Toshilo Akiyoshi and Lew Tabackin

New Yorkers are in for a special treat as NEA Jazz master Toshiko Akiyoshi and Lew Tabackin, who is a monster on both tenor and flute, play the Jazz Showcase in Dearborn Station on Tuesday, February 19th.  Toshiko's big band featuring soloist Lew Tabackin has been a driving force in the jazz world, touring and recording to great critical acclaim. Although best known for her work as a big band composer, leader and arranger, Toshiko is also a dazzeling pianist inthe tradition of Bud Powell, and it was her piano work that first got her noticed by Oscar Peterson when he was on a tour of Japan in the 1950's. Lew Tabakin is a virtuoso player on two instruments, being one of the significant tenor players of our time and one of the finest jazz flautists of all time.

Peter Bernstein

One of the most highly accomplished jazz guitarists on the scene today, Peter Bernstein has recently been touring with the saxophone colossus himself, Sonny Rollins, and has also provided his signature sound to a who’s who of jazz icons from Lou Donaldson to Joshua Redman, and Dr. Lonnie Smith to Jack McDuff. He will be in good comany again this week when his quartet will feature pianist Harold Mabern, bassist John Webber, and drum legend Jimmy Cobb. The Peter Bernstein Quartet will appear at the Village Vanguard on Tuesday, February 19th through Sunday, February 24th.

“The most fearless, most intellectually stimulating and, by extension, most interesting singer–songwriter–pianist on the American jazz scene!” -Jazz Times

photo by Jimmy Katz