Blues Alley Celebrates Jazz Appreciation Month

Blues Alley (1073 Wisconsin Ave NW) is celebrating Jazz Appreciation Month with a jazz guitar series April 4 – 14. The festivities kick off with shows by Stanley Plays the Dead, featuring a jazz variation on the music of the Grateful Dead. On April 6-7, Gilad Hekselman is teaching a guitar masterclass. Other performers include Cheick Hamala Diabate, a Grammy-nominated musician from Mali, West Africa, who is recognized as one of the world’s masters of the n’goni (a Malian traditional instrument), and Stephane Wrembel – once described by The New York Times as “perhaps the most creative improviser in Gypsy jazz today.” Additional April programming includes performances by several previous International Ella Fitzgerald Jazz Vocal Competition winners, and local college jazz ensembles.