Looking ahead: Southwest Florida jazz preview

The snowbirds will start trickling back this fall, which means it’s almost concert season again. Here is a rundown of noteworthy jazz events, principally in the Sarasota to Naples territory, from now through November. (I'll freshen this every six weeks or so, right through spring.)

• Friday, September 8 – Singer Tony Bennett at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, Saraasota. 8 p.m. (Postponed until a date TBD in 2018 because of Hurricane Irma.)
• Monday, October 9 – The Charlotte County Jazz Society opens its 2017-18 concert season with a double cocert featuring the Dick Hamilton Sextet and the Mike Markaverich Trio. Cultural Center Theater, Port Charlotte. 7 p.m.
• Thursday, October 19 to Sunday, October 22 – Clearwater Jazz Holiday. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and Postmodern Jukebox are the two closest things to jazz among the seven headliners. Jazz acts include Jon Cleary, Jason Miles with the Music of Weather Report, Theo Croker, Shaun Martin, Mino Cinelu and Gerald Veasley. Otherwise lots of blues, indie rock and vintage Motown. Coachman Park.

  

  Russell Malone

• Wednesday, October 25 – Guitarist Russell Malone is special guest with the Naples Philharmonic Jazz Orchestra in the sextet’s season opener at Artis-Naples’ Daniels Pavilion. 6 and 8:30 p.m.
  

• Sunday, November 12 – A concert celebrating the music of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, featuring trumpeter Dan Miller, violinist Glenn Basham and  11-year-old piano sensation Brandon Goldberg. East Naples United Methodist Church.  3 p.m.
• Monday, November 13 – Pianist Johnny Varro’s Swing Seven in concert. The Charlotte County Jazz Society, Cultural Center Theater, Port Charlotte. 7 p.m.
• Wednesday, November 15 – Tenor saxophonist Grant Stewart is special guest with the Naples Philharmonic Jazz Orchestra in the sextet’s monthly performance at Artis-Naples’ Daniels Pavilion. 6 and 8:30 p.m.
• Friday, November 17 to Sunday, November 19 – Suncoast Jazz Classic at Clearwater Beach. The wide-ranging lineup includes the Bill Allred-Allen Vaché Florida All Stars, Dave Bennett, Danny Sinoff, and the West Coast trad jazz band High Sierra. 
• Saturday, November 25 – Guitarists John McLaughlin and Jimmy Herring’s Meeting of the Spirits tour, Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater. 8 p.m. 
• Wednesday, November 29 – 20^th anniversary tour of Dave Koz Christmas, teaming the alto saxophonist with fellow smoothies David Benoit, Rick Braun, Peter White and Selina Albright. Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater. 7:30 p.m.

Johnny Varro

Several local restaurants (including J.D.’s in Port Charlotte, 88 Keys Florida and The Turtle Club in Punta Gorda, Fandango in Sarasota, The Roadhouse and The Barrel Room at Twisted Vine Bistro in Ft. Myers, and The Side Door Jazz Club at Slate’s in Cape Coral, offer jazz steadily). A variety of Friday matinee concerts sponsored all season by the Jazz Club of Sarasota and the South County Jazz Club also keep things swinging for jazz lovers.