It’s time for Savannah to “Go Green” and celebrate its Irish heritage and culture. On Saturday, March 13, 2010 it’s time for the annual Irish Celebration in Emmet Park – Tara Feis.

This is a great event for the whole family with irish music, dance food and fun. This year, Cathie Ryan Band will be performing.

For more information about the event, visit http://http//www.savannahga.gov/arts

Click here to read more about St Patrick’s Day in Savannah

The 28th Annual Savannah Jazz Festival is held September 20 – 27, 2009 and if you love jazz, you have to come to Savannah for this special festival. Every year the festival takes over the city with a colorful musical celebration of all genres of jazz, from Dixieland, traditional swing, straight-ahead and bop to melodic standards, Latin rhythms and funky down-home “gutbucket” blues.

Savannah Jazz festival offers the best in international, national, regional and local jazz talent. There are many live performances, jam session and also film screenings.

This festival offer free concerts.

For a detailed schedule visit the website www.savannahjazzfestival.org or call 912-675-5419.

Bill Averbach is a seasoned musician with over 30 years of professional music experience. He has performed worldwide and recorded with many well known recording artists not just in the jazz genre, but world-beat, classical, folk, country, rock, and blues genres. He has recorded with many well known songwriters and taken an active role in the development of many emerging new artists. His experience with audiences extends beyond just performance. As a music specialist and lecturer Bill is comfortable speaking to a small room or a large audience exhibiting his candid and comfortable style as a communicator.

A graduate of Bard College, Bill had extensive exposure to the jazz greats of the Progressive Jazz Era. He was fortunate to have the opportunity of studying, interacting, and performing with Roswell Rudd, Karl Berger, Paul Motian, Lonnie Hillyer, Carla Bley, Charles Mingus, Jimmy Giuffre, Leo Smith, Leroy Jenkins, Dave Holland, Martin Banks, and many East Coast jazz players. In addition, as a composition major his formal training included work with world-class composers and performers Joan Tower, Benjamin Boretz, Luis Garcia-Renard, and Eli Yarden.

In Austin, Bill performed with many musicians including Alejandro Escovedo, Butch Hancock, the Killer Bees, Omar Kent Dykes, Ponty Bone, Doug Sahm, Jimmy Dale Gilmore, Marsha Ball, John Mills, Toby Anderson, Will Taylor, Mark Ruben, Bookah Michel, Mitch Watkins, Tina Marsh, Richard Rodriguez, Lucky Oceans, D’Jalma Garnier, Jim Haber, Danny Levin, Tony Garnier, Hoyt Axton, Sonny Terry, Glover Gil, Ted Roddy, Rodney Craig, Freddie Krc, Robbie Sherwin-Jordan, Larry Lesser, Jay Rozen, Burton Greene, Alex Coke, Mike Mordechai, Steve Zirkle, David Levy, Craig Marshal and the Lucky Strikes, Suzanna Sharpe (Samba Police), Suzi Stern, Donna Menthol, Rene Mesritz, David Perkoff, Steve Schwelling, Horacio Rodriguez, Martin Banks, James Polk, and many others…

Bill is also a composer who is constantly working on projects that range from Jazz tunes to film scores to musical arrangements for singers and producers and his Jazz Opera.

Sunday, October 25th at 5 p.m. at Four Points by Sheraton Historic Savannah – 520 West Bryan Street. (Bryan & MLK). The event is free for Coastal Jazz Association members and $10 for non-members. Join and admission is FREE.
For more info call: 912.675-5419 or go to www.coastal-jazz.org

Summer is here and the heat is on. Savannah is becoming hot, hot, hot when when the Fiesta Latina festival returns to Rousakis Plaza on Saturday June 20th.

Live DJ’s and bands will bring salsa, merengüe, cumbia, norteño, bachata, reggaetón and more to the river front. Featured artists include the popular “Serenata Band” from Atlanta, who visited last year, as well as many other local and regional artists. Besides music and dance, the festival also offers arts, crafts and food from different countries.

For more information about the event call 912.238.2032

This year we celebrate the Johnny Mercer centennial. Johnny Mercer was born in Savannah in 1909. He wrote lyrics to 1,700 songs – out of those 100 or so were hits and four nominated for awards. His most famous are probably “Moon River” and “Days of Wine and Roses”. He was a cofounder of Capital records just to mention a few of his achievements.

Mercer in the Squares is a free concert at lunch-time in the squares of Savannah lasting all summer. Bring your sandwich or picnic lunch and enjoy a musical adventure with R&B, jazz, Wednesdays and Fridays 11:30 and 1:30 in Johnson and Wright squares.

The events are presented by New Arts Ensemble and the City of Savannah in conjunction Enjoy Mercer favorites in a summer-long tribute to Savannah’s acclaimed songsmith.

June 3: Johnson Square
June 5: Johnson Square
June 10: Wright Square
June 12: Wright Square
June 17: Johnson Square
June 19: Johnson Square
June 24: Wright Square
June 26: Wright Square
July 8: Johnson Square
July 10: Johnson Square
July 15: Wright Square
July 17: Wright Square
July 22: Johnson Square
July 24: Johnson Square
July 29: Wright Square
July 31: Wright Square

City of Savannah’s Department of Cultural Affairs 912-651-6417
www.johnnymercercentennial.com