High summer and the Fourth of July weekend have conspired to make this a quieter stretch on the club and concert calendar — and we hope you’ve got some fun plans on the horizon. Still, there are a few gigs to know about, including this week’s spotlight, a free outdoor concert by a jazz-guitar great. Happy Fourth, and happy listening!
Spotlight: Al Di Meola — Monday, Wiggins Park, Camden
A couple of years ago, the virtuoso guitarist Al Di Meola suffered a major heart attack onstage in Romania. “It happened right in the middle of a song,” Di Meola later recalled, speaking with Guitar Player magazine. He managed to get offstage, and was rushed to a hospital in Bucharest, where emergency surgery saved his life.
Di Meola, who rocketed to prominence 40 years ago as a member of Return to Forever, wasted no time during his recovery. He released an ambitious double release, Twentyfour, last year. It’s his 40th album, primarily featuring his intricate playing on a Felipe Conde signature series nylon-string acoustic, with some electric guitar dubbed in on more than a dozen tracks.
This summer Di Meola has brought the chamberlike yet vaulting sound of the album on the road, where it’s meeting with a hero’s welcome: his appearance on the Sunset Jazz Series comes one day after the Saratoga Jazz Festival, and just before a European tour.
June 30 at 8 p.m., Wiggins Park, 2 Riverside Drive, Camden, NJ, free; more information.
Diana Krall — Sunday in Lancaster, PA; Monday in Wilmington, DE
It has been a few years since Diana Krall released This Dream of You — her most recent album, a songbook offering handsomely produced with lush orchestral strings. On her concert tour, which glides through our area early next week, she’ll draw from that and other low-gloss jazz-pop fare, with only the finest accompaniment.
June 29 at 7 p.m., American Music Theater, 2425 Lincoln Highway East, Lancaster, $89-$159; tickets and information.
June 30 at 7:30 p.m., Grand Opera House, 818 North Market Street, Wilmington, DE, $145 and up; tickets and information.
Everette Harp — Thursday, South Jazz Kitchen
The saxophonist Everette Harp made his name in the overlapping fields of contemporary jazz and smooth R&B, releasing a string of albums on Blue Note in the 1990s. His most recent release, First Love, dates to 2009 — but he has maintained a steady presence on the scene, surfacing here on Gerald Veasley’s Unscripted Jazz Series.
July 3 at 6:30 and 9 p.m., South Jazz Kitchen, 600 North Broad Street, $; tickets and information.
Susie Meissner Sextet — Thursday, Chris’ Jazz Cafe
Susie Meissner is a jazz singer originally from Buffalo, though she’s well ensconced on the Philly scene — as evidenced by the company she keeps in this one-nighter. She’ll be joined by John Swana on trumpet and EVI, Harry Allen on saxophones, John Shaddy on piano, Lee Smith on bass, and Byron Landham on drums.
July 3 at 7:30 and 9 p.m., Chris’ Jazz Cafe, 1421 Sansom Street, $15, $70 and $90, with dinner packages; purchase tickets.
