BRATTLEBORO — The Vermont Jazz Center is kicking off its new season of concerts by presenting a three-night Fall Festival from Sept. 18 through 20.
All events will take place at the Vermont Jazz Center, 72 Cotton Mill Hill.
On Friday, Sept. 18, at 8 p.m., the VJC presents renowned flutist, Jamie Baum and her Septet. They will be performing Indian and Pakistani-influenced music filtered through Baum's jazz aesthetic.
On Saturday, the 19th, Steve Wilson - claimed by NPR to be “one of the finest saxophonists in the business” - will present his quartet, Wilsonian's Grain, in an 8 p.m. concert celebrating the release of its new CD: Live in New York, the Village Vanguard Session.
The fest concludes Sunday, Sept. 20, at 4 p.m. as vocalist Rebbeca Holtz will host a benefit concert for the VJC and the New England Center for Circus Arts (NECCA) scholarship fund. This event will celebrate the release of Holtz's debut jazz EP Take Me There. It will feature a live circus performance, music with three different bands, and dancing.
NECCA artists Yemma May and Ben Kaufman will start with a duo acrobatics performance. Holtz will then take the stage singing with her Indy-folk band The Once Hollow with Jon McAuliffe and Jeremiah Millay. She will then play material from her Jazz EP with Jun Iida (trumpet), Eugene Uman (piano), Chris Robinson (bass) and George Robinson (drums).
To end, she will sing with her party/dance band, Funky Public Radio, which includes a combination of the aforementioned musicians in addition to Ben Levergood on electric guitar.
Holtz will be moving to San Francisco within the next month and is using this concert as a way to say goodbye to her numerous friends in the jazz and circus-arts communities.