The Jazz Scene: Internationally renowned instrumentalists and more

Alto saxophonist Bobby Watson and pianist Hal Galper are veteran improvisers of the highest order who don’t get to these parts often. Appearing at our region’s newest jazz club, South, for two shows on March 2 — 8 and 9:45pm — is Watson, an 11th hour replacement for alto man Gary Bartz. Watson, like so many other jazz musicians, got his start with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, and later served tenures with the Marsalis brothers, Betty Carter, and dozens of others. A lyrical player and a hard swinger, his Philadelphia connection comes via an acclaimed live recording at Birdland with our area’s award-winning guitarist, Jimmy Bruno.

Galper, who visits the Bainbridge Club — 1523 Bainbridge Street — on April 1 at 8pm, backed legends like Stan Getz and Joe Williams, but he remains best known for his 1973 to 1975 affiliation with the popular group of Cannonball Adderley, and his 1980 to 1990 tenure with Phil Woods. Since leaving Woods, Galper has been touring with his own trio, and also works as an educator, composer and writer.

Crossing genres

Classically trained violinist Regina Carter is one of those genre-busting performers who is as at home playing with Aretha Franklin, Billy Joel, and Dolly Parton — Carter worked with all three early in her career — as she is with hard core jazzers like Wynton Marsalis and Max Roach. In 2006, she was awarded a MacArthur Fellows Program grant, which named her “a master of improvisational jazz violin.” Carter’s “Southern Comfort” concert, which focuses on the music of her father’s southern roots, is coming to World Café Live on March 4 at 8pm.

“Celebrate the Great Women of Blues & Jazz,” coming to the Annenberg Center March 12 at 8pm, is described as a “musical tribute to Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and other female pioneers of jazz.” Note that the cast of vocalists, which includes Christelle Durandy and Karma Mayet Johnson, have more of an off-Broadway background than hardcore jazz experience, but all are talented singers with impressive technical skills. Best known among the cast is host Liza Jessie Peterson, renowned poet, playwright, and educator.

International Jazz

Coming to the Annenberg on April 1 at 8pm is pianist/composer Hiromi’s “Trio Project,” ample evidence that jazz has become truly international. Japanese born Hiromi Uehara was classically trained, but after a chance meeting with pianist Chick Corea when she was 17, she pretty much left the classical world behind in favor of jazz. Studying at the Berklee College of Music, she was mentored by the famed Ahmad Jamal and signed her first major label recording contract before graduation. Hiromi’s inventive “Trio Project” will thrill fans of high-powered fusion.

It’s often been said that jazz schools in Israel give their students a better grounding in the jazz tradition than do American institutions. Tel Aviv-born and Berklee School trained saxophonist/clarinetist Anat Cohen is a good example of that, fluent in a wide range of styles. Her work playing the music of Louis Armstrong is absolutely superb. Ken Peplowski, one of the world’s finest and best-known jazz clarinetists, is one of her biggest admirers. "Anat's playing inspires many people,” he recently told me. “You can see that in the audiences' reaction every time she plays. She does an amazing job of carrying on the tradition of jazz clarinet." Cohen and her group visit Montgomery County Community College’s Lively Arts series for an 8pm performance on March 26.