WAYNESBORO—Renfrew Institute’s 24th annual Jazz Festival is scheduled for Sunday, August 30, from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. on the lawn behind the Renfrew Museum house in Waynesboro, Pa. The concert is free to the public. Free-will donations will be accepted.
This year’s concert will feature saxophonist Steve Grossman, singer JD Walter, guitarist Paul Bollenback, bassist Duylinh Nguyen, and drummer Steve Johns.
Steve Grossman is a legendary tenor saxophonist who has lived as an expatriate for many years, and splits his time between Europe and New York City. His absence from the U.S. jazz scene has only increased his mystique. He is still best known for being hand-picked by Miles Davis to replace Wayne Shorter in his great quintet in 1969—Grossman was just 18 years old at the time.
With Davis, Grossman is featured on six seminal albums from the early ‘70s, including Miles Davis Live at the Fillmore East, A Tribute to Jack Johnson, and Live Evil. He has also recorded six albums with Elvin Jones, four albums with the group “Stone Alliance,” and at least 24 albums as a leader. His appearance in Waynesboro is a rare opportunity to see this legendary musician perform live.
JD Walter is a jazz “singer’s singer,” known as a purist and an innovator. Respected and lauded by the great musicians of the contemporary circuit, JD has shared the stage with many legendary artists including: Dave Liebman, Billy Hart, Tom Harrell, Eddie Gomez, Bob Dorough, Nicholas Payton, Jean-Michel Pilc, Bill Evans, Mark Murphy, Greg Hutchinson, Ari Hoenig, Randy Brecker, Tim Warfield, Orrin Evans, Robin Eubanks, Eric Revis, Billy Drummond, and Don Bradon.
Walter has recorded seven CDs as a leader, many others as a sideman, and has been a featured artist at jazz festivals and clubs around the world. He has also performed and taught for the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Music Educators National Conference, the Sebelius Conservatory in Helsinki, Finland, Jazz Palau De Valencia in Spain, The Athenian Conservatory and Ionian Universities in Greece, the University of North Texas, New Orleans University, The Moscow Music Consort and the Kazan Music Conservatory in Russia.
Walter is a regular on the music scene in New York, having headlined at such venues as Lincoln Center, The Jazz Standard, The Blue Note, The Jazz Gallery, Joe’s Pub, The Tribeca Performing Arts Center, Sweet Rhythm and Smoke, and the famed 55 Bar. He currently resides in New York City, teaches at The Aaron Copland School of Music, The New School, and The Prince Claus Conservatory in Groningen, Holland.
Paul Bollenback (guitar) will be appearing at Renfrew’s Jazz Festival for the 21st time in 24 years. Each year that Bollenback returns he is teamed with a different group, including a headliner and rhythm section. Over the years, Bollenback has recorded eight albums as a leader. He has appeared on the Tonight Show, Good Morning America, the Today Show, and Entertainment Tonight, and has played with an impressive spectrum of musicians, including Joey DeFrancesco, Steve Gadd, Gary Bartz, Paul Bley, Charlie Byrd, Terri-Lyne Carrington, Herb Ellis, Geoffrey Keezer, Mike LeDonne, Joe Locke, Jack McDuff, James Moody, David “Fathead” Newman, Jim Snidero, Carol Sloane, Gary Thomas, Grady Tate, Stanley Turrentine, Jeff “Tain” Watts, and vocalist-composer Chris McNulty. He also plays in the group, “East Meets Jazz” with the renowned tabla virtuoso Sandip Burman.
Bollenback’s international and national touring schedule currently include appearances with Joey DeFrancesco, Mike LeDonne, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Gary Bartz, and Shunzo Ohno, as well as appearances with his own trio. Bollenback leads a dual life as an educator, with a long career teaching jazz at Columbia University, Peabody Conservatory, and Queens College, as well as the Litchfield, Skidmore, Prague and Bobby Durham summer jazz workshops. He recently began duties at Prince Claus Conservatory in the Netherlands. His 2014 recording on Mayimba Jazz Music, Portraits in Space and Time, features all original music in a trio setting and earned critical acclaim.
Bassist Dulylinh Nguyen is a Paris native who has been a mainstay on the Paris jazz scene for many years. He has worked extensively in France with saxophonists Pete King and Steve Grossman.
Steve Johns is one of the most dynamic and versatile drummers on both the New York City and international jazz scenes. Since the early 1980s he has performed and recorded with Sonny Fortune, Benny Carter, Billy Taylor Trio, Nat Adderley, Jimmy Owens, Stanley Turrentine, Jimmy Heath, Randy Brecker, Jesseye Norman, Dave Liebman, Ronnie Cuber, and many others
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. Additional support is provided by Franklin County Visitors Bureau, Hamilton Nissan and Hamilton Hyundai, and by 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 Middle School auditorium.
For more information call Renfrew Institute at 717-762-0373, or visit www.renfrewinstitute.org.
