Franklin County Visitors Bureau invites the public to Renfrew Institute’s 26th annual Jazz Festival, scheduled for Sunday, August 27, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. on the lawn behind the Renfrew Museum house in Waynesboro, Pa. The concert features jazz greats, including Vincent Herring (alto saxophone), Conrad Herwig (trombone), Jared Gold (organ), Paul Bollenback (guitar), and Jeff “Tain” Watts (drums). The concert is free and open to free the public; donations are accepted.
Andrew Sussman, who founded the event and organizes it today, said, “I really am proud of what we have accomplished with the jazz festival since the first event in 1992. We always try, nevertheless, to make it even better each year. I wasn’t sure that would be possible after last year’s 25th anniversary concert, but I am excited about this year—it is going to be amazing!”
“Each one of these musicians is an internationally renowned jazz leader,” Sussman said, “and this is the first (and possibly only) opportunity to hear them play together—and it’s all free in beautiful Renfrew Park!”
Renfrew Park features 107 acres of hiking trails, history, and a chance to explore nature. The park includes a nineteenth century German farmstead. The Jazz Festival benefits Renfrew Institute for Cultural & Environmental Studies, which helps to connect people with the natural world and the rich cultural heritage of the region.
Support for this event was provided by lead sponsor, FirstEnergy Foundation on behalf of West Penn Power. In addition, Renfrew Institute receives state arts funding support through a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. Further sponsors include Franklin County Visitors Bureau, Hamilton Nissan and Hamilton Hyundai, and Renfrew Institute’s Today’s Horizon Fund contributors: The Nora Roberts Foundation, APX Enclosures, and The Carolyn Terry Eddy Family: Carolyn, with daughters Connie Fleagle & Kim Larkin. Facility support is provided courtesy of Renfrew Museum and Park.
Parking is available behind the visitors center, with additional parking in the lower lot off Welty Road. Those attending are encouraged to bring lawn chairs and blankets, and picnics are welcome. Rain site: Waynesboro Area Senior High School auditorium.
More About The Performers
Vincent Herring is a saxophone virtuoso with a uniquely intense and vigorous musical voice. He is considered one of the premier saxophonists of his generation. Herring first toured Europe and the United States with Lionel Hampton’s big band in the early 1980s. As he developed his musicianship working with Nat Adderley, a partnership blossomed that continued for nine years. Along the way he worked and/or recorded with Cedar Walton, Freddie Hubbard, Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Hayes, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, Horace Silver Quintet, Jack DeJohnette’s Special Edition, Larry Coryell, Steve Turre, the Mingus Big Band, Kenny Barron, Nancy Wilson, Dr. Billy Taylor, Carla Bley, and John Hicks. Herring has appeared as guest soloist with many artists and ensembles including Wynton Marsalis at Lincoln Center and John Faddis with the Carnegie Hall Big Band. While amassing these impressive credentials, Herring continued to develop his own voice and style. Inspired by a collage of diverse musical influences, Herring is also involved in jazz education and is currently on the faculty of William Paterson University. He conducts master classes and jazz workshops at conservatories and universities around the world. He performs regularly with his own groups and as a member of the Cannonball Legacy Band, led by Louis Hayes. For more info visit www.vincentherring.com.
New York-based jazz trombonist Conrad Herwig is considered one of the world’s complete jazz musicians, on top of both the performing and jazz educational fields, and with an abundance of composer and arranger credits as well. To date, he has released 20 recordings as a leader in addition to contributing to nearly 200 other recording sessions with some of the most notable artists in jazz. He has performed and recorded with Miles Davis, Joe Henderson, Eddie Palmieri, Tito Puente, Frank Sinatra, Joe Lovano, Tom Harrell, Clark Terry, Paquito D’Rivera, Jon Faddis, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Red Garland, Dave Liebman, Max Roach, Buddy Rich, the Mingus Big Band (often serving as musical director and arranger), and many others. Highly respected as an educator, Herwig is on the board of advisors of the International Trombone Association, is professor of Jazz Trombone, Jazz Improvisation, and Jazz Composition and Arranging at Rutgers University, and a visiting professor of Jazz Studies at the Juilliard School. Herwig has conducted master classes, seminars and workshops at major universities and conservatories around the world. (www.conradherwig.com)
Jared Gold (organ) has emerged as one of the New York area’s most in-demand musicians after years of dedication to his instrument. With a strong foundation built upon notable influences such as Larry Young, Jack McDuff and Don Patterson, Gold found his own voice and constructed his own unique musical philosophy based on extending harmony and solidifying the groove. Gold earned many accolades following the success of his seven CDs. In 2013, he won the Rising Star on Organ critics poll in Downbeat magazine. His latest release, Metropolitan Rhythm (2015, Posi-Tone), features his working trio of veteran guitarist, Dave Stryker and up-and-coming drummer, Kush Abadey. With undeniable talent plus versatility and musicianship on the bandstand, Gold has worked with many established veterans in the jazz world such as John Abercrombie, Dave Stryker, Oliver Lake, Ralph Bowen and David Gibson. A New Jersey native and graduate of William Paterson University’s jazz program, Gold maintains a busy schedule
of domestic and international tours, but still can often be found playing organ on the weekends in local churches. He also runs his self-started company, JG3 Tech, building folding portable midi organs and ultra-lightweight portable midi bass pedals. For more information, see www.jg3tech.com.
Paul Bollenback (guitar) started his career in music in 1981, and has performed as a sideman with a wide range of jazz luminaries, including artists as diverse as Stanley Turrentine, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Steve Gadd, Gary Bartz, David “Fathead” Newman, Terri-Lyne Carrington, Joe Locke, Jack McDuff, James Moody, Jim Snidero, Charlie Byrd, Herb Ellis, Paul Bley, Geoffrey Keezer, Mike LeDonne, Carol Sloane, Chris McNulty, Gary Thomas, Grady Tate, and in the group East Meets Jazz with the renowned tabla virtuoso Sandip Burman, to name a few. He is known for his versatility, and also for an influential 20-year stint with jazz organist Joey DeFrancesco. Bollenback has performed on more than 80 recordings as a sideman, and has released eight CDs as a leader. A busy performance schedule has been augmented since the late ’90s by steady jazz education duties at Columbia University, Queens College, and The New School. Bollenback is also a composer whose pieces have appeared on Joey DeFrancesco’s Reboppin, and on the Jazz Times Superband CD. His most recent recording with his trio, Portraits in Space and Time (Mayimba Music), was released in 2014. Bollenback resides in the New York City area. (http://mayimbamusic.com/artist/paul-bollenback)
Jeff “Tain” Watts (drums) holds the unique distinction of being the only musician to appear on every Grammy Award-winning jazz record by both Wynton and Branford Marsalis. He got the nickname “Tain” from Kenny Kirkland when they were on tour in Florida and drove past a Chieftain gas station. Watts has worked in the film and television industry as both a musician on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno for three years and as an actor, playing Rhythm Jones in Spike Lee’s Mo’ Better Blues. Watts performed and recorded with the Branford Marsalis Quartet from 1985 to 2009. He currently performs with his own groups, The Watts Project and the Jeff “Tain” Watts Quartet, as well as with McCoy Tyner and the George Cables Project. In 2007 Watts started his own record label, Dark Key Music, releasing Folk’s Songs in 2007, Watts in 2009 and Family in 2011. Terence Blanchard won the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Solo for Dark Key Music’s “Dancin’ 4 Chicken.” Watts writes most of the compositions on his own albums. He is a Pittsburgh Steelers fan and can be seen on the album cover of Branford Marsalis’s “Braggtown” with a Steelers “Terrible Towel.” (jefftain.bandcamp.com)