Presented by Virginia Arts Festival and SevenVenues Featuring Top Jazz Artists in an Intimate Club Setting at Norfolk’s Historic Attucks Theatre Tickets just $25
Words and Images courtesy of the Virginia Arts Festival.
The Attucks Jazz Club Returns! 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 the way jazz was meant to be heard!
The series is curated by pianist and educator John Toomey, a legend among local jazz fans, whose namesake trio performs with the featured artist in each Attucks Jazz Club show. When he’s not making history himself, 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 Maynard Ferguson as well as vocalists Mark 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 Tony Martucci out of Washington D.C.
All performances begin at 7:30 pm. The Attucks Theatre is located at 1010 Church St., Norfolk. For more information and to buy tickets visit www.vafest.org.
Tickets for Attucks Jazz Club are just $25 and may be purchased online at www.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 available at Ticketmaster.com.
Additional Attucks Jazz Club performances will be announced soon. The 2023-2024 Attucks Jazz Club line-up includes:
Alex McArthur, vocalist Feat. The John Toomey Trio Saturday, September 30, 2023, 7:30 pm "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 of the heralded play Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill. Hanging on every note, audiences follow her as she weaves an irresistible trail through melodies in repertoire that spans the standards. Hear this extraordinary singer in her Attucks Jazz Club debut!
Dominique Eade, vocalist Feat. The John Toomey Trio Saturday, October 21, 2023, 7:30 pm “Dynamic, mesmerizing…easily one of the finest vocalists on the contemporary jazz scene.” (The Washington Post) 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, and served as a creative signpost 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 “sublime and daring.” She has performed in clubs, concert halls and festivals throughout the U.S., Latin America and Europe, and her recordings have made the top ten lists at Billboard, NPR, Entertainment Weekly, DownBeat magazine and more. Catch this star at the Attucks Jazz Club!
Chris Whiteman, guitar Feat. The John Toomey Trio Saturday, November 11, 2023, 7:30 pm “Gorgeous…with an ‘old school’ attitude that harkens back to a possibly simpler time when tone and taste were king.” (TheJazzGuitarLife.com) New Jersey-born but Richmond, Virginia-bred, Chris Whiteman has been described many times as an old soul, a devotee of classic jazz who finds new depth and delight in the Great American Songbook, the standards that have defined jazz for generations. A performer and educator, soloist and sought-after sideman, Whiteman has played venues across the U.S. including New York’s famed Blue Note, Birdland, the Hollywood Bowl, Monterey Jazz Festival and more. Warm up a November night with the mellow sound of this extraordinarily gifted guitarist!
About the Presenters Since 1997, the Virginia Arts Festival has transformed the cultural scene in southeastern Virginia, presenting great performers from around the world to local audiences and making this historic, recreation-rich region a cultural destination for visitors from across the United States and around the world. The Festival has presented numerous U.S. and regional premieres, and regularly commissions new works of music, dance, and theater from some of today’s most influential composers, choreographers and playwrights. The Festival’s arts education programs reach tens of thousands of area schoolchildren each year through student matinees, in-school performances, artists’ residencies, master classes and demonstrations.
The City of Norfolk’s SevenVenues serves to link Norfolk’s residents, visitors and tourists to Norfolk’s rich cultural arts and entertainment community. Besides providing entertainment services, the City of Norfolk’s Department of Cultural Facilities, Arts and Entertainment is also responsible for the maintenance, repair, management and operation of the City’s seven public assembly facilities which include: Scope Arena, Chrysler Hall, the Attucks Theatre, the Wells Theatre, Harrison Opera House, Harbor Park, and Open Air Events.