Attucks Jazz Club Returns for 2023-2024 Season

Presented by Virginia Arts Festival and SevenVenues featuring top jazz artists in an intimate club setting at Norfolk’s historic Attucks Theatre

PressRelease

TheAttucksJazzClubReturns!Presented by the Virginia Arts Festival and SevenVenues the Attucks Jazz Club transforms an intimate upstairs space at the historic Attucks Theatre and brings some of the genre’s most talented players to Norfolk. With comfortable open table seating, and the Club bar, the Attucks Jazz Club is the perfect way to enjoy a Saturday night it’s thewayjazzwasmeanttobeheard!

TheseriesiscuratedbypianistandeducatorJohnToomey,alegendamonglocaljazz fans whose namesake trio performs with thefeaturedartistineachAttucksJazzClub show.Whenhe’snotmakinghistoryhimself, Toomey teaches Jazz History and Jazz Improvisation at Old Dominion University, where he also directs the Jazz Combo and Jazz Choir Before settling down at ODU, Toomey toured with jazz trumpet legend MaynardFergusonaswellasvocalistsMark Murphy and Rene Marie Regular players in the trio include bassist Jimmy Masters, who has enlivened the region’s jazz scene for more than three decades, and drummer TonyMartuccioutofWashingtonD.C.

All performances begin at 7:30 pm. The Attucks Theatre is located at 1010 Church St., Norfolk. For more information and to buyticketsvisitwww.vafest.org

TicketsforAttucksJazzClubarejust$25 andmaybepurchasedonlineatwww.vafest. org, by phone at 757-282-2822 or by visiting the Virginia Arts Festival box office located at 440 Bank Street in Norfolk between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday-Friday; also availableatTicketmaster.com

Additional Attucks Jazz Club performanceswillbeannouncedsoon.The20232024AttucksJazzClubline-upincludes:

Alex McArthur, vocalist

Feat TheJohnToomeyTrio

Saturday,September30,2023,7:30pm

“Alex McArthur is the real deal…the ‘sizzle’… and the ability to smoothly glide from note to note A treasure.” (Buffalo Rising)

With a passion for finding the story in every song, this Buffalo-based vocalist has shared her rich, soulful sound in clubs and festivals throughout New York, including a star turn as Billie Holiday in a production oftheheraldedplayLadyDayatEmerson’s Bar and Grill Hanging on every note, audiences follow her as she weaves an irresistibletrailthroughmelodiesinrepertoirethat spansthestandards Hearthisextraordinary singerinherAttucksJazzClubdebut!

Dominique Eade, vocalist

Feat TheJohnToomeyTrio

Saturday,October21,2023,7:30pm

“Dynamic mesmerizing…easilyoneofthe finest vocalists on the contemporary jazz scene.”(TheWashingtonPost)

Poetic and passionate, this singer, composer and improviser blends vocal virtuosity with a songwriter’s straightforward emotional sensibility, creating music that has garnered critical acclaim, inspired audiences andservedasacreativesignpost for generations of singers The New York Times called Eade “an exceptional singer who weighs a chanteuse’s coolness against a jazz musician’s exploratory instincts.” The Atlantic Monthly recognized Eade for her “rich voice and effortless delivery” while the Boston Phoenix called her music “sublimeanddaring.”Shehasperformedin clubs concert halls and festivals through- outtheU.S.,LatinAmericaandEurope,and her recordings have made the top ten lists at Billboard, NPR, Entertainment Weekly, DownBeat magazine and more. Catch this starattheAttucksJazzClub!

Chris Whiteman, guitar

Feat TheJohnToomeyTrio Saturday,November11,2023,7:30pm

“Gorgeous…with an ‘old school’ attitude thatharkensbacktoapossiblysimplertime when tone and taste were king.” (TheJazzGuitarLife.com) New Jersey-born but Richmond, Virginia-bred,ChrisWhitemanhasbeendescribed manytimesasanoldsoul,adevoteeofclassic jazz who finds new depth and delight in the Great American Songbook, the standards that have defined jazz for generations.Aperformerandeducator,soloistand sought-aftersideman,Whitemanhasplayed venuesacrosstheU.S.includingNewYork’s famed Blue Note, Birdland, the Hollywood Bowl, Monterey Jazz Festival and more.

WarmupaNovembernightwiththemellow soundofthisextraordinarilygiftedguitarist!

About Attucks Theatre: Located on Norfolk’s historic Church Street, one of the oldestthoroughfaresinthecity,theAttucks Theatrewasoriginallyknownasthe“Apollo oftheSouth.”

Designed by African-American architect HarveyJohnson,thetheatreopenedin1919, andshowcasedahostoflegendaryperformers such as Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, MamieSmith,NatKingCole,andReddFoxx. The Attucks Theatre is named in honor of African-AmericanCrispusAttucks,thefirst American patriot to lose his life in the 1770 Boston Massacre. For 34 years, the theatre remained a vibrant performing arts facility but ceased functioning in 1953 In 1977, the UnitedStatesCongressdeemedTheAttucks TheatreaNationalHistoricLandmark,and afterarestorationperiodofthreeyears,the theatre was reopened in 2004 by a partnership between the City of Norfolk’s Department of Cultural Facilities and the Crispus AttucksCulturalCenter Inc.