Jazz at the Lake Continues September 16

Shephard Park provides the perfect location for the Jazz at the Lake music festival in Lake George Village.

This is a three-day event starting Friday, September 15 to Sunday, September 17, 2023

A crown jewel in the fall season of outstanding festivals and celebrations in the Adirondacks, Jazz at the Lake is one of the East Coast’s premier jazz events.

Day two is filled with a slate of acclaimed musicians performing at the amphitheater in Shephard Park on Lake George’s shoreline. It’s a terrific venue for live music and enjoying the beauty of the Adirondacks.

10 am — Coffee and Jazz

• Consult the Jazz at the Lake page on the Lake George Arts Project website or visit their Facebook page for current information about performers

1 pm — Naya Baaz: Rez Abbasi and Josh Feinberg at Shephard Park

• These accomplished musicians bring their brilliant blend between two extraordinary musicians, both of whom have achieved a rare level of mastery in demanding musical traditions from opposite sides of the globe.

• Recent Guggenheim Fellow Rez Abbasi has built a formidable reputation as a guitarist who combines his love of jazz with an international array of influences from South Asia and beyond.

• Josh Feinberg is one of a handful of Western musicians to excel at the challenging legacy of the Hindustani sitar, specializing in the Maihar Gharana style from North India, and also a jazz bassist who studied with Paul Bley and Dave Holland.

2023 Jazz at the Lake Poster, courtesy Lake George Arts Project.

3 pm — Aubrey Johnson Group at Shephard Park

• Aubrey Johnson is a New York-based vocalist, composer, and educator who specializes in jazz, Brazilian, and creative contemporary music with and without words.

• She released her debut album, Unraveled, of her own compositions and arrangements, produced by Steve Rodby of the Pat Metheny Group, on Outside In Music in 2020. In 2022, she released Play Favorites, a duo album with pianist Randy Ingram, on Sunnyside Records. She currently teaches in the Jazz Department at Montclair State University, and in Jazz Masters Program at Queens College in New York City. She has also held faculty positions at the New England Conservatory and Berklee College of Music.

5 pm — Jared Schonig Quintet at Shephard Park

• Grammy-Award-winning drummer, composer and bandleader Jared Schonig has toured and/or recorded internationally with some major composers and musicians, such as Dave Grusin, David Foster, Wycliffe Gordon, Tom Harrell, Joe Locke, and Ernie Watts, among others. 

• A favorite among vocalists, Schonig has toured with Grammy Award-winners Kurt Elling, TKristen Chenoweth, Cynthia Erivo, Katherine McPhee, and singer/songwriter Donna Lewis, in addition to rising vocal supergroup Duchess, Spencer Day, Laila Biali and Shayna Steele.

• He has performed around the world, from sold-out shows at Carnegie Hall to festivals in Zimbabwe. Schonig co-led The Wee Trio, which released five critically acclaimed albums over the past 8 years.

• Schonig is a fixture in both the jazz and Broadway scene; he recently held the drum chair for the critically acclaimed Tony, Grammy and Emmy-award-winning Broadway Revival of The Color Purple and is currently playing drums and percussion for the 10-time Tony-winning Moulin Rouge! The Musical.

8 pm — Jane Bunnett and Maqueque

• Jane Bunnett is a five-time Juno Award winner, the Canadian version of the Grammy’s, placing in the Top 100 Juna Award winners (Joni Mitchell only won four Junos).

• As a bandleader, she showcases the finest musical talent from Canada, the US, and Cuba.

• She has been nominated for three Grammy Awards, received The Order of Canada, The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal, and, most recently, The Premier’s Award for Excellence.

• With Maqueque, Bunnett has created something new and phenomenal in the world of jazz. What started out five years ago as a project to record and mentor young brilliant Cuban female musicians has become one of the top groups on the North American jazz scene. ms.

For more information, check out the Jazz at the Lake page on the Lake George Arts Project website. Or visit their Facebook page for current updates and other helpful information.

Check out events for Day One on September 15 and Day Three on September 17.

 

While you’re there, enjoy these other nearby venues and attractions.