JAZZ AT NAZ Month-Long Festival At The Soraya Beginning, February 5

The Soraya has long been at the epicenter of Jazz in LA-from CSUN's nationally respected Jazz studies program, to The Soraya's stellar reputation for Jazz programming.

This year, The Soraya dials up its investment in America's one true original art form with its first annual, month-long jazz Festival Jazz at Naz February 5 through 19 which features five events including two major main stage performances plus three consecutive nights of The Soraya's immersive Jazz Club - with audience and artists all hosted right on stage, an intimate and immersive experience that has become a Soraya trademark.

Jazz at Naz Festival begins on the main stage February 5 with Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis on February 5 and two-time Grammy Award winner Gregory Porter on February 10. The next weekend Jazz Club hosts Gerald Clayton February 17; Gretchen Parlato February 18 and Harold López-Nussa February 19.

"As we put the cap on our Tenth Anniversary celebration, we launch Jazz at Naz, our first ever jazz festival at The Soraya," said Thor Steingraber, Executive and Artistic Director. "With the continuation of our Onstage Sessions Jazz Club, it's clear The Soraya is a premiere Los Angeles destination for Jazz performances. We offer our audience the opportunity to experience not only the tried-and-true Jazz artists on the mainstage but also the rising stars in our intimate Jazz Club concerts."
Tickets to all Jazz at Naz performances are available at www.thesoraya.org and by calling 818-677-3000. Jazz Pass ticket package for all five performances start at $199 and will be available Jan 4. The Soraya is located at 18111 Nordhoff Street, Northridge, CA 91330. Jazz Pass secures seats for all five jazz artists, the complete line-up of innovators and icons - $199 for the Silver pass (Loge section/rise seating) and $299 for the Gold pass (Orchestra section for Wynton Marsalis and Gregory Porter, table seating for the 3 Jazz Club artists).

The Soraya's Jazz at Naz
With the launch of Jazz at Naz, The Soraya becomes the home for Jazz in LA in February with a festival of five events including two major mainstage performances plus three consecutive nights of The Soraya's intimate Jazz Club, replete with mood lighting and cocktail tables, and the important rising stars of the genre. Wynton Marsalis starts Jazz at Naz on February 5 when he returns to The Soraya's mainstage with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, followed by an evening on February 10 with two-time GRAMMY winner Gregory Porter, a devotee of Nat King Cole and star of the Broadway's It Ain't Nothin' but the Blues.

The Soraya's Onstage Sessions Jazz Club
The Jazz Club - where you are "sitting so close that you'll feel the music through the soles of your shoes" -- returns for three consecutive evenings starting February 17 with four-time GRAMMY nominated pianist and musical director of the Monterey Jazz Festival On Tour Gerald Clayton; then on February 18, Gretchen Parlato, whose "brilliant new Brazilian-flavored album Flor is her best yet" (Jazzwise); and on February 19, Cuban pianist Harold López-Nussa appears with his tight-knit quartet featuring his fearlessly inventive and electrifying improvisations.

About Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis; Sat, Feb 5 at 8pm
Led by the incomparable Wynton Marsalis, this renowned orchestra is the exciting vanguard of the full spectrum of the jazz experience. Thanks to his exceptional tone, encyclopedic range of trumpet techniques, and fearless creativity, Juilliard-educated Marsalis is the first jazz musician to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music and remains the only artist ever to win GRAMMY awards in both jazz and classical in a single year, and he's done that twice. Together, Marsalis and the orchestra elevate jazz as the pinnacle of America's music to center stage both at Lincoln Center, and now at The Soraya.

About An Evening with Gregory Porter; Thu, Feb 10 at 8pm
Gregory Porter was destined for a career as a football lineman, but injury turned him to his first love, music. A devotee of Nat King Cole, Porter's voice is a fantastically rich baritone that brings out the bone-deep soul in his music. With that voice, it wasn't long before he was starring on Broadway in It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues, and racking up GRAMMY award nominations, including two wins for Best Jazz Vocal Album. He has a charismatic onstage presence that is utterly infectious.

About Jazz at Naz's Jazz Club-Gerald Clayton; Thu, Feb 17 at 8pm
Four-time GRAMMY award-nominated pianist Gerald Clayton appears live onstage in The Soraya's intimate Jazz Club setting where audiences seated only a few feet from this gifted musician. Clayton studied under piano legend Billy Childs at USC and won second place in the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Piano Competition. He's now the Musical Director of the Monterey Jazz Festival On Tour and has performed and recorded with a diverse array of artists, including Diana Krall, Roy Hargrove, and Kendrick Scott.

About Jazz at Naz's Jazz Club -Gretchen Parlato; Fri, Feb 18 at 8pm
Possessed of "one of the most dreamily mellifluous timbres in jazz" (Jazzwise magazine), Gretchen Parlato is a rising star performing from flor, her new Brazilian-flavored album. The first vocalist ever admitted into the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance program, the GRAMMY award-nominated singer won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Vocals Competition three years later. She appears in The Soraya's celebrated Jazz Club format, where the audience sits onstage feet from the artists.

About Jazz at Naz's Jazz Club -Harold López-Nussa; Sat, Feb 19 at 8pm
Havana-born and raised, Cuban pianist Harold López-Nussa won first prize at the jazz solo piano competition at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 2005 when he was just 21. He drew raves when he opened for Juan de Marco's Afro-Cuban All Stars at The Soraya in 2018, and now he returns to headline with his own quartet which he calls "the greatest musicians of my generation in Cuba." Their sound reflects the full range and richness of Cuban music, an exciting combination of classical, folkloric and popular elements interpreted through López-Nussa's fearlessly inventive improvisation.

This Season, audiences will have the opportunity to deepen their engagement with The Soraya by purchasing Memberships starting at just $120 a year which ensures first access to tickets, guaranteed lowest ticket prices all season long, and other special parking, concessions, and events benefits throughout the year. The Soraya offers a home where diverse artists and audiences gather and create a thriving performing arts center that uplifts the spirits and forges a future for the greater LA community. Becoming a member will amplify patrons' access to benefits and more at thesoraya.org.

The Soraya's Safe and Sound pledge: We offer the basics of human bonding, a return to days when a community wasn't a herd, when social wasn't only social distance, and when your health and welfare included joy and celebration. At The Soraya, you can be Safe and enjoy the Sound.

Face masks are required in all indoor spaces for all patrons and employees. At the time of the ticket purchase, customers will be asked to attest that everyone in their party has been fully vaccinated. For all of our performances, only vaccinated patrons will be allowed in the venue. Proof of vaccination will be required upon entering the venue, and, therefore, those ineligible for the vaccine (children under the age of 12) will not be allowed.

Any updates and recommended guidance from our public health experts; further information and updates will be posted here.

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