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VOL.37, NO.8
Elders of DC JazzFest pass it on
Baltimore-born saxophonist Gary Bartz, 84, a two-time Grammy winner, will headline at this year’s DC JazzFest. Like
Get MORE from your retirement.
I N S I D E …
LEISURE & TRAVEL
Hop aboard a small cruise ship to see Japan’s lesser-known coastal villages and national parks; plus, plan a road trip to Massachusetts to mark our nation’s 250th anniversary page 26
Singer Vanessa Rubin will perform on opening night of this year’s DC JazzFest. With performances in venues from the Kennedy Center to the Wharf, the annual festival is scheduled for Aug. 27 through 31.
Rubin, Bartz learned from the greats, including Art Blakey and Miles Davis; in fact, he played with them as a member of their bands. Bartz’s parents were his “best supporters,” he said. His father owned a club in downtown Baltimore, and Bartz started his musical education there. “Listening is learning, if you know how
to listen. I actually knew how to play before I got a saxophone. I don’t know anyone who could listen better and harder than Miles [Davis].” Although the building that housed his father’s club still exists, it’s not a music venue anymore.
ARTS & STYLE
First-time authors and old pros are included in this year’s anthology of women writers in D.C.; plus, take the grandkids to The Little Mermaid, and Bob Levey on downsizing page 29
See JAZZFEST, page 33
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Music keeps you young
AUGUST 2025
PHOTO BY ROY COX PHOTOGRAPHY
By Margaret Foster Jazz singer Vanessa Rubin, 68, learned her craft from icons like Sarah Vaughn. Although she couldn’t afford a ticket to every show, she would watch through the window of the club. “Sometimes they would let you in because they knew you were trying to learn,” she said. “I’d go to gigs and sit down with pencil and paper. I’d study them; study what they do in the moment. “They come with all that age and wisdom and all that know-how, and you’re not going to be able to do that at 25…We stand on all their shoulders, all the people who have come before us.” Last year, Rubin visited the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, D.C. to pass on some of her know-how. She and her trio invited students to watch them rehearse before a performance at Blues Alley downtown. “We just sat there like three friends who wanted to make some good music, and we laughed, and we talked and just let the students sit there and watch,” she said. “You can’t teach them how to be in the moment. My ‘classroom’ is performing. That’s the only way I can teach, is through performance.” Rubin will perform on opening night of the DC JazzFest this year. It’s her first appearance at the annual festival, which will take place on Labor Day weekend, Aug. 27 through 31. More than 100 concerts will take place all over town during the festival, including at the Kennedy Center and The Hamilton DC, culminating on the last night at the Wharf in Southwest.
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