Club Critics' Picks Jazzmania 2011 feat. Chester Thompson, Beegie Adair Trio & Duffy Jackson in Franklin

Club Critics' Picks Jazzmania 2011 feat. Chester Thompson, Beegie Adair Trio & Duffy Jackson

If bookies had been taking bets back in 1998 on whether a jazz education facility would be thriving in Nashville 13 years later, odds would have probably been 5 to 1 against. A jazz school in the country music capital? Are you serious? But you don't want to bet against Lori Mechem and Roger Spencer - the husband-and-wife duo are both tireless musicians, educators and jazz ambassadors, and have turned their Nashville Jazz Workshop into a thriving institution where up-and-coming players get to learn from and perform with seasoned veterans, and where Nashville jazz fans can see terrific performances by local luminaries and national stars. For its annual fundraiser and concert, Jazzmania 2011, these NJW has whipped up a formidable show. Legendary drummer (and NJW instructor) Chester Thompson, who's played and recorded with Weather Report, Frank Zappa, Genesis and Phil Collins, will do a set with Mechem (piano), Spencer (bass), saxophonist Jeff Coffin, trumpeter Rod McGaha and percussionist Todd London. The fabulous Beegie Adair Trio will perform with guest vocalist Connye Florance. And jazz drumming stalwart Duffy Jackson, whose résumé includes work with (for real - we're not making this up) Lionel Hampton, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald and Stan Getz, will be hittin' the skins with an assortment of Nashville jazz heavyweights. — Jack Silverman

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