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They say a man’s “soul” is his spiritual essence. Life’s twists and turns can lift that soul high into the sky or send it crashing to the ground below. Unfortunately, 2023 started with the latter for Will Downing, following the unexpected and soul-crushing loss of daughter Aron Siobhan Downing in January. As a father, he was devastated…heartbroken. As an artist, he sought solace and comfort through his craft…facing the hurt head-on and exploring multiple themes of love to begin the healing. Persevering through the pain Downing is poised to finish the year with his soul rising…literally! The Prince of Sophisticated Soul is ready to share his 7- song masterclass in triumph over tragedy, Soul Rising!
Celebrating an insane 35 years in the “bizness” and 27 Albums to his credit Will Downing will not be stopped! Flexing on his international appeal, the lead single "What Part of My Love" shot to the top of the UK Soul Chart Top 30 and parked there. Those who no longer listen to new releases as the collective work it was intended to be, should make an exception in this case. Although not a "concept" album, the pieces of Soul Rising fit together beautifully as a single statement and should be enjoyed as such. We all know the about the smoothness, but there's a brand-new kind of...dare I say..."Funkiness", that I think is here to stay!
Make no mistake...Will Downing didn't forget the "smooth" that made the Man the Myth the Legend! Nor did he abandon his world-famous knack for what he affectionately calls "interpretations" of classic hits.
There will be no Sittin’ In session prior to this concert
Tickets: Gold Circle $75Orchestra/Front Loge $65Rear Loge $55
Composer and drummer Dan Pugach brings his big band to Shea for the very first time this summer, featuring music from his 2025 GRAMMY® Award-winning album Bianca Reimagined: Music for Paws and Persistence, featuring Nicole Zuratis. This adds to his growing list of awards as a composer, which include ASCAP Foundation Jazz Composer Award, and the BMI Charlie Parker Composition Prize. He also played drums on the 2024 GRAMMY® Award-winning album How Love Begins. Pugach, who was born in Isreal and has spent time in Rio de Janeiro and Boston before moving to our area, also leads a nonet, which along with his big band, performs in well-established NYC venues and at international festivals and performing arts centers.
General Admission: $20 (includes $3 ticket fee)Series Subscription: $75 Summer Jazz Pass (Includes all 5 Summer Jazz concerts for one low price and total savings of $25. Jazz Pass must be purchased before the first show on Monday, July 21, 2025.)
Born and raised in Havana, pianist, composer and Guggenheim Fellow Manuel Valera is a well-established NYC musician. He has collaborated as a pianist and composer with artists such as Arturo Sandoval, Paquito D’Rivera, Brian Lynch, Dafnis Prieto, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Jeff “Tain” Watts, John Benitez, Samuel Torres, Yosvany Terry, and classical violin virtuoso Joshua Bell. Valera has released 18 albums as a bandleader including with New Cuban Express, a trio, the New Cuban Express Big Band, and playing solo piano works. Along with the Guggenheim Fellowship in 2019, he has been awarded three Chamber Music America New Jazz Works grants, two Dranoff International Piano Foundation commissions, and the ASCAP Young Jazz Composer Award. He has performed in more than 30 countries at some of the world’s most prominent international venues and festivals.
Named “Best Jazz Group” at the 2019 New York City Reader’s Jazz Awards, Sounds of A&R (S.O.A.R.) is the creation of the husband-and-wife duo, vocalist April May Webb and trumpeter Randall Haywood. Both are rising artists: Webb won the 2024 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition, while Haywood was recognized as the "Male Rising Star" at the Hot House and Jazzmobile NYC Reader's Jazz Awards. They have represented the United States as Cultural Ambassadors and have received a grant from Chamber Music America. Their third studio album, Questions Left Unanswered, reached #12 on the National Jazz Week charts and was featured in Jazz Week’s Top 50 Jazz Albums of the Year.
One of today’s best-known tenor saxophonists, Dayna Stephens is an in-demand bandleader and sideman, lauded for his lyrical style and rhythmic explorations as both a player and composer. Raised in the Bay Area and educated at Berklee College of Music and the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, he was the first-place recipient of the 2019 DownBeat Critics Poll in the Rising Star–Tenor Saxophone category. Over the past fifteen years, the prolific Stephens has released thirteen albums under his name, including his latest release Hopium and his 2024 album Closer Than We Think. He has toured and recorded with many renowned artists such as Kenny Barron, Julian Lage, Gerald Clayton, Linda Oh, Ambrose Akinmusire, and Al Foster. Stephens teaches at the Manhattan School of Music and William Paterson University.
Wycliffe Gordon is one of today’s most outstanding trombonists. A composer and arranger as well, he has been in the limelight since 1988 when he joined the Wynton Marsalis Septet and subsequently the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. Currently, Gordon tours the world as a soloist and with his own group; in 2018 he represented the US on State Department tour to Sri Lanka where he premiered a piece written for Sri Lanka’s 70th anniversary. He has 21 CDs as a leader, has been named the Jazz Journalist’s Association’s Trombonist of the Year 13 times and Downbeat’s Critic’s Poll six times. Recipient of numerous awards and honors, Gordon has an extensive catalog of original compositions, and his arrangement of the theme music of NPR’s “All Things Considered” is heard daily around the globe. He is also a committed music educator, serving as Director of Jazz Studies at Augusta University.
