DRUM magazine and many other publications, and has received fellowships and grants from Chamber Music America, the Doris Duke Foundation, New Music USA and the Herbie Hancock Institute (formerly the Thelonious Monk Institute).
Dingman has done significant work with legendary artists Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter as well as next generation visionaries such as Jen Shyu, Ambrose Akinmusire, Steve Lehman and many others, performing around the world including in India, Vietnam, and extensively in Europe and North America.
Hailed by the New York Times as a “dazzling” soloist and a composer with a “fondness for airtight logic and burnished lyricism,” the fluidity of his musical approach has earned him praise as “an extremely gifted composer, bandleader, and recording artist.” (Jon Weber, NPR). Chris is joined by stellar Miami artists Carlo DeRosa on bass and Rodolfo Zuniga on drums.
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The St. Petersburg Jazz Festival is sponsored by
the nonprofit EMIT at the Palladium Theater
mainstage and the Palladium Side Door.
Ticket information is at mypalladium.org.
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Find out more about the artists here.
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Percussionist Rafael Pereira will be giving a free Brazilian Percussion Workshop on February 22 at St. Pete College, open to all. Find the details here.
