Willard Jenkins

Willard Jenkins is an independent arts consultant & producer, and writer under his Open Sky banner. Willard Jenkins’ current activity includes concert, festival, and concert series planning/development, artistic direction, consulting, music journalism, teaching, and broadcast work.

Willard Jenkins's news entries:

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    “Ahmad’s voicings inform so much of how I look at music,” said Orrin Evans about fellow pianist Ahmad Jamal.

    Blindfold Test: Orrin Evans

    Pianist Orrin Evans, artist-in-residence for the 2022/2023 DC Jazz Festival, is not only an exceptional pianist. He is…

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    “I got that chill in my spine. So I’m guessing that’s Kenny Garrett,” Lakecia Benjamin said while listening to the alto saxophonist play John Coltrane’s “Dear Lord.”

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    Danilo Pérez speaks during a clinic at the Panama Jazz Festival, which ran Jan. 13-17 in Panama City, Panama.

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    Vocalist Gregory Porter performs at the Funchal Jazz Festival, which ran July 11-13, in Madeira, an archipelago southwest of Portugal.

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    Daniel Rolim and and Marta Freitas perform at Brazilian Jazz Night during the 40th annual Copenhagen Jazz Festival.

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    Bassist Ben Williams (left) sits for a DownBeat Blindfold Test, conducted by Willard Jenkins, at the DC JazzFest in Washington, D.C., on June 27.

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    The 2017 NEA Jazz Masters at the 2017 NEA Jazz Masters Tribute Concert on April 3, 2017 at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. (left to right): Representing Ira Gitler, Fitz Gitler; Dick Hyman; Dave Holland; Dr. Lonnie Smith; and Dee Dee Bridgewater.

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    Guitarist Pat Metheny (left) and bassist Ron Carter perform as a duo at Umbria Jazz in Perugia, Italy, on July 13.