The Jazz Scene: Center City Jazz Festival, echoes of Ellington, and more

Though Philadelphia does not yet have a multi-day nationally sponsored jazz festival, a number of neighborhood fests presented though the year do help take up the slack. One is the Center City Jazz Festival, celebrating its fifth year, and it’s unique in that it’s a 1pm to 7pm daytime event — taking place on April 30 — featuring almost 20 bands performing in five venues that are all in walking distance from each other.

Some of the more familiar faces at the fest, presented in celebration of Jazz Appreciation Month, are pianist Orrin Evans, saxophonists Mike Cemprola and Anibal Rojas, vocalist Anna Cecilia, and singer/harmonica player Paul Jost’s Jost Project. For a detailed lineup, venue list, and ticketing info, visit ccjazzfest.com.

Singer/composer/guitarist and World Music pioneer Phyllis Chapell has long been one of our region's natural musical resources. Among other things, she sings jazz in 13 languages, spanning Latin America, the Middle East, Europe, and Africa. And somehow, she manages to swing in all of them. Chappell will be appearing at Chestnut Hill's Paris Bistro & Jazz Café for 7pm shows on April 7 and 21, and with the Hot Club of Philadelphia at the Bistro for 7pm shows on April 28 and 30.

Pianist Bill Charlap is one of the finest and most acclaimed jazz pianists working today, heard recently and to great advantage in a duo setting with none other than Tony Bennett. Charlap doesn't get to these parts often, but on April 30, he'll perform — in a rare setting as a soloist — at Williams Center for the Arts in Easton for an 8pm concert. Closer to home and this time playing in a trio format, Charlap will appear at Chris’ Jazz Café on April 16 for performances at 8 and 10pm.

For more than 50 years, Dr. Lonnie Smith, appearing at the Annenberg Center for an 8pm performance on April 9, has been one of the foremost exponents of the Hammond B-3 organ, and has a repertoire that includes everything from straight-ahead jazz and funk to Beatles and Jimi Hendrix songs. For the record, Smith is a doctor in nickname only.

Old City's Sassafras bar and restaurant has often presented jazz in the 35 years it’s been around. In conjunction with Jazz Appreciation Month, Sassafras has planned a "Season of Saxophone," which will take place each Thursday evening in April from 6:30 to 9pm. These inventive reedmen represent the best of the area's Young Lions. On April 7, baritone saxophonist and soon-to-be Temple graduate Skyler Hagner will perform. Josh Lee, also a bari sax player who will shortly be a Temple grad, appears on April 14. Educator/multi-reedman/recording artist Mike Cemprola checks in April 21, and concluding the program on April 28 is recent Temple graduate Chris Oatts, an alto saxophonist.

Though jazz giant Duke Ellington left us in 1974, his band continued, with some success, under the direction of his son Mercer until he passed in 1996. Since then, the band, under the leadership of Ellington nephew and estate executor Paul Ellington, has worked infrequently and hardly ever in this area. That will change on April 23, when the orchestra will appear at Lawnside School in Lawnside, New Jersey, a mere 20 minutes from Philadelphia.