Christian Sands will return home this Saturday to headline an annual jazz concert on the Green — and, in the process, kick off a week full of more jazz.
Sands grew up in New Haven; he went on to play the Kennedy Center, make recordings, tour internationally, and snag a Latin Grammy nomination. Still in his 20s, Sands is headlining the annual New Haven Jazz Festival free concert Saturday, which runs from 6 to 9 p.m. Other performers on the main stage include the Mitch Frohman Quartet and the Neighborhood Music School Premier Jazz Ensemble.
Jazz Haven, the not-for-profit that runs the festival in conjunction with the city, uses that concert not as an end in itself, but as a spur to spreading the music throughout town all week. Starting Friday night, through Saturday night Sept. 3, jazz musicians will play at clubs throughout town, some in regular gigs, others in performances arranged as part of the jazz festival. The venues range from Fornarelli’s and Cave Vin to Toad’s Place, the Owl Shop, Three Sheets, and Stella Blues. See the full list and the full schedule here.
One new venue is Lyric Hall in Westville, where pianist Helen Sung performs solo this Friday night at 7:30 and 9 p.m. Jazz Haven hopes to begin a monthly jazz piano series there, festival coordinator Eric Murray said during an episode of WNHH radio’s “Dateline New Haven.”
Jazz musician and American music historian Allen Lowe — who organized an early version of the jazz festival in the 1990s —joined Murray on the program, where they discussed the local jazz scene and the state of jazz in general. Click on or download the above sound file to hear the full interview.
Lowe brought his saxophone to the program. Click on the video at the top of the story to watch him improvise in the studio.