Wexner Center's Fall Jazz Series Kicks off September 24

Columbus, OH—The Wexner Center’s fall jazz series begins September 24 with Joe Lovano and Dave Douglas. Presented in our intimate Performance Space, the best room for jazz in town, these shows will offer an ideal hybrid of concert-quality sound and a cool club atmosphere. The intimate cabaret-style set-up allows concertgoers to experience, up close, some of the leading jazz musicians and innovators on the scene today.

Tickets for each individual performance cost $16–18 for members, and $18–22 for the general public and can be purchased online at tickets.wexarts.org, at the Wexner Center Ticket Office, or by phone at (614) 292-3535.

 

Joe Lovano and Dave Douglas Quintet: Sound Prints

Featuring Lawrence Fields, Linda Oh, and Joey Baron

Sept 24 | 7 & 9 pm

Deep-toned saxophonist Joe Lovano, adventurous trumpeter Dave Douglas, and their all-star quintet get this jazz season off to an especially strong start. Both Lovano and Douglas are superlative composers with a longstanding admiration for each other’s talents. They are also not shy about sparring with each other in the front line of this band inspired by the music of jazz master Wayne Shorter (the group’s name is a nod to Shorter’s “Footprints”). This ensemble also includes up-and-coming pianist Lawrence Fields, bassist Linda Oh, and drummer Joey Baron.

>> Joe Lovano’s official website

>> Dave Douglas’s official website

 

Mehliana

Featuring Brad Mehldau and Mark Guiliana

Oct 23 | 8 pm

Acclaimed jazz keyboardist Brad Mehldau returns to the Wex in a special collaboration with drummer/percussionist Mark Guiliana. The two team up to explore fresh dimensions in jazz-funk with slinky dance grooves injected into the mix of their heady freewheeling sound. From flashes of 1970s future funk to traces of the most contemporary electronic club sounds, this duo builds on the solid foundation of harmonic and melodic invention that has long informed Brad Mehldau’s approach to jazz and his enthusiasms for electronica, folk, and rock artists as varied as Radiohead, Nick Drake, and Soundgarden. Tickets for this performance are already moving fast.

>> Brad Mehladu’s official website

 

Byron Stripling Quartet

Featuring Bobby Floyd

Nov 22 | 7:30 & 9:30 pm

These two sets led by charismatic jazz trumpeter Byron Stripling—artistic director of the Columbus Jazz Orchestra—reach back to the music of some of his early inspirations (among them Lee Morgan and Kenny Dorham) to illuminate how the blues roots of jazz were vibrantly present in the music that sprang from bop. With Bobby Floyd grooving on the Hammond organ, Dan Faehnle on guitar, and Jeff Hamilton manning the drums, Byron Stripling will delight his many local fans in this intimate showcase for his talents as a thrilling player and skilled bandleader. This show is programmed in conjunction with our Blues for Smoke exhibition. Tickets are moving fast. Jazz Arts Group members receive Wexner Center member pricing on tickets.

>> Byron Stripling’s official website

 

Bill Frisell’s Big Sur Quintet

Featuring Eyvind Kang, Hank Roberts, Rudy Royston, and Jenny Scheinman

Dec 3 | 8 pm

Adventurous guitarist and composer Bill Frisell, a longtime Wex fave, returns with his latest project steeped in the Americana spirit. The Big Sur Quintet performs selections from the vast array of original music inspired by the sweeping landscape of Big Sur in California that Frisell composed during a creative residency commissioned by the Monterey Jazz Festival. Frisell evokes a remote and pastoral setting with deftly interwoven strands of chamber jazz, country, new classical, and folk music. Immerse yourself in the sound pictures Bill Frisell and the Big Sur Quintet summon, rich in detail and color, exquisitely shaded and resonant.

>> Big Sur official website