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Thursday, May 5
Huh? Why would a column about D.C. jazz carry a photo of one of the city’s historical sites, Decatur House on Lafayette Square near the White House? Why, I’m delighted that you asked. It’s because Decatur House is the site of one of D.C.’s least appreciated summer jazz traditions, Jazz on Jackson Place. On the first Thursday night in each month from May to September, the house museum (built in 1818 for a hero of the War of 1812) holds a jazz concert in its courtyard with wine and snacks—-music under the stars—-in a series that’s now in its sixth successful year. It opens once again this week, with a session led by the great D.C.-by-way-of-Russia violinist Matvei Sigalov: a classically trained but jazz-inclined and fusion-experimenting player. He’s joined by pianist Burnett Thompson, and a quartet drawn from Thompson’s New Columbia Swing Orchestra, at 6:30 p.m. at Decatur House, 748 Jackson Place NW. $25. Whoops! This show is May 12. Still worth your time, though!
Friday, May 6 The current gold standard of jazz tenor saxophone (since about the late ’90s) is Mark Turner. His successor as Most Influential Player, I’ll predict right here and now, is Marcus Strickland. The 32-year-old Miamian, who’s swept the industry’s up-and-coming-saxophonists awards, bears some of Turner’s most distinctive designs, as well as elements of John Coltrane and Wayne Shorter; Strickland’s sense of rhythm is something else, though. For one thing, his hometown is one of the world’s great hip-hop meccas, and he soaked those sounds up thoroughly. For another, his evolution as a musician has found him surrounded by drummers: His father was a jazz and R&B drummer; his twin brother, E.J., is a drummer; and two of Strickland’s most important and formative gigs were with Roy Haynes, jazz’s greatest living drummer, and Jeff “Tain” Watts, the greatest of his generation. On his own, Strickland navigates the postbop pathways opened up by Trane and Shorter, but he fuses it with the funky, tricky, hip-hoppy beats he learned in his upbringing and apprenticeships. He’s the future of the sax, you wait and see. On second thought, don’t wait and see. Go see him. Strickland performs at 7:30 p.m. at the Kennedy Center’s KC Jazz Club, 2700 F St. NW. $16.
Photo: Mamoru Kobayakaw
Saturday, May 7
Tuesday, May 10