Jazz Fest 2023: säje
September 2, 2023 @ 7:00 pm
| $25 – $59Orcas Center Presents on Center Stage
Orcas Island Jazz Festival:
säje
Thursday, August 31st at 6pm – EntreMundos Big Band with the Queen and Duke of Samba (Free on the Village Green)
Friday, Sept 1st at 7pm – Martin Lund & The Off-Island All-Stars
Saturday, Sept 2nd at 7pm – säje
Sunday, Sept 3rd at 7pm – Martin Taylor and Biréli Lagrène
Tiered Ticket Pricing: $57, $40, $25
There is an additional $2 ticketing fee
The Orcas Island Jazz Festival (OIJF), Orcas Island’s premier jazz event, lights up Orcas Center for three days every Labor Day weekend. OIJF is dedicated to celebrating and sharing the music of jazz with the Orcas Island community and visitors, to introducing this quintessential American art form to new young audiences through education and performance, and to raising appreciation for the art of jazz in all audiences. As a program of Orcas Center under the artistic direction of Martin Lund, OIJF consistently showcases superb jazz. Each year at this Festival audiences enjoy some of the most highly regarded jazz artists working today.
Partial funding for Orcas Island Jazz Festival is provided by the Washington State Department of Commerce and administered by Washington Festivals and Events Association in collaboration with the Washington State Arts Commission (ArtsWA).
COVID Policy Update: Masks are encouraged in the theatre, but are no longer required.
säje
Saturday, Sept 2nd
Concert at 7pm
The GRAMMY® nominated vocal supergroup, säje (rhymes with “beige”), is the brainchild of vocalist/composers Sara Gazarek, Amanda Taylor, Johnaye Kendrick, and Erin Bentlage. Born out of close friendship and incredibly deep admiration, these world-renowned artists, composers, and arrangers have come together to explore, create, and celebrate the music that moves them. As individuals, each artist has crafted their own notable solo career, and now are delighted to bring their collective voices to this union, traversing a vast array of compelling original material, beloved jazz standards, and contemporary re-imaginings (The Bad Plus, YEBBA, Björk, etc).
After debuting an inspiring and energized set at the 2020 Jazz Education Network Conference in New Orleans, säje went on to tour multiple jazz festivals and clubs from January to March. During quarantine, säje received their first GRAMMY® nomination, for their composition “Desert Song” in the Best Arrangement Instruments and Vocals category. They were awarded the John Lennon Songwriting Contest Grand Prize Award for their second composition “Wisteria”, as well as their first Jazz Journalists Association Award Nomination for “Best Vocal Jazz Group”. The collective also recently received gracious support for their continued work through the Chamber Music of America New Jazz Works grant, the Super Patron Grant, the Jazz Road Creative Residencies grant, and the USC Visions + Voices grant.
Their highly anticipated debut album is expected to be released in Spring/Summer 2023, and will feature new original work and compelling covers, highlighting collaborations with artists Jacob Collier, Terri Lyne Carrington, Ambrose Akinmusire, Gerald Clayton, Regina Carter, and more. The union of säje is rooted in the tradition of joy, curiosity, lush harmony, heart-felt expression, and profound sisterhood.