The Greenbelt Jazz Festival will be held on Saturday, October 14 starting at 1 p.m. at the Roosevelt Center and from 8 to 11:30 p.m., in the New Deal Café.
Five different groups, ranging in style, will perform. Big Band Tradition starts with a big bang at 1 p.m. This fullsized, seasoned jazz orchestra plays songs of the big band era by the likes of Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington, Harry James, Count Basie and Bennie Goodman as well as postwar groups like Stan Kenton, Woody Herman, Sammy Nestico and Brian Setzer, with an emphasis on the full gamut of ballroom dance rhythms.
Next up is the Not Too Cool Trio featuring Mike Grasso on trumpet. Their tasteful straightahead sound has accompanied brunch at the New Deal Café for several years (check them out every second and fourth Sunday). Finishing the outdoor proceedings and starting roughly at 5 p.m. is Brilliant Corners, whose name comes from both a Thelonius Monk song title and the fact that they are one of the house bands at the Corner Lounge in Davidsonville. Leader Bill Freed, drummer Wyman Lester and bassist Kwame Mfume have also appeared at the New Deal Café. Lester and Mfume play with Pete Reppert for jazz brunch weeks alternating with Not Too Cool. Brilliant Corners likes to blend modern jazz standards with funk and even go-go and will invite selected soloists in the spirit of the jam sessions they frequently host.
For more information on this program, see the article in the paper by clicking here.