The 22nd Annual Rosslyn Jazz Festival | Sept. 8th, 2012

The 22nd annual Rosslyn Jazz Festival is set for Saturday, Sept. 8 at Gateway Park (1300 Lee Highway).

This
year’s event, co-sponsored by the Rosslyn Business Improvement District
(BID) and the Arlington Cultural Affairs division, will run from 1 p.m.
to 7 p.m. Admission is free. The festival will feature “Afro Blue, ”
the Howard University a cappella group that made the 2011 finals of
NBC’s “The Sing-Off.”

From the press release:

Afro Blue
was named be The Washington City Paper as 2011 Jazz Artist of the Year,
received a WAMMIE for best A Cappella Group and best video (Nature Boy),
and an honorable mention in the Critics Poll, a professional vocal
group category by JAZZ TIMES.

Warrenton native Rene Marie will also perform:

Rene
Marie, the award-winning, Warrenton, VA-born singer whose style
incorporates elements of jazz, soul, blues and gospel, is a heroine to
many. Given an ultimatum by an abusive husband, she began her
professional career after 40, leaving a 23-year marriage. Since her
debut recording, Renaissance, the singer has evolved into one of the
most intriguing vocalists of our time. With her latest release Voice of
My Beautiful County (Motema Music), listeners will hear her trademark
vocals but will also be struck by the wide variety of songs that she
interprets — from Motown to Tin Pan Alley to “America the Beautiful.”
The CD is a celebration of America’s cultural diversity.

The lineup also includes clarinetist and saxophonist Don Byron and two-time Grammy-nominated saxophonist Joshua Redman.