There are not

many better ways to spend a day than to listen to free music in the park.

The 26th Atlanta Jazz Festival concludes this weekend with three full

days of jazz at Piedmont Park. The music starts at 2 p.m. Saturday, Sunday

and Monday and goes past 9 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday and 7:30 p.m.

on Monday.

"From

straight-ahead to Latin to smooth, we've got your jazz," said Camille

Russell Love, Director of the Bureau of Cultural Affairs.

Saturday's

schedule starts with the winner of the youth jazz band competition at

2 p.m. and will be followed by Camille at 3 p.m., Dr. Dan at 4 p.m. and

Somi at 5 p.m. Bobby Sanabria y Ascenscion will play at 6 p.m. Sanabria

is a Grammy nominated artist and has performed with Tito Puente and Dizzy

Gillespie. He is also the conductor of two of the only authentic college

level Afro-Cuban jazz big bands in the United States. The famous Preservation

Hall Jazz Band from New Orleans follows Sanabria at 7:30 p.m. Irvin Mayfield,

a Billboard award winning trumpeter from New Orleans closes out the evening

at 9 p.m.

Sunday begins

at 2 p.m. with the youth jazz band competition winner and will be followed

will perform at 4 p.m. Bertrand is a popular act at jazz festivals worldwide.

German vibraphonist Matthias Lupri and the Matthias Lupri Group will perform

at 5 p.m. and will be followed by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Richard

Bona at 6 p.m. Soulive, a popular act that has recorded with some of the

top artists in rap, rock and more, will perform at 7:30 and the evening

will conclude with Eddie Palmieri La Perecta at 9 p.m. Palmieri is a Grammy

winner who has performed and recorded with Tito Puente.

The final day

of the festival starts at 2 p.m. with the winner of the youth jazz band

competition followed by the Bernard Linette Interactive Sextet at 3 p.m.

and the Jacques Leisure Quartet at 4 p.m. The Sunny Jain Collective, which

combines the beats of percussionist Sunny Jain with jazz, Indian music

and other styles, will perform at 5 p.m. while Metalwood, a group that

combines an improvisational style of jazz, funk and rhythm and blues,

performs at 6 p.m. Singer-songwriter Maysa who sang with Incognito before

recording two successful solo albums will perform at 7:30 p.m.

For more information

on the Atlanta Jazz Festival, visit www.atlantafestivals.com.

Back

to the Top of the Page