Amina Figarova Sextet plays at Capital Ale House tonight at 7pm, presented by Richmond Jazz Society’s Guest Educators series.

From RJS:

Amina Figarova is one of Europe’s most talented Jazz composers and pianists.  Playing piano and composing at a very early age, Amina studied classical concert piano at the Baku Conservatory in Azerbaijan; Jazz performance at the Rotterdam Conservatory in The Netherlands; The Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA; and, was accepted into the prestigious Thelonious Monk Jazz Colony in Aspen, Colorado.

Greatly influenced by the music of Miles Davis, Horace Silver, Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, and Wayne Shorter, Amina has more than a dozen recordings to her credit.  She arranges for her sextet with her husband, multi-flutist Bart Platteau, who is central to the group’s three horn frontline.   Her arrangements make the sextet sound like an orchestra!

Read more and find information on tickets at vajazz.org

View event details

Semester after semester, trumpeter and VCU associate professor Rex Richardson puts on the hottest recitals around. The (practically) international superstar loads the events with the area’s finest musicians and often devotes them to pay tribute to a jazz figure. This time, the one being honored was Wayne Shorter.

Who went to his recital tonight? What did you think? Spill in the comments.

On Tuesday night, CenterStage will be bustling with activity that should be of interest to jazz-minded folk like you and I.

In the Carpenter Theatre, Modlin Center for the Arts presents the Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour. After a huge and very successful tour in 2007 that stopped at Richmond’s Landmark Theater, the MJF is coming back. The band features the nine-time Grammy-nominated and NEA Jazz Master Kenny Barron on piano, Grammy-nominated violinist Regina Carter, Grammy-winning guitarist Russell Malone, Grammy-winning vocalist Kurt Elling, bassist Kiyoshi Kitagawa, and Grammy-nominated drummer Johnathan Blake. View event details

The Jazz Composers Alliance (the same people behind Muse Creative Workspace in Shockoe Bottom) is presenting Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews & Orleans Avenue for their “JAZZ IS NOW!”: Pass the Torch Concert. The concert will take place in the Gottwald Playhouse, the blackbox theater that normally hosts plays and dramatic performances. Proceeds will benefit the Jazz Mentor’s Project, and Andrews will be giving a master class to the kids of the Richmond Youth Jazz Guild while here. You can learn a lot about him through his video EPK, where he labels his band “Super funk rock” and talks about growing up playing his horn in New Orleans’ Treme neighborhood. View event details