Tierney Sutton©Andrea Canter

(Tierney Sutton) “A serious jazz artist who takes the whole enterprise to another level.”--New York Times

From Wisconsin to Berklee to the Oak Room, Tierney Sutton’s career has been on a steady upward trajectory. Considered one of the most accomplished singers on the modern jazz scene, Sutton's recent Grammy-nominated Joni Mitchell project, After Blue, inspired her current tour with cellist Mark Summer, who appears on the album with Sutton and his Turtle Island String Quartet colleagues. On July 31st, Sutton, Summers and Parisian guitarist Serge Merlaud, celebrate Mitchell as well as re-arrangements of standards and Summer's solo repertoire at the Dakota in downtown Minneapolis.

Jack DeJohnette Trio

Widely regarded as one of the great drummers in modern jazz, Jack DeJohnette has a wide-ranging style that makes him a dynamic sideman and bandleader. He has played with virtually every major jazz figure from the 1960s on, including Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Ornette Coleman, Sonny Rollins, and Abbey Lincoln. Ravi Coltrane (son of John and Alice) has taken a remarkable journey over the past two decades, collaborating with jazz greats from McCoy Tyner to Joe Lovano, Ralph Alessi, Geri Allen and Jeff ‘Tain’ Watts. Electric bassist Matthew Garrison (son of Jimmy) has recorded and appeared with some of the most exciting artists in jazz,  including Joe Zawinul, John McLaughlin, and Herbie Hancock. The Jack DeJohnette Trio will appear at Dinkelspiel Auditorium in Satanford on July 27th and at Kuumbwa Jazz Center in Santa Cruz on July 28th.

Wynton Marsalis

The festival that started it all will be celebrating its 60th year on August 1, 2 & 3, 2014. The Newport Jazz Festival has long been considered by jazz musicians to be one of the highlights of the summer festival season, so it should be no surprise that for this landmark 60th anniversary, the festival is hosting an abundance of musical riches. The festival has showcased a “Who’s Who” in jazz since 1954. Numerous artists have recorded live albums there, and the 1958 festival was the subject of the iconic, groundbreaking documentary film, Jazz on a Summer’s Day. All the festivals in the world, large and small, renowned and obscure, owe a debt of gratitude to The Newport Jazz Festival.

The Branford Marsalis Quartet headlined Mears Park Friday Night © Andrea Canter

The totally free "three-day" 2014 Twin Cities Jazz Festival really got its start in early June with the first of three Jazz in the Library gigs. The Saint Paul-centered event really expanded across the entire state as the festival-sponsored Jazz Central All-Stars launched a 3-month, six-city tour in late May. The festival's Lowertown/Downtown venues pushed beyond their usual boundaries to follow the new LRT Green Line along University Avenue, with six new "jazz stops" easily accessible via free rides on Light Rail. Names like Marsalis, Reeves and Krown shared raves with the likes of Aldana, Lea and Hagedorn.  With four active outdoor stages, more than two dozen additional club and concert venues, and more than 120 sets of music, an audience of over 20,000 enjoyed nearly three days of fabulous summer weather and endured one evening of torrential rain, forcing the final sets into alternative club spaces, with standing (or dripping) room only. The shows, nearly every set, went on without missing a beat, contributing to one of the most memorable jazz festivals in the event's sixteen-year history.

Stairway to the Stars

I live in Minnesota, pianist/psychiatrist Denny Zeitlin lives in California, yet I feel like I have been his patient for years.  Listening to a Zeitlin recording is surely the equivalent to an hour on his couch without a co-pay--alternately relaxing, provocative, and refreshing. And while his latest release, Stairway to the Stars, was recorded over a decade ago with his then-new trio with Buster Williams and Matt Wilson, the music has lost none of its power to intrigue and endure.

New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NPAC)

The New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark has become a major go-to venue for jazz lovers in the New York/New Jersey/Connecticut tri-state area, with a year-round schedule of jazz performances. Just some of the artists to appear recently at NJPAC include Bill Charlap, Geri Allen, Terri Lyne Carrington, Esperanza Spalding, Bernie Williams, Hilary Kole, Freddy Cole, and Audra McDonald (who just won a history-making sixth Tony award for her portrayal of Billie Holiday). NJPAC also continually hosts events dedicated to up-and-coming young artists.