Blue Note Jazz Festival

Schedule:

1:00 pm: The Music Of The Buena Vista Social Club - A Tribute To The Golden Age Of Cubaat Blue Note Jazz Club

The Music Of The Buena Vista Social Club - A Tribute To The Golden Age Of Cuba
Francois Wiss, Damian Quiñones, and Danny Valdez are proud to present their unique renditions of the many hits of the Cuban legends of the Buena Vista Social Club. They will perform all the beloved classics of Ibrahim Ferrer, Eliades Ochoa, Ruben Gonzales, and of course Compay Segundo, but also some hidden gems from their repertoire, blended with accents of flamenco and World music, offering a fresh take and their vision on these timeless tunes.
 
Francois Wiss is a French-American musician and producer based in NYC for the past two decades. Born in Paris in 1973, and brought up in a family of musicians, he studied with maestros such as Terry Fleming, Juan del Gastor, El Mati, Belaïd Aït Adbdallah, and Pierre Culaz. His unique style of guitar playing is inspired by flamenco, North African, Latin, World music, jazz, and psychedelic rock. From the edgy scene of Camden Town in the 90’s, to Andalusia, and the Americas, Francois Wiss has always been looking for inspiration in the music played out on the street, improvising, sharing, and jamming with strangers and people met along the way. This is how innovation meets tradition; and how the old ways of street musicians, which are still very alive in La Havana today, are both preserved and constantly reinvented.
 
Damian Quiñones is a multi-instrumentalist and a virtuoso Cuatro player. Born and raised in the Bronx, he draws inspiration from the timeless sounds of 60's rock and roll, Nuyorican funk, tropicalia, and Afro-Caribbean rhythms. Quiňones released four albums, and his latest creation, "Sleight of Hand in the Material Realm” came out in 2022.
 
Percussionist Danny “Conga” Valdez is nothing short of a prodigy, who showed his disposition for music and taste for percussion at a very young age. A Long Island native, Valdez has performed with countless artists worldwide and is now one of the most prominent and sought- after percussion players in NYC.
 
The rich repertoire of the Buena Vista Social Club, brimming with poetry, humor, and rhythm, provides an ideal canvas for spontaneous improvisation and genuine expression of emotions. Wiss, Quiñones, and Valdez, alongside several guest performers, extend a heartfelt invitation for you to join them in experiencing and cherishing that singular and enchanting moment together.

8:00 pm & 10:30 pm: Souliveat Blue Note Jazz Club

Soulive
Soulive has never made any bones about what they do best; it's right there in their name. Since forming in 1999, the trio of guitarist Eric Krasno, drummer Alan Evans and keyboardist Neal Evans has carried the torch for the soul-jazz organ trio - that venerable, funky institution pioneered by the likes of Jimmy Smith, Brother Jack McDuff and Groove Holmes in the late '60s. Rest assured, when the Evans brothers first brought Kraz by their Woodstock studio, there was plenty of old vinyl spread out on the floor.

In their 20 years together, Soulive has followed the muse in the direction of hip-hop, R&B, blues and rock, collaborating with the likes of Chaka Khan, Dave Matthews, Talib Kweli, John Scofield, Derek Trucks, Maceo Parker, Susan Tedeschi, Robert Randolph, Joshua Redman, Kenny Garrett, Fred Wesley, The Roots, Ivan Neville and so many others, even going so far as to record a full album of covers by The Beatles (Rubber Soulive). But, no matter how they push the limits of the organ trio, they always come back to their bread and butter: blistering solos and grooves that don't quit.