June, already? Maybe that’s how you feel, too. Or maybe you’ve already been living in a June state of mind. Whatever the case, the first month of summer stretches ahead of us, bringing a fresh bundle of excellent options for jazz fans, especially if you don’t mind traveling. Find this week’s highlights below.
Spotlight: Catherine Russell and Sean Mason — Friday, McCarter Theatre Center, Princeton
Catherine Russell has long had a gift for breathing new life into old songs, with no special trick beyond the clarity of her singing and the purity of her intention. (That she comes to it by birthright, as the daughter of Luis Russell and Carline Ray, is icing on the cake.) Last month she released an ebullient album, Live at Jazz at Lincoln Center, that brushes the cobwebs off tunes by Blanche Calloway, Eddie Barefield, Tiny Grimes and others, with a smartly boisterous band.
But Russell is just as effective, and maybe even more impressive, in a pared-down setting. Two years ago she teamed up with Sean Mason, a soulful and resourceful pianist still in his 20s, to release a duo effort called My Ideal. It earned a Grammy nod for Best Jazz Vocal Album, and added fuel to Mason’s booster engines; at that point he only had one other album to his name. This concert at the McCarter Theater Center in Princeton, running 90 minutes with no intermission, should capture the magic in their intergenerational rapport.
June 5 at 7:30 p.m., Berlind Theatre, McCarter Theatre Center, 91 University Pl, Princeton, NJ, $46-$76; tickets and information.
Wonderful Sound 3 — Thursday, Solar Myth
Alto saxophonist, composer and Philly mainstay Bobby Zankel will celebrate the music and memory of Sonny Rollins with this trio edition of his Warriors of the Wonderful Sound. His band mates, both well-equipped to match his instinct for exploratory fire, are drummer Chad Taylor and pianist and multi-instrumentalist Cooper-Moore.
June 4 at 8 p.m., Solar Myth, 1131 S Broad Street, $30; tickets and information.
Hiruy Tirfe — Friday, Spruce Street Harbor Park
Born in West Philly, raised in Upper Darby, saxophonist Hiruy Tirfe keeps a busy schedule both in his hometown and beyond. His industrious drive provided a natural focal point on his debut album, 10,000 Hours, which we celebrated on its release in 2024. This outdoor performance is part of a free, all-ages Friday night jazz series on the Delaware River waterfront, running through Sept. 25.
June 5 at 7 p.m., Spruce Street Harbor Park, 301 S. Columbus Boulevard, free; more information.
Lucy Wijnands Quartet — Saturday, Chris’ Jazz Cafe
For many observers, Lucy Wijnands hit the radar when she won the Ella Fitzgerald Jazz Vocal Competition in 2021, a year after she’d graduated from SUNY Purchase. But Wijnands has been singing, and swinging, from a tender age; her father is the Dutch-born, Kansas City-based stride pianist Bram Wijnands. For this one-nighter, she’s joined by a different ringer: guitarist Pasquale Grasso, who knows his way around supporting a vocalist, having done so with Samara Joy.
June 6 at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., Chris’ Jazz Cafe, 1421 Sansom Street, $30, with dinner packages; tickets and information.
Max Johnson Sextet — Sunday, June 7, MAAS Building
Max Johnson is a bassist, composer and bandleader who has been finishing his graduate studies in composition at Penn. His doctoral dissertation, in fact, forms the substance of the ambitious work he presents here, in its third of four premiere performances along the east coast. “Without Fear” is a concert-length piece for a sextet that features Nate Wooley on trumpet, Anna Webber on tenor saxophone and flute, Yuma Uesaka on soprano saxophone and clarinet, Lester St. Louis on cello, and Jeff Davis on drums and vibraphone.
June 7 at 7:30 p.m., the MAAS Building, 1320 N 5th Street, $10-$20 sliding scale; tickets and information.
Christian McBride & Ursa Major — Sunday, June 7, McCarter Theater Center, Princeton
As he explained in a Q&A with WRTI, bassist and bandleader Christian McBride considers his newest group, Ursa Major, to be the most adaptable unit in his stable. The quintet — with tenor saxophonist Nicole Glover, guitarist Ely Perlman, pianist Mike King, and drummer Savannah Harris — has only released one 7-inch single so far, but there’s plenty more on the way. If you missed their stop at City Winery last year, here’s your chance to catch up.
June 7 at 7 p.m., Berlind Theatre, McCarter Theatre Center, 91 University Pl, Princeton, NJ, $86-$96; tickets and information.
