Litchfield Jazz Festival Announces it's 20th Anniversary Aug 7-9

    GOSHEN, CT, July 24, 2015 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Litchfield Jazz Festival makes its 20th appearance, starting Friday evening, August 7, and runs through August 9. The Litchfield Jazz Orchestra will open the fest with a musical tribute to Connecticut native Thomas Chapin. Chapin was a saxophone prodigy who became Lionel Hampton's music director at just 24 and tragically died of leukemia at 40 in 1998. He left behind a legacy of recordings and compositions that continue to inspire contemporary musicians.

Chapin appeared on both the first and second Litchfield Jazz Festivals. A film on his life entitled Night Bird Song-The Thomas Chapin Story by Emmy winner Stephanie Castillo will be premiered at the Festival on August 8 and also at Litchfield Jazz Camp, free to students and the general public, at 3PM on August 4 at Canterbury School, New Milford.

Friday's festivities begin with the traditional Friends of the Festival Party, where guests enjoy good food and vintage wines from Vandoren Vineyards in France, local microbrews from Half-Full and Yuengling and music by outstanding Litchfield Jazz Campers. Proceeds from the party and a silent auction available all weekend will support Litchfield Jazz Camp need-based scholarships.

The Friday evening headliner is a perennial critic's and fan's favorite, clarinetist/saxophonist, Anat Cohen and her Quartet. Cohen is making her second appearance at Litchfield.

Music continues on Saturday, from noon to nine, and on Sunday from noon till 6:30. Grounds open at 11. Fine art, photography crafts, food and beverage vendors, student stage concerts artist talks hosted by DownBeat, and Kids Zone activities round out the festival experience each day. Children 12 and under are free with an adult.

The Saturday lineup includes Avery Sharpe & The New England Gospel Choir in Sharpe Meets Tharpe, a tribute to the late, great 50s guitarist/vocalist, Sister Rosetta Tharpe; harmonica phenom Gregoire Maret, the heir apparent to the great Toots Thielemanns; Matt Wilson and Topsy Turvy band; trombonist Wycliffe Gordon; and guitarist Mike Stern, a veteran of Blood, Sweat & Tears, The Yellowjackets, and Miles Davis' band.

Sunday shows include a salute to one of the greatest drummers of all time Charli Persip. Still riding high at 86, Persip worked with Dizzy Gillespie, Billy Eckstine, John Coltrane, and others. The set features drummers George Schuller, Matt Wilson, Robin Baytas, and trumpeter Dave Ballou. Bassist Nicki Parrott appears next with Les Paul's Trio and special guest Bucky Pizzarelli. Trumpeter Sean Jones is making his first appearance at Litchfield and its teaching arm, Litchfield Jazz Camp. Chair of the Brass Department at Berklee College of Music, Jones will appear with pianist Orrin Evans, bassist Luques Curtis and drummer Mark Whitfield, Jr.

Bassist Christian McBride Trio will close this 20th anniversary of the Litchfield Jazz Festival with what Festival founder/ director, Vita Muir, thinks of as a stroll down memory lane: McBride was one of her "finds" on the Litchfield Festival's debut in 1996. That first fest also introduced Diana Krall, Terence Blanchard, Larry Goldings, Peter Bernstein, Mark Turner and other young artists who are now in the jazz pantheon. McBride, at the top of his form and fame with three Grammys to his credit at 43, is now mentoring other talented, upcoming musicians like his Trio bandmates New Haven native pianist Christian Sands and drummer Ulysses Owens, Jr.

Litchfield Jazz Festival is supported by the State of Connecticut DECD, the National Endowment For The Arts, New England Foundation for the Arts, Les Paul Foundation, Crystal Rock, DownBeat, Southbury Crowne Plaza, Steinway, Telefunken Elektroakustik, Republican American, Master Brands, Half-Full and Yeungling Breweries and others.

For tickets or more information visit us online at www.litchfieldjazzfest.com or call (860) 361-6285.

Litchfield Performing Arts (LPA) is a charitable organization founded in 1981 whose mission is the change lives through the arts. LPA does this through various programs including the Litchfield Jazz Festival, Litchfield Jazz Camp and Project Poetry Live!'

Litchfield Jazz Fest is held annually the second weekend in August at the Goshen Fairgrounds in Goshen. The festival does not just offer top-notch jazz music, but is a true outdoor summer experience for the entire family. From a sell-out Opening Night party and three days of the best jazz, artists talks, children's workshops, after parties, to a juried fine art and craft show and local foods. The festival has been a destination in Connecticut since 1996.

The Litchfield Jazz camp, the educational arm of the Jazz Festival, which runs for four weeks leading up to the festival. More than 350 students (12 and up) enroll from all over the United States and abroad for one-to-five weeks of total immersion in jazz with professional jazz musicians like Don Braden (music director), Avery Sharpe, Matt Wilson, Dave Stryker, Helen Sung and more.

During the school academic year, LPA runs an inter-district arts residency program called Project Poetry Live!, bringing poetry, music, dance and visual art together for school age students.

# # #