A New Orleans Buffet will “spice up” the West Virginia Jazz Society’s 10^th Anniversary Concert of the Decade on Sunday, April 7, according to the culinary specialists at the Bridgeport Conference Center (BCC).

 

“Jazz music and authentic cuisine have always gone together, especially in New Orleans, arguably the birthplace of jazz,” said Shawn Duarte, BCC’s Executive Chef.  “And that’s the basic plan for the dining and music we’re offering.  Many of the dishes are favorites from past jazz events.”

 

Opening at 6 p.m., the New Orleans Buffet will offer a salad of mixed greens and baby kale with mandarin oranges, spiced pecans, goat cheese with citrus poppy seed dressing, plus antipasti, cheeses, smoked salmon deviled eggs, shrimp sliders and oysters. 

 

Main dishes will be braised chicken with smoked sausage etouffee, blackened cod with crawfish sauce, and fried catfish, with roasted potatoes and succotash. Desserts are beignets and assorted petit fours.

 

The Bridgeport Arts and Heritage Foundation is sponsoring the event, where doors open at 5:30 p.m. for seating in the BCC ballroom, converted for the evening as an upscale nightclub style venue.  There are three acts of music scheduled from 6pm to 10 p.m., with over two dozen jazz and bluegrass artists on stage and in the audience.

 

“Our guests for this anniversary and celebration of great music will be seated with the artists themselves,” added Duarte. “The fans and the musicians have become something of a family over the past ten years, and we wanted as many as possible to get together.”

 

The event celebrates a decade of success for the Jazz Society, and the north central region of West Virginia, recently termed “the best small market jazz scene in America,” by Dr. Monika Herzig, a pianist, composer, author, professor and a recognized leader in American jazz who has appeared annually in West Virginia since WVJS’s inception in 2009, and who has carved out a travel day to perform in Bridgeport on April 7.

 

“I am so happy to be coming to this event,” said Herzig from her office at Indiana University.  “Performing in West Virginia is a distinct pleasure because of great attentive audiences, and a level of hospitality that is truly world class.”  Herzig performs internationally and will leave for an extended European tour the day after the Bridgeport event.

 

The evening will offer a diverse program beginning at 6pm with the JazzGrass Express, followed at 7pm by Decon Blues with special guest, Karen Greene, the Clarksburg native and Atlanta-based saxophonist and Grammy winner. 

 

A grand finale set at 8 p.m. – the Jazz Society Jam – will feature multiple ensembles of the artists who have played for the WVJS over the past ten years.

 

Prominent among the musicians committed to perform are Sharon Clark, an internationally acclaimed vocalist who recently completed a tour of Scandinavia and will be flying in from Washington, DC. Marshall Keys, a top alto saxophonist from Washington, DC, will join Clark, Herzig, and Master of Ceremonies Reggie Watkins, a trombonist and arranger for the legendary Maynard Ferguson (“Theme From Rocky”), and Vince Lewis, guitarist at Greenbrier Resort, in different ensembles and formats throughout the jam session.

 

Tickets are $35 per person for reserved seating for the buffet and performance and are available for purchase from BCC by phoning 304-808-3000, or online via bridgeportconference.com.

 

Major support for the West Virginia Jazz Society comes from the Barbara Highland Fund for the Arts and the Dominion Energy Charitable Foundation.  For more information on the Concert of the Decade, visit WVJazzSociety.com. or email to WVJazzSociety@aol.com.