Award-winning bands and artists including Miles Electric Band and Ravi Coltrane will headline this year’s Tbilisi Jazz Festival, as the event is set to coincide with the International Jazz Day for the edition.
Moved from the usual fall spot to spring, the festival will for the first time mark the global date on April 30, when the celebrated band and their special guest go on stage for the audience.
With a roster ranging from Grammy Award-winning drummer Vince Wilburn to nominees of the prize John Beasley and Robert Irving III, the group will play at Tbilisi Concert Hall along with the son of famed late saxophonist John Coltrane and jazz pianist Alice Coltrane.
Built on the electric sound period of the legendary jazz trumpeter Miles Davis, the band aims to bring the late artist’s music "to a new generation” of festival-goers.
Their performance in Tbilisi will be preceded by two shows featuring The Bad Plus, a trio of pianist Orrin Evans , bassist Reid Anderson and drummer Dave King.
With stage career spanning over 18 years, the most recent of their 12 albums came in 2016 and was titled It’s Hard.
American saxophonist Ravi Coltrane will join the headlining band as special guest. Photo: Tbilisi Jazz Festival.
The third and final act scheduled for an appearance on April 29 is Naturally 7, an American a-capella band known for their vocal impersonation of instrumental band sounds.
Their interpretations of well-known singles have included Feel It by Phil Collins and Fix You by the British band Coldplay.
Apart from the show dates, the festival will commission the visiting artists to hold master classes for music students in Georgia, as the event marks its 21st edition next month.
Eastern Promotions, organisers of the festival, this week also announced their line-up of artists for Black Sea Jazz Festival, another of their major musical events.