Name: Savannah Music Festival 2023
Start: 2023-3-23
End: 2023-4-8

Savannah Music Festival

volunteers@savannahmusicfestival.org

Savannah

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Celebrated for distinctive live performances spanning American and international roots music, jazz, classical, jam, rock, and blues genres in beautiful, historic Savannah, Ga., the Savannah Music Festival (SMF) is pleased to announce its 2023 season, which runs from March 23 through April 8, 2023.

Tickets start at $31 and can be purchased online at savannahmusicfestival.org, by phone at 912.525.5050 or in person at the Savannah Box Office.

Called “one of the Southeast’s most creative cross-cultural musical events” by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the 17-day festival has been raising the bar each year by showcasing an exceptional cross section of award-winning icons, trailblazing contemporaries and dynamic newcomers. SMF 2023 features a series of outdoor performances at Trustees’ Garden, including two nights showcasing living legend and blues pioneer Buddy Guy on his “Damn Right Farewell” tour with special guests Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Eric Gales, King Solomon Hicks and Jontavious Willis. The Tedeschi Trucks Band returns after a four-year hiatus, and New Orleans jam favorites Galactic teams up with funk maestro Cory Wong and the jazz, R&B and pop fusion of Nate Smith KINFOLK for a special performance.

Classical highlights include the Philip Dukes & Friends chamber music series, led by the world-renowned viola player and SMF Associate Artistic Director Dukes. A concert by the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, also with Dukes and former SMF Artistic Director Daniel Hope, represents a symbolic passing of the baton from Hope to Dukes. Additionally, the esteemed chamber ensemble the Emerson String Quartet makes a stop in Savannah on their final tour, the Dover Quartet performs with Savannah’s own Joseph Conyers, and acclaimed emerging pianists Alexander Malofeev and Drew Petersen give recitals.

Also known for unique artist collaborations, the 2023 festival will offer a number of one-time-only programs and special double bills. Melding world music with Americana, Malian master of the ngoni (precursor to the banjo) Bassekou Kouyate shares a bill with Jake Blount, scholar/performer of the Black string band tradition, appearing with Nic Gareiss and Laurel Premo. Master old-time and bluegrass practitioners Bruce Molsky, Tony Trischka and Michael Daves share the stage with The Onlies, which finds the mentors alongside a young, award-winning string band. Newgrass pioneers Sam Bush and Jerry Douglas share the stage, with Bush’s set featuring the inimitable music of the late John Hartford. Acclaimed jazz violinist Regina Carter offers “Gone in a Phrase of Air,” an original music and multimedia performance that explores the effects of the urban renewal of the 1950s and 1960s. Kenny Barron, Dave Holland and Johnathan Blake celebrate Barron’s 80th birthday, Terence Blanchard & E-Collective perform with the Turtle Island Quartet, and Grammy Award-nominated jazz singer Cécile McLorin Salvant shares the stage with vocal sextet San Salvador.

Always exceeding expectations for festival goers who are eager to discover new favorites, 2023 debut artists include Terence Blanchard, Patty Griffin, St. Paul & the Broken Bones, Leo Kottke, Regina Carter, Sona Jobarteh, Natu Camara, Stanton Moore Trio, Los Lobos, The Alt with Oisin McAuley, Téada, S.G. Goodman, Harold Lopez-Nussa’s “Timba a la Americana” and more. Additional highlights include a Zydeco Dance Party featuring Jeffery Broussard & The Creole Cowboys, a Latin Dance Party with Eddie Palmieri’s Latin Jazz Band, as well as a Cajun Dance Party featuring The Lost Bayou Ramblers.

Time

March 23 (Thursday) - April 8 (Saturday)

Location

Various locations

Organizer

Savannah Music Festivalvolunteers@savannahmusicfestival.org Savannah

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25mar5:00 pmBuddy Guy "Damn Right Farewell" with Special Guests Eric Gales and King Solomon HicksEnjoy a live performance by Grammy Award-winning blues icon Buddy Guy!

Event Details

Award-winning blues artist Buddy Guy will perform as part of the opening weekend of the 2023 Savannah Music Festival.

On March 25 at 5 p.m., King Solomon Hicks and Eric Gales will play separate sets leading up to Buddy’s performance as special guests. This high-energy performance will take place outdoors on the main stage at Trustees’ Garden in downtown Savannah and will feature food trucks, lawn seating, cash bars and more.

At age 86, Buddy is a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee, a major influence on rock titans ranging from Jimi Hendrix to Eric Clapton, a pioneer of Chicago’s fabled West Side sound and a living link to the city’s halcyon days of electric blues. Buddy has received eight Grammy Awards, a 2015 Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award, 38 Blues Music Awards (the most any artist has received), the Billboard Magazine Century Award, Kennedy Center Honors and the Presidential National Medal of Arts. Rolling Stone magazine ranked him #23 in its “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.”

Buddys “Damn Right Farewell” tour will feature The Americana Music Association Lifetime Achievement Award winner performing hits from throughout his career, in addition to his new Billboard #1 album, “The Blues Don’t Lie,” which was released on Sept. 30, 2022.

To purchase tickets, please visit savannahmusicfestival.org.

Time

(Saturday) 5:00 pm

Location

Trustees' Garden

10 E Broad Street

Organizer

Savannah Music Festivalvolunteers@savannahmusicfestival.org Savannah

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26mar4:00 pmBuddy Guy "Damn Right Farewell" with Special Guests Christone "Kingfish" Ingram and Jontavious WillisEnjoy a live performance by Grammy Award-winning blues icon Buddy Guy!

Event Details

Award-winning blues artist Buddy Guy will perform as part of the opening weekend of the 2023 Savannah Music Festival.

On March 26 at 4 p.m., Christone “Kingfish” Ingram and Jontavious Willis will play separate sets leading up to Buddy’s performance as special guests. This high-energy performance will take place outdoors on the main stage at Trustees’ Garden in downtown Savannah and will feature food trucks, lawn seating, cash bars and more.

To purchase tickets, please visit savannahmusicfestival.org.

Time

(Sunday) 4:00 pm

Location

Trustees' Garden

10 E Broad Street

Organizer

Savannah Music Festivalvolunteers@savannahmusicfestival.org Savannah

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28marAll Day08aprVolunteer at the 2023 Savannah Music Festival!Your City. A World of Music.

april

23marAll Day08aprSavannah Music Festival 2023Enjoy 17 days of live music performances and unique artist collaborations at the 2023 Savannah Music Festival!

Event Details

Tickets start at $31 and can be purchased online at savannahmusicfestival.org, by phone at 912.525.5050 or in person at the Savannah Box Office.

Time

March 23 (Thursday) - April 8 (Saturday)

Location

Various locations

Organizer

Savannah Music Festivalvolunteers@savannahmusicfestival.org Savannah

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28marAll Day08aprVolunteer at the 2023 Savannah Music Festival!Your City. A World of Music.

05apr7:30 pm8:30 pmPost-Performance Panel Discussion on the Impacts of Urban Renewal feat. Regina CarterJoin the Savannah Music Festival for a free panel discussion on the impacts of urban renewal and gentrification following NEA Jazz Master Regina Carter's performance.

Event Details

The Savannah Music Festival (SMF) will host a free panel discussion immediately following National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Jazz Master Regina Carter’s 6 p.m. live performance on Wednesday, April 5 at Trustees Theater.

MacArthur “Genius” Artist Award recipient Regina Carter will make her SMF debut with her original project Gone in a Phrase of Air, which explores the impact of urban renewal on African-American and immigrant communities beginning in the 1950s and the displacement of people and their respective cultures in Carter’s hometown of Detroit as well as neighborhoods in St. Louis, Chicago and New York City. In the work’s collection of original and reimagined music of the era, Regina Carter shines a spotlight on what’s been lost — gone in a phrase of air — and finds celebration in the ashes.

The panel discussion, which is free and open to the public, will address the impact of urban renewal and gentrification — both locally and nationally — and will feature first-hand accounts and moving personal experiences shared by three esteemed panelists, including Regina Carter, the former Mayor of the City of Savannah, Ga. and author of From ‘N Word’ to Mr. Mayor: Experiencing the American Dream Otis Johnson and nationally renowned artist Jerome B. Meadows.

Tickets to Regina Carter’s performance are not required to attend the free panel discussion.

Time

(Wednesday) 7:30 pm - 8:30 pm

Location

Trustees' Theater

216 E Broughton St, Savannah, GA 31401

Organizer

Savannah Music Festivalvolunteers@savannahmusicfestival.org Savannah

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