Programming Highlights

There’s contrast between the intimate vocal sound of Ms. Parlato and the smokin’ hot all-star Cookers playing music by band members Billy Harper and Cecil McBee, at a long-running outdoor festival just north of New York City.

The 20th Anniversary Caramoor Jazz Festival takes place July 25-27, 2013.

In February 2012, Congress put a temporary end to a divisive fight over extending unemployment benefits that left Massachusetts unemployed workers with at least a 57- week extension on their unemployment benefits.

As Worcester Mag reported at he time, “Problem is, say local organizers, no one consulted with the unemployed before taking the vote."

“What’s going on with unemployment, it’s a very deep and broad problem and it’s receiving very little attention,” the WoMag article quoted Chris Horton as saying. “His work with the Worcester Anti-Foreclosure Team has kept him involved in the plight of the un- and underemployed.”

“There was a lot of pressure behind the scenes, but the media coverage made it look like an afterthought. It was the kind of vote we were afraid of,” the WoMag article quoted Grace Ross as saying.  She’s another WAFT member and author of the book Main Street $marts, a study of the most recent economic and foreclosure crisis.

As WoMag noted, “for Ross and Horton, the spin hurt the hardest. As the economy shows signs of recovery, including claims of a national 8.3 percent unemployment rate, they say there’s less focus on joblessness because the statistics sound comparatively rosy. Unfortunately, that 8.3 percent misses tens of thousands of unemployed who don’t fit the federal government’s definition.”

My guest, Grace Ross, is also an organizer for the Worcester Unemployment Action Group.

"The trombone comes the closest to the human voice with its bent pitches, scoops, and smears, and that very human quality is evident in everything that [James Weldon] Johnson wrote," says Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra  trombonist Chris Crenshaw.  Crenshaw  draws on his gospel roots to connect  secular music to poetry in this sprawling suite based on the James Weldon Johnson poem.

As the keyboardist for the trio Medeski, Martin, & Wood, John Medeski has brought jazz & fusion to rock audiences for more than two decades. He recently began playing solo piano performances in venues world-wide. This week Medeski joins host Jon Weber to perform new pieces from his solo piano album as well as a surprising duet or two.

At first blush, this Jamaican pianist seems an unlikely leader to honor a “king” and a “chairman of the board.” But Monty Alexander discovered jazz at a Nat King Cole concert and played his first New York gig at Sinatra’s old haunt called ‘Jilly’s’. Alexander offers fresh, inventive readings on “Sweet Lorraine,” “Come Fly with Me” and more - with vocalists James DeFrances and Allan Harris.

French singer Mina Agossi draws on opera, hip hop and jazz to create her unique approach to the Great American Songbook.