At the end of October, I let you know that Exodus to Jazz was going on a hiatus to regroup a bit, but that there were two ETJ shows that would definitely go on. The first of those is coming next weekend on Saturday, January 26th at Hochstein Performance Hall and it will be saxophonist (actually multi-instrumentalist...) Grace Kelly and her Quintet Quartet. 

Grace Kelly is well known to Rochester audiences from her appearances at the Rochester International Jazz Festival in 2010 and 2011, moving from the Montage to Kilbourn Hall. Only 19 (or 20) and playing sax since the age of 9, Kelly is a prodigy who does a little bit of everything in her music. In addition to playing saxophone (alto, soprano and a bit of tenor) and other instruments with chops that players twice (and thrice) her age would envy, Kelly sings, writes, and arranges in a wide range embracing beyond jazz (although deeply rooted in it) into blues, funk, rock and contemporary styles. Her talent resulted in a number of opportunities to play with jazz legends like Lee Konitz, with whom she recorded Gracefullee in 2008 and Phil Woods, with whom she recorded the Man with the Hat album in 2011 (affiliate links). 

So here's the skinny on the concert on Saturday:

• Where: Performance Hall, Hochstein School of Music, 50 N. Plymouth Ave., Rochester, NY.
• Time: 8:00 pm, doors open at 7:00 pm. There will be two one-hour sets with 20-minute intermission.
• Ticket Prices: Advance Sales: Patron- $40; Premium- $30; General Admission- $25. At the Door: Patron- $42; Premium- $32; General Admission- $27. 
• Where to get em: Until the day of the show: At all Wegmans stores (Rochester, Buffalo, Syracuse); online at Brownpapertickets.com; and at Hochsteing beginning 7:00pm on the night of concert.

Here's Grace Kelly's Quintet with her arrangement of Summertime at the 2011 XRIJF performance in Kilbourn Hall:

And here's her Quintet live at the Rockport Music Jazz Festival in September of last year:

Come on folks, come out on Saturday and show your support for bringing such talent to Rochester to supplement the already rich supply of jazz talent! I'll be looking for you....