This year, for the fourth year, the TD James Moody Jazz Festival, one of the largest gatherings of jazz fans on the East Coast, showcases an all-star lineup of the country’s best musicians, with many more artists to be announced, held from Nov. 7-15, on and off the NJPAC campus.
Tony Bennett headlines this year’s festival with performances on November 12th and 13th; no one in American popular music has recorded for so long and at such a high level of excellence than Bennett. The festival is the site of one of three Frank Sinatra centennial concerts planned this season: The Real Sinatra Songbook, with a cast of singers recognized for their virtuosity on Broadway and beyond, on Nov. 9th.
The second installment of a new series, One on One with Christian McBride, brings Bruce Hornsby to the stage on Nov. 12th for music and talk. Renowned jazz makers Judy Carmichael, Dianne Reeves, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, Bill Charlap, the T.S. Monk Sextet and Dorado Schmitt & Django Festival All-stars are all on board. Festival-goers can expect the return of the always in-demand, Sunday brunch concerts at Dorthaan’s Place in NICO Kitchen + Bar, as well as performances by five of the crème-de-la-crème of female singers during the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition on the festival’s final day. And another centennial, this one in honor of Billie Holiday, is cause for celebration at Day of Swing, an afternoon packed with free family activities, on Nov. 14th.
Also included in this year’s TD James Moody Jazz Festival is the exhibition Jazz, Jews, and African-Americans: Cultural Intersections in Newark and Beyond, co-produced by NJPAC, the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers-Newark, the Jewish Museum of New Jersey at Congregation Ahavas Sholom, and WBGO Jazz 88.3FM, and presented in partnership with seven religious, educational and cultural institutions. This free exhibition, showing from Oct. 15 – Dec. 13 at the Jewish Museum of New Jersey, delves into some of the most fruitful and sometimes contentious relationships in jazz history through photos, documents and text.
