JAS Academy Big Band led by Christian McBride w/ Special Guests Lizz Wright & Kurt Elling

The highly-acclaimed JAS Academy Big Band led by JAS Academy Artistic Director Christian McBride will perform the JAS June Experience along with vocalist Lizz Wright and Kurt Elling! The academy attendees the opportunity to perform during the annual Aspen event and to have exposure to the many artists who will perform over the weekend. The goal of the JAS Academy is to identify and assist the most talented artists embracing jazz fundamentally while exploring myriad related & unrelated forms of music at the highest level of quality. While at the Academy, in addition to their studies and rehearsals, students will also be showcased at multiple public performances. Through an inimitable voice that The New York Times touts as, “a smooth, dark alto possessed of qualities you might associate with barrel-aged bourbon or butter-soft leather,” acclaimed vocalist and songwriter Lizz Wright sings with a soaring reflection of the cultural fabric of America. Wright is one of the great modern American singers with an illustrious 20-year career transcending social divides with her offer of love and deep sense of humanity. At the age of 22, Wright first made a name for herself nationally as a vocalist with a touring concert tribute to Billie Holiday. At 23, she signed with Verve Records for the 2003 release of her debut album, Salt, which topped Billboard’s contemporary jazz charts. She went on to record for Universal Music Group and released the albums Dreaming Wide Awake (2005), The Orchard (2008), and Fellowship (2010). On Concord, Wright released Freedom & Surrender (2016) – featuring the single “Lean In,” which landed on President Obama’s Summer 2016 playlist – and Grace (2017). Wright launched her own independent record company, Blues & Greens Records (LINK), with the June 2022 release of Holding Space, a brilliant live album (produced by Christian Ulbrich) capturing a Berlin, Germany concert in 2018. In 2024, Wright released her studio debut album, Shadow, produced by Chris Bruce and executive produced by Lizz Wright on Blues & Greens Records (with licensing/distribution through Lightyear Entertainment/Virgin Music). Wright pens five originals as she celebrates the intimacy of romantic love, loss, community, and healing.