April All That Jazz, Georgetown
By • April 3, 2025 0 165
By Mark Edelman
Ella Fitzgerald crooned that April (the one in Paris, at least) has “a feeling that no one can ever reprise.” With the cherry blossoms reprising their annual thing, our town is flowering with great music. Check out some of these fine musicians, whose bouquets abound in area clubs and concerts in April.
Wednesday, April 9
Jack Gruber
The Mansion at Strathmore
The Strathmore’s AIR Artist in Residence program welcomes Silver Springs’ keyboard protégé Jack Gruber and trio at the Mansion on Wednesday, April 9 at 7:30 p.m. A workshop entitled “Standards: Integrating Jazz Improvisation and Reharmonization into Modern Pop Music” follows a week later on April 16 then, on April 23, you can catch Gruber and his string quartet performing arrangements drawn from jazz, pop, anime and video games.
“Pop music, anime music and video game music were all early and deep influences of mine,” Gruber said. ”Artists like Utada Hikaru, Zedd and Yoko Shimomura have had a huge impact on my playing, composing, and arranging. Relating to others through your art and staying true to yourself go hand in hand and this music.”
Earning his early jazz chops with Paul Carr’s Jazz Academy of Music, Gruber began jamming Friday nights with other JAM students at Columbia Station (now Green Island) in Adam’s Morgan. That woodshedding paid off.
“It was a super formative time for me,” Gruber added. “The level of the musicianship was absurdly high, everyone was always treated like a professional regardless of their age—I undoubtedly learned some of my most important musical and professional lessons during this time.”
Early keyboard influences include local faves Allyn Johnson and Jon Ozment. “I had their sound in my ears a lot coming up and was lucky enough to be able to study with them,” Gruber said. “Whenever I hear them live or listen to recordings of them, I hear something new that inspires me.”
Gruber is optimistic about the future of jazz here in the DMV. Or to hear him tell it: “Between the strong community, incredible musicianship, the variety of venues, and all the talent coming in from the military bands/Peabody, the future for D.C. Jazz is undoubtedly bright.”
Catch some of that illumination at the Strathmore in Bethesda this month. Tickets are available here.
April at the Clubs:
The elegant St. Regis Hotel joins the D.C. jazz circuit with Jazz and Wine Wednesdays from 5-9 p.m. in the hotel’s sumptuous lobby bar. Piano virtuoso/vocalists Sara Jones and Desiree Jordan serve up the music and a collection of renowned women viniculturalists keep the bubbly flowing.
Blues Alley in Georgetown picks up steam with the Hot Club of Baltimore making the trek over from Charm City on Monday, April 7 as part of the Emerging Artist Monday series. Guitar and bass player extraordinaire Stanley Jordan headlines the room on April 12 and 13, playing some Jimi Hendrix tunes during his nightly sets. Next up is Blues Alley’s annual celebration of Ella’s birthday, featuring past Fitzgerald winners Tina Hashemi on the 14, Julia Danielle and Arta Jekabsone on the 15 and Ella Fitzgerald Award judges Nicole Zuraitis and Vanessa Rubin on the 17-18 and 24-25 respectively. Finally, Blues Alley turns it over to the local colleges, with big bands from AU and GW bopping on April 28 and George Mason and Georgetown following them on April 29.
Laporta’s in Alexandria fills up the week’s calendar nightly with fine music, including Tuesday night solo piano sessions with Antonio James, stepping into the big shoes of Oscar Peterson and Bill Evans among others from 6:30 to 9 p.m. No cover.
Vocalists Candace Bostwick and Julian Hipkins Swing in the Spring at Mr. Henry’s on Friday, April 4. Sharing the April Mr. Henry’s calendar are reedman Jeff Antoniuk and—count em—three jazz bands, graduates of Jeff’s Jazz Band Master Class, on April 10. Vocalist Lanah Koelle headlines on Saturday, April 12 and of course, the room’s celebrated Capitol Hill Jazz Jam continues every Wednesday night under the able baton of saxophonist Herb Scott.
Jazz pianist Peter Edelman holds court Thursday thru Sunday, 8 p.m. at the Green Island Café in Adams Morgan. Zinnia in Silver Spring welcomes guitarist Dave Manley Fridays at 5 p.m. Spend Tuesday nights with Manley and company from 7:30 p.m. at Divino Ristorante Enoteca in the Glover Park Hotel in Georgetown. Takoma Station offers up its own jazz jam Tuesday nights at 7:30 p.m., so you’ve got no excuse to miss the music that night of the week. And speaking of Takoma Station, they’ve got horn man Thad Wilson Saturday, March 1 at 7 p.m.
Lost Brewing Company in Eckington plays host to French Horn master Abe Mamet Saturday nights at 7:30. Haydee’s hosts its jazz jam Sundays at 6:30. JOJO on the U Street corridor welcomes drummers Julian Berkowitz April 9 and Lenny Robinson on 16, both fronting trios. Trumpeter Donvante McCoy takes the JOJO stage on April 24. Keystone Korner in Baltimore honors April with an impressive menu of national jazz acts, starting with Kurt Elling paying tribute to Weather Report on April 4 and 5. Arturo Sandoval plays the Charm City boite on April 12 and 13, followed by guitarist Dave Styrker with vibes player Warren Wolf on April 18 and 19. Jazz great Kenny Garrett rounds out the month on April 27.
April in Concert:
Two great shows get April off with a blast on Wednesday April 2. First, guitar master Al DiMeola at The Birchmere and smooth jazz funkster Boney James at Strathmore. Songbyrd Music House in Union Market welcomes jazz trumpeter Takuya Kuroda on April 26. The Kennedy Center may be under Trump’s thumb, but the programming already lined up features some great handiwork. Jason Moran and Friends perform on Thursday, April 24; Reggie Workman on bass and Terri Lynn Carrington on drums join Jason’s rhythm section, along with some top area soloists. Liz Story brings 40 years of smooth jazz to the Ken Cen in a solo piano concert on April 25 and the 2025 NEA Jazz Masters Tribute Concert will be streamed on line from the Potomac venue on April 26.
Mark Edelman has been a member of the Jazz Journalists Assn since 2010. He was publisher of JAM Magazine for three years and executive produced 12th Street Jump, public radio’s weekly jazz, blues and comedy jam, for nine. Read his reviews online at allaboujazz.com
