St. Petersburg Jazz Festival

Location: St. Petersburg, Fl
Date: March 31 - April 3, 2025

With 15 years of history, the St. Petersburg Jazz Festival is presented by David Manson and the nonprofit EMIT and features unique jazz artists in many jazz genres. Workshops and educational activities are also incorporated into the jazz festival. Concerts take place in the Palladium Theater and Museum of American Arts and Crafts Movement (MAACM) where pleasant acoustic environments and listening are the primary focus.

The St. Petersburg Jazz Festival is sponsored in part by EMIT, the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Arts and Culture, Florida Council on Arts and Culture, City of St. Petersburg, Pinellas Community Foundation and Creative Pinellas.

Tal Cohen Trio

Monday, March 31 at 7:30 PM

Palladium Theater Side Door

"The Tal Cohen Trio manages to combine complex, modern jazz concepts with graceful phrasing, thoughtful development and honest expression. The original ideas, high level of communication and spontaneity of the group is a breath of fresh air and proof that jazz has a bright future” – David Manson, Director of EMIT & the St. Petersburg Jazz Festival

"Tal Cohen is among the best of a very few young inspired pianists I’ve encountered in my travels… Tal’s playing is full of passion, focus and creativity”- Joe Lovano 

Alexis Cole & Helios Jazz Orchestra
Tuesday, April 1
7:30 PM at the Palladium Side Door

“We’ve been waiting for the next great singer to come along, and finally…Alexis”– Swing Journal Japan

Called “one of the great voices of today,” With a dozen albums Alexis Cole has been compared to classic jazz singers such as Sarah Vaughan and Anita O’Day. Her luxurious voice and innovative interpretations make her an instant favorite with audiences of all ages. Cole is the recipient of a Swing Journal Gold Disk award and was a winner of the NY Jazzmobile and Montreux Jazz Festival vocal competitions, and a finalist of the Sarah Vaughan Competition. She records for Motéma Music, NY, Chesky Records, NY and Venus Records, Japan. Her twelve recordings, which feature musical luminaries such as Fred Hersch, Eric Alexander, Matt Wilson, Harry Pickens, Don Braden and Pat LaBarbara, have received high praise in the jazz press and are spun on radio world-wide. In addition to her many performances at top jazz venues like Dizzy’s Club at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Birdland, The Jazz Standard, Blues Alley, and Billboard Live, she’s also performed at Avery Fisher Hall and the Kennedy Center and had been a featured soloist with the Boston Pops and NY Philharmonic.

The 18-member Helios Jazz Orchestra, directed by Dr. David Manson, has been featured on the Clearwater Jazz Holiday, St. Petersburg Jazz Festival, and Ybor Jazz Festival. It is comprised of top area jazz musicians who love the sound of a roaring jazz big band! Presented by EMIT. For tickets, see www.mypalladium.org .

Uri Gurvich-Rodolfo Zuniga Quartet

Wednesday, April 2 at 7:30 PM

Palladium Theater Side Door

“Transcends borders” - LA Times 

NYC based saxophonist, Uri Gurvich, and LA based drummer, Rodolfo Zuniga, have been collaborating for many years on numerous projects and perform regularly in Europe, South America and the States. Gurvich and Zuniga, both composers and critically acclaimed bandleaders on their own, decided to join forces for this special Quartet where they can workshop and present their original, global-influenced, contemporary jazz, mainly evoking elements from their native countries, Israel and Costa Rica. 

Since their arrival in New York and Los Angeles, Uri and Rodolfo have individually collaborated with many notable jazz artists such as: Esperanza Spalding, John Zorn, Billy Cobham, Mingus Big Band, Lionel Loueke, Elio Villafranca, Avishai Cohen, Jorge Rossy, Paquito D'Rivera, Uri Caine, Anat Cohen, Gary Campbell, Ira Sullivan, Bill Mays, Stephen Scott, Troy Roberts, Bill Cunliffe, Martin Bejerano, Camila Meza, John Hart, Michael Dease, and many others. 

The Pershounin Quartet

Thursday, April 3 at 7:30 PM

Museum of American Arts and Crafts Movement (MAACM)

Bassist Alex Pershounin brings his world-class Pershounin Quartet to St. Petersburg for a unique concert of his original compositions inspired from Latin, Jazz, World and Folk music. Artists on this concert include Alex Pershounin (bass), Ben Grier (saxophones), Edward White (guitar) and Tim Murray (drums & percussion). The program includes works like "Tales of the East" transporting the audience into the West African polyrhythmic environment, exploring multiple meters and microtonal melodies inspired by the mugham techniques of the Azerbaijani tradition."Song for Daniel" draws upon the rhythmically driving texture of the Brazilian samba while “Chernie” is inspired by Russian folk music fusing improvisation with progressive tempo acceleration and intensity.

Alexander Pershounin has been hailed as a versatile virtuoso bassist equally fluent in classical, jazz, and commercial music settings. He has performed on Montreaux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, Pori Jazz Festival in Finland, Europe’s Jazz Contest in Belgium, and New Orleans Jazz Fest, among many others. His performing credits include Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Golson, Bob Berg and Ray Charles to Itzhac Perlman and Yo Yo Ma. He also has recorded several commercially released albums as a soloist and ensemble musician. Dr. Pershounin teaches bass at the University of Florida. 



Admission is $30 in advance, $35 at the door available at the MAACM website: https://my.museumaacm.org/2495/2860

Would you like to be part of this new Florida jazz tradition? Contact Director David Manson to talk with him about concerts and sponsorship: mansond@spcollege.edu