Jazz Returns To Scottsdale Arts In 2024

Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts welcomes jazz back to the stage in 2024 with a variety of entertaining performances for all, including a Mardi Gras celebration with Delfeayo Marsalis on Friday, February 9. 

“We are elated to present a wide range of jazz in 2024, in hopes that folks will find something they know and love but are also persuaded to explore something fresh and new,” said Abbey Messmer, programming director for Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts. “Delfeayo Marsalis and the Uptown Jazz Orchestra offer joy and fun that can only come from a big band group while multitalented innovator Cécile McLorin Salvant brings a mixture of strong narratives, unexpected twists and humor.” 

Jazz Lounge returns in 2024 with two performances in January and February. The first of these two shows, “I Got Rhythm—A Tribute to Cole Porter and George Gershwin,” features vocalist Jan Sandwich on Saturday, Jan. 13, as she presents a new show saluting two of the greatest songwriters of all time with music for all ages. Then, on Saturday, Feb. 10, “Alexis Janae | Love & Pain” invites audiences for an intimate and soulful performance as singer-songwriter Alexis Janae explores songs that express the joys and pains of love, reflecting on her personal experience. 

On Saturday, Jan. 13, Scottsdale welcomes 10-time Grammy award-winning artist Arturo Sandoval. A protégé of the legendary jazz master Dizzy Gillespie, Sandoval is one of the most brilliant, multifaceted and renowned musicians of our time. He has been awarded 10 Grammys and nominated 19 times; he has also received 6 Billboard Awards and an Emmy Award. 

Cécile McLorin Salvant makes a stop in Scottsdale on Thursday, Jan. 18, to celebrate her latest work, “Mélusine.” The late opera singer Jessye Norman described Salvant as “a unique voice supported by an intelligence and full-fledged musicality, which light up every note she sings.” “Mélusine” is a mix of five originals and interpretations of nine songs that tell a folkloric tale from the 12th century about the eponymous shape-shifting maiden — half-serpent, half-woman. 

“While I love storytelling, I love the intimacy in secret-telling,” said Salvant in an interview with JAZZ.FM91. “Revealing secrets is even more intimate than telling a story. There's something about it that's illicit. You're not supposed to reveal a secret. ... The story of Mélusine is the story of a woman with a secret.” 

Delfeayo Marsalis and Uptown Jazz Orchestra arrive in Scottsdale just in time to celebrate Mardi Gras on Feb. 9. Since 2008, the Uptown Jazz Orchestra has been stretching the boundaries of what is expected from big bands, playing with an extraordinary sense of joy and fun that could only come from New Orleans. With influences from Louis Armstrong to Count Basie, Delfeayo Marsalis and Uptown Jazz Orchestra performances help free the mind, warm the heart and heal the soul. 

The 2023–24 season ends with SFJAZZ Collective on Thursday, March 21. Described as “contemporary jazz's premier all-star band” by The New York Times, SFJAZZ is celebrating its 10th season by performing a wide selection of material chosen and arranged by the members, from new compositions to timeless classics and everything in between. 

“Later this spring, we come back to iconic jazz with SFJAZZ Collective, featuring rearrangements of socially relevant classics along with fresh compositions,” Messmer said. “It's a nice arc of options, and our theater is a great room to hear music, so we look forward to celebrating the many forms of jazz with all the music lovers out there.” 

All concerts will take place at Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, 7380 E. 2nd St., Scottsdale, Arizona. Ticket prices vary by show. Visit ScottsdalePerformingArts.org/events or call Scottsdale Arts at 480-499-TKTS (8587) for more information. 

Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts would like to thank the following partners for the 2023–24 season: City of Scottsdale; Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust; Great American Title Agency; Tiffany & Bosco; National Endowment for the Arts; Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation; Dr. David and Joan Goldfarb Trust; The Dayton Fowler Grafman Endowment for Classical Music; Betty Hum and Alan Yudell; Mountain Shadows Resort; Karen and John Voris; Hotel Adeline; Hotel Valley Ho; Sacks Tierney P.A.; Theodore R Stephan Endowment for Student Matinees; WESTAF/TourWest; Bank of America; Ethelyn Cohen, In Memory of Howard Cohen; Renewal by Andersen; The Theodore R. Stephan Endowment for Student Matinees; and Arizona Commission on the Arts. 

Scottsdale Arts is a regionally and nationally significant, multidisciplinary arts organization, offering an exceptional variety of programs through its six departments: Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA), Scottsdale Public Art, Scottsdale Arts Learning & Innovation, Canal Convergence and Civic Center LIVE. Scottsdale Arts creates diverse, inspired arts experiences and outreach opportunities for the community while fostering active engagement with the arts among individuals, businesses, educational institutions and government agencies. Since 1975, Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts has provided a stage for a wide range of artists and genres, creating shared, inspiring experiences for the community that celebrate artistic excellence and cultural awareness. Today one of the premier performing arts halls in the western United States, the center annually presents a diverse season of music, dance, theater, comedy and film from around the world. 

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