Jazz at the Proms this year includes an appearance for the first time by avant-garde alto saxophone master and composer Anthony Braxton who joins the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and the Aaron Diehl trio in a programme that explores 100 years of American jazz and encompasses a performance of Mary Lou Williams’s Zodiac Suite as part of an Ellington, Williams and Braxton prom on 15 August.
Other jazz related content this year includes a major tribute to ''the divine'' Sarah Vaughan - Sassy- featuring Lizz Wright entitled If You Could See Me Now (28 July), the BBC Concert Orchestra and conductor Guy Barker joined by the Georgia born jazz vocals great of our times Wright who was inspired by the 1965 released Sarah Sings Soulfully version of the Ric Marlow-Bobby Scott classic 'A Taste of Honey' that Wright herself went on to record for her stunning 2005 album Dreaming Wide Awake.
Appearing too in the Proms Sassy tribute are Marisha Wallace, Lucy-Anne Daniels and Cherise, the UK Anita Baker influenced jazz singer known for her work on the Downtown Abbey film and for hosting A Great Day in London, in this must-hear Vaughan celebration scheduled for 28 July and to be broadcast live on BBC Four.
Also this year are the UK premiere of Wynton Marsalis' 'Herald, Holler and Hallelujah' (4 August) and a premiere of Jacob Collier's 'World O World' on 7 September plus an appearance by the great Tuareg group Tinariwen (28 Aug) playing the desert blues.
Runs from 19 July-14 September at the Royal Albert Hall, London and venues around the UK. Tickets go on sale on 18 May. Anthony Braxton, graphic: BBC
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