First Wheaton Jazz Festival Set For Sept. 30 Downtown

WHEATON, MD - From the County of Montgomery: Saxophonist Paul Carr, who has performed at the White House and around the world, will headline the First Annual Wheaton Jazz Festival to be held Saturday, Sept. 30, at Wheaton Veterans Urban Park in Downtown Wheaton. The afternoon of free jazz will include five featured acts from noon to 6 p.m.

The Wheaton Jazz Festival is being presented by C. Michael Bailey’s “Jazz Encounters” program, with the support of the Wheaton Arts and Entertainment District. The festival will be held at the Urban Park located at 11200 Amherst Avenue in Wheaton. Festival goers are encouraged to bring their own chairs and blankets to enjoy the show.

This will be the second consecutive weekend of homegrown first-time events in Downtown Wheaton, which is undergoing a major revitalization led by the Montgomery County government. On Sept. 24, thousands of people turned out for the inaugural Wheaton Arts Parade and Festival.

The jazz festival’s performance schedule includes the Ephraim and Ebban Dorsey Quartet at 1 p.m.; the Michael Ventura Quartet at 2 p.m.; Amy Shook and SR4tet at 3 p.m. and the Ben Finkelstein Quartet at 4 p.m. The Paul Carr Quartet will take the stage at 5 p.m.

Bailey, the festival’s organizer, is the executive producer of the video series Jazz Encounters: Jazz Live Studio Sessions. He is a multimedia specialist and musician/composer with more than 30 years of experience in the communications industry and arts management. In 2014, he created the series on Rockville-based Montgomery Community Media to give more exposure to Washington-area jazz musicians. More about his series is available website.

Carr is known for his hard-charging and soulful post-bop style that upholds the tradition of the Texas tenor. The Howard University alum studied and played with local heroes including saxophonist Don Wilkerson, Conrad Johnson and the legendary Arnett Cobb.

Carr has performed at Washington area venues including Blues Alley, Twins Jazz, Takoma Station and the now-defunct One Step Down. He has been a repeat performer at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the Smithsonian Jazz Cafe and the Corcoran Gallery of Art’s jazz series.

Carr went from being a main performer to teaching and advocating for young jazz performers. However, after a 13-year hiatus from recording, he returned to the studio, composing and leading his own group. His latest self-released CD, Just Noodlin, features world-renowned trumpeter Terrell Stafford and pianist Andrew Adair.

Carr has performed numerous times at the White House (for Presidents William Clinton and George W. Bush) and also for the late King Hussein of Jordan. He has toured South America, Central America, Europe and the Middle East. Carr has shared the stage with artists such as flutist Kent Jordan; saxophonists Branford Marsalis, Kirk Whalum and Steve Wilson; and trumpeters Terrell Stafford and Wynton Marsalis.

The Wheaton Jazz Festival is being co-sponsored by WPFW 89.3 FM; the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County and Chuck Levin’s Music Center.

The festival will be held near the first major project of the County’s Wheaton revitalization program, which includes construction of a 14-story County office building and an adjacent plaza in the Wheaton Triangle area. More information about the plan to revitalize Downtown Wheaton can be found at wheatonproject.com.

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