JAZZ ON THE HILL
Special guest is Poncho Sanchez and His Latin Jazz Band. The free show will open with the Houston High School All Stars featuring Derrick Hodge, presented by a collaboration of the Monterey Jazz Festival and Texas Southern University.
Mayor Turner created Jazz on the Hill to promote music education and highlight national and local jazz artists.
“I’m thrilled to invite my fellow Houstonians to this memorable evening of jazz with world-renowned and budding artists on the same stage,” said Mayor Turner. “I’m equally proud to showcase this concert at Miller Outdoor Theatre, which hosts the largest always-free performing arts program of its kind in the country.”
KIRK WHALUM
Forged from his Memphis gospel roots and his 1980‘s initiation into the thriving Houston nightclub scene, Whalum’s big, rich tenor sax sound is unmistakably his own. Whalum has played for notable artists including Barbara Streisand, Al Jarreau, Luther Vandross, Larry Carlton, Quincy Jones and Whitney Houston. He can be heard on Houston’s iconic hit, “I Will Always Love You.” Whalum followed that career high point with his phenomenal hit album released on Warner Bros. Records, For You, perhaps the most successful of over 25 solo recordings to date. In addition to his many solo projects, he was also a member of the popular soul/jazz group BWB, which features him as the “W” of the group with Rick Braun (trumpet) and Norman Brown (guitar).
PONCHO SANCHEZ AND HIS LATIN JAZZ BAND
For more than three decades, Sanchez has created a combination of jazz and gritty soul music, with infectious melodies and rhythms from a variety of Latin American and South American sources. Born in Laredo to a Mexican-American family, Sanchez grew up in a suburb of Los Angeles, where he was raised on an unusual cross-section of sounds that included traditional jazz, Latin jazz and American soul. His album Latin Soul received a GRAMMY award for Best Latin Album of 1999, and he continued to release multiple albums throughout the next decade. With his latest project, Trane’s Delight, Sanchez continues to honor the giants whose music has helped shape his own, while building on the rich legacy they’ve left behind.
HOUSTON HIGH SCHOOL ALL STARS PRESENTED BY MONTEREY JAZZ FESTIVAL AND TSU
Additional performances will include the formation of a new educational partnership between KTSU Radio, Texas Southern University and The Monterey Jazz Festival led by jazz musician and national recording artist Derrick Hodge (artist in residence.) This has led to a music symposium with Houston-area high school jazz ensembles from Oct. 23 – 26, 2019. Top jazz students will be selected from schools such as Waltrip, Heights, Kinder HSPVA, Westbury, Kempner, Taylor, Westside, MacArthur and more to perform with Hodge at Jazz on the Hill. Hodge was signed to Blue Note Records in September 2011 and in 2013, his solo album, Live Today, was released with guest appearances by Common, Robert Glasper and vocalist Alan Hampton (“Holding on to You”). He has also worked with Floetry, Osvaldo Golijov, Anthony Hamilton, Gerald Levert, Donnie McClurkin, James Moore, Mos Def, Musiq Soulchild, Q-Tip, Jill Scott, Timbaland, and Kanye West. He has toured and recorded with Clark Terry, Mulgrew Miller, Terell Stafford, and Terence Blanchard.
All performances at Miller Outdoor Theatre are free!
This is a ticketed event for the covered seating area. Free tickets are available (4 per person over age 16 while they last) at the Miller Outdoor Theatre box office the day of the performance between the hours of 10:30 AM-1:00 PM. If tickets remain at 1:00 PM, the box office will re-open one hour before show time to distribute the remaining tickets.
As always, open seating on the hill.
The show goes on rain or shine.
Sponsors include: Miller Outdoor Theatre, KTSU 90.9FM, Texas Southern University, and Houston First.
For more information please visit www.houstontx.gov or www.houstonspecialevents.org.
Produced by the Mayor’s Office of Special Events.
