The annual Jazz n’ January weekend will open its 17th season at the famed resort Jan. 25-26 whipping up a two-night roux of Jazz gumbo that guests of all musical tastes will enjoy.
The Grammy-nominated Lars Edegran Orchestra New Orleans Music Show will open the event on Friday evening. A Swede by birth, Edegran found a new home in New Orleans in 1965 and has since become a master arranger, bandleader, talent scout, record producer and performer. A big fan of ragtime, big brass and blues, he’s recorded with numerous jazz greats such as Doc Cheatham, Arvell Shaw and Sammy Price.
Edegran received national acclaim when his soundtrack for Louis Malle’s film “Pretty Baby” was nominated for an Academy Award, and his orchestrations for the off-Broadway smash hit “One Mo’ Time” resulted in a Grammy Award nomination for the original cast album. The Lars Edegran Orchestra New Orleans Music Show will feature all genres born and still booming on Bourbon Street.
Saturday’s stage will feature the Nicholas Payton Quintet, who will highlight the unique sounds New Orleans’ jazz great, Louis Armstrong. Payton, a lifelong son of the Crescent City, will delight the crowd with his signature Grammy-winning trumpet whose range stretches from traditional to “Gumbo Nouveau,” a term he coined for his second album. His foundation is well known to jazz aficionados: a sumo wrestler sized tone, ear-popping high notes and seemingly boundless lyrical gifts.
Payton has also been nominated again for a 2002 Grammy for his "Dear Louis" CD, a tribute of course, to Louis Armstrong.
Information and reservations are available by calling (910) 295-6811 or on the web at www.pinehurst.com/specials/jazz.asp.Held the last weekend in January for the past 16 years, Jazz n’ January draws big-name jazz talent for two nights of fabulous music and good times. The event, which benefits the local Moore County Arts Council, has been a near sellout every year. It has featured such names as Marian McPartland, Ellis Maples, Toots Thielemans and Corky Hale.
