Next Gig: Monday, July 27, at Blues Alley in Washington, D.C.

With Benjie Porecki, Paul Langosch, Bruce Swaim and Francis Thompson

I’m more than a little excited to announce that I’ll be performing at Blues Alley, Washington, D.C.’s most prestigious and historic jazz club, on Monday, July 27 (sets at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.). Please block out your calendar and click here now to reserve seats. Oh, and feel free to bring at least 30 of your closest friends. 

Just as exciting, I’ll be playing that night with some of the most in-demand musicians in this area and beyond: Benjie Porecki on keyboards, Paul Langosch on bass, Francis Thompson on drums and Bruce Swaim on sax and flute.  

Founded in 1965 and located in Georgetown, Blues Alley is the nation’s oldest continuing jazz supper club, having showcased internationally renowned concert hall artists such as Dizzy Gillespie, Sarah Vaughan, Nancy Wilson, Grover Washington Jr., Ramsey Lewis, Charlie Byrd, Maynard Ferguson and Eva Cassidy in a small intimate setting that’s reminiscent of the jazz clubs of the 1920s and ’30s.

For a sense of what you might hear, click here to listen my album, “In Case You Missed It,” on your favorite music stream. 

Benjie is celebrated for his mastery of the B-3 organ, piano, and guitar, blending jazz, blues, funk, country, reggae, and R&B. He has released six acclaimed solo albums and collaborated with artists such as Carlos Santana, Chaka Khan, and Patti LaBelle. His most recent albums, “All that Matters,” and “Faster Than We Know,” have drawn critical acclaim and performed well on national jazz charts. 

Paul has played throughout his career with many jazz greats, most notably Tony Bennett, with whom he toured and recorded regularly for more than 20 years. His credits also include engagements with Phil Woods, Tal Farlow, Al Cohn, Mose Allison, Zoot Sims, Barney Kessel and Herb Ellis, Mose Allison, Johnny Hartman, Bud Shank, John Hendricks, George Shearing, Rosemary Clooney, Mel Torme, Susanna McCorkle and Conte Candoli.

Francis, who directs the percussion program at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, has recorded and performed for years in the D.C. area with saxophonist Davey Yarburough, vocalist Esther Williams, pianist Dan Reynolds, vocalist Pam Parker and the Latin jazz group Caribe Son and South African group Mahala. 

Swaim, who has won two Wammy Awards for Jazz Instrumentalist of the Year from the Washington Area Music Association’s, also performed at BET, The Millennium Stage at The Kennedy Center, Blues Alley, Wolf Trap, DAR Constitution Hall, Strathmore, The Ramshead, The National Gallery of Art and The White House, among many others.

I hope you can make it to Blues Alley on July 27. I think you will be happy you ddid. I know I will be.  

Thanks, 

Jeff

Photo by Aude, taken on May 7, 2006. – Own work, CC BY-SA 2.5,