The 37th annual Atlanta Jazz Festival will ping-pong from the traditional jazz of Freddy Cole to the contemporary flair of Russell Gunn’s Krunk Jazz Orkestra with a lot of other flavors filling in the gaps.
This year’s shows will take place May 23-25 in Piedmont Park with music performed across three stages — the main stage, an international stage and a local stage.
More acts will be announced in a couple of weeks, but some of the main players include:
Freddy Cole, 7 p.m. May 25: The brother of Nat "King" Cole plays piano and sings with a raspy, smoky edge to his voice.
Ester Rada, 5 p.m. May 24: Born in Israel, Rada offers a cross-cultural sound of jazz, soul and R&B. Last year, she released the EP "Life Happens."
Bill Frisell's Guitar in the Space Age — featuring Greg Leisz, Tony Scherr and Rudy Royston, 7 p.m. May 25: Frisell has worked with everyone from Elvis Costello to Rickie Lee Jones to Van Dyke Parks to T Bone Burnett. Expect to hear some country mixed with his jazz and blues.
Cyrille Aimée, 5:30 p.m. May 25: Her parents are French and Dominican and her jazz roots come from the village of her upbringing,Samois-sur-Seine, the same place where legendary gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt once lived. Aimée won the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition in 2012.
Russell Gunn's Krunk Jazz Orkestra, 7 p.m. May 24: Trumpeter/fluegelhornist/composer Gunn has worked with Cee Lo Green, D'Angelo, Maxwell and Branford Marsalis. Call him a neo-soul-hip-hop guy with roots in tradition.
Somi, 3:30 p.m. May 24: As a singer, she's been compared to Miriam Makeba, Sarah Vaughan and Cassandra Wilson — and she also delivers her material in English and three East African languages.
For more information, visit www.atlantafestivals.com.
