CHESTERTOWN — The Chestertown Jazz Festival, now in its 28th year, is Saturday, Sept. 7 from noon to 6 p.m.
With the venue of Wilmer Park, the festival has the fitting tagline of “Jazz by the River.”
There will be food, wine and beer vendors; no coolers, containers or pets allowed.
The festival headliner is guitarist David Stryker with a quartet featuring Baltimore native Warren Wolf playing the vibraphone.
The lineup includes local favorite Sylvia Hackett Frazier and the Anointed Vessels, Prince-Rodgers Grateful Jazz and Brent Birckhead.
This is a rain or shine event.
Tickets are $40 in advance, $50 at the gate. The cost is $15 for festival-goers under 21, and free for those under 12.
For ticket information, call the Garfield Center for the Arts at 410-810-2060 or see www.garfieldcenter.org.
Printed here is information provided in a news release.
• Dave Stryker is a preeminent jazz guitarist, as attested to by some 15 appearances as a top placer in the DownBeat Critics and Readers polls, plus 35 albums as a leader and many more credits as a sideman. He is also a fine composer whose music has been recorded by many others, most notably saxophonist Stanley Turrentine. He has made innumerable appearances at Birdland Jazz as well as jazz venues around the globe.
Collaborating with vibraphonist Warren Wolf, the quartet was recently featured at the 2024 Birks Jazz Fest.
• Sylvia Hackett Frazier has been involved in the local music scene all her life. In her earlier years she performed with The Blacketts, and later with the late Jazz Johnson’s Band, plus various groups including The Melonaires and Nia, under the direction of Marlon Saunders.
Frazier is known for bringing together talented singers and musicians to create, notably, the 100 Voice Choir that was in high demand during its 10-year-run.
Over the decades, collaborating with her late husband Bill Frazier to created S&B Productions, Sylvia Frazier produced gospel music festivals and fundraisers, and performed at countless church services and social gatherings.
The Anointed Vessels now include several former members of Frazier’s earlier groups.
• Prince-Rodgers Grateful Jazz consists of Prairie Prince, Bobby Lee Rodgers and Ella Rodgers.
Prince is the brother of Leslie Raimond, director emeritus of the Kent Cultural Alliance.
Guitarist, singer and songwriter Bobby Lee Rodgers has a background in many musical styles including jazz. He was a young instructor of jazz studies at Berklee College of Music, and he enjoys fusing jazz with rock, funk and blues as well as performing with tribute bands. He is known for his unique interpretations of musical greats such as Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Wes Montgomery.
Bobby Lee’s latest musical endeavor is a collaboration with his 17-year-old daughter Ella Rodgers, incorporating her exploration of her favorite musical styles of the singers and musicians of ragtime, boogie-woogie and hot jazz of an earlier era.
Prairie Prince also has a foundation in jazz, counting Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich as his earliest drum influencers, from enjoying listening to his sisters’ record collection of the 1950s jazz giants. Known for his powerful drumming in the rock-world (The Tubes, Journey, Todd Rundgren, Phil Lesh, XTC) Prince is looking forward to this collaboration with Bobby Lee and Ella Rodgers to develop a unique jazz sound.
• Howard University-educated Brent Birckhead, named “Best Alto Saxophonist” by Washington City Paper, has performed and toured with legendary artists including Lauryn Hill, Nas, Wale and Eric Benet.
He is currently an adjunct professor of saxophone at Morgan State University, Baltimore.
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On Friday, Sept. 6, The Mainstay in Rock Hall will usher in the Chestertown Jazz Festival with a special appearance by jazz/R&B singer Ronnie Leigh, an Albany, New York native and six-time SAMMY (Syracuse Area Music Award) winner who is a member of the SAMMY Hall of Fame.
Leigh is Jazz In The City’s co-founder and artistic director, and also serves as artistic director for Fayetteville Jazz.
A headliner at jazz festivals and major concert stages, he has opened for or played with a range of performers, including Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Smoky Robinson, David Sanborn, The Yellow Jackets, Spiro Gyra, Jon Hendricks and Etta Jones.
Friday’s show begins at 8 p.m.
Ticket price is $20.
For more information, see www.mainstayrockhall.org or call 410-639-9133.