Woodbridge has joined with four other towns to form the new Middlesex County Jazz Festival from Thursday, Sept 28 through Sunday, Oct 1

The Woodbridge segment of this free festival, on Sunday, October 1st, will feature the Alicia Olatuja Quintet and the Edmar Castaneda Quartet and get started with a few jazz standards from the Woodbridge HS Jazz Choir

Praised by the New York Times as “a singer with a strong and luscious tone and an amiably regal presence on stage”, Alicia Olatuja has been astounding audiences with her exquisite vocals, artistic versatility, and captivating demeanor. She first came into the national spotlight in 2013, whilst performing as the featured soloist with the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir at President Barack Obama’s Second Inauguration. Shortly thereafter, she assembled her own jazz-based ensemble and recorded her first solo album, Timeless (2014).

Intuition: From the Minds of Women, was released in 2019 on the Resilience Music Alliance label. The album celebrates the achievements of a long list of esteemed female composers while offering a musical perspective unique to Olatuja. She is joined by Kamau Kenyatta and Ulysses Owens Jr. as producers and the material includes songs from Brenda Russell, Sade, Tracy Chapman, Kate Bush, Angela Bofill, and Linda Creed.

Upon arriving in the United States in 1994, Colombian-born Edmar Castañeda made a name for himself as the preeminent jazz harp virtuoso. Castañeda brings forth a brilliance that beautifully merges the jazz tradition with a diverse set of styles and genres while bringing unbridled attention to a somewhat unfamiliar instrument: the harp.

Singlehandedly, Castañeda has cemented the harp’s place in jazz with innovative technique and heartfelt creativity from a wealth of formidable collaborations with music titans such as Sting, Bela Fleck, John Scofield, Ricki Lee Jones, Hiromi, John Patitucci, Pedrito Martinez, Marcus Miller, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Ivan Lins, The Yellowjackets, Paco De Lucia, and Paquito D’Rivera.

Bring lawn chairs. Beer, wine, and food trucks available

Time: 3:00-6:30 pm EDT

Free!

Registration