Plan to bring your Valentine and friends to a colorful Second Mondays event benefiting Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium/CBJC at B. Smith’s Restaurant, 320 West 46th Street, Restaurant Row in Manhattan’s Theater District on Monday, February 13th from 5:00 to 9 PM.

Reservations highly recommended (book table under name BROOKLYN JAZZ ) – B. Smith’s 212.315.1100 one week prior to event. For information – www.cbjcjazz.org .

Second Mondays with Kathryn Leary at B. Smith’s is hosting this affair at the fashionable, hip African American owned restaurant. Dine from the culinary treats on the house or happy hour menu (www.bsmith.com). Enjoy the live sounds from Central Brooklyn Jazz in the background.

B. Smith’s will generously donate 20% of sales from the evening to Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium. Your patronage will help CBJC, a not for profit jazz organization, in providing affordable music programs and produce the 13th Annual Central Brooklyn Jazz Festival.

Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium founded in 1999, is an amalgam of patrons, entertainment venues, faith based institutions, community organizations and musicians. Over the past twelve (12) years CBJC has presented an annual spring festival, established a Brooklyn Jazz Hall of Fame & Museum ™ and produced yearly programs that feature local jazz talent. CBJC is a nonprofit corporation committed to preserving, promoting and supporting live music within the underserved communities of Brooklyn.

When Impulse Records began in the early 1960s, John Coltrane was its most important artist. His bassist Reggie Workman honors Coltrane’s legacy with his own African-American Legacy Project, conducted by Charles Tolliver and featuring pianist Stanley Cowell, in a re-creation of the legendary album Africa Brass complete with a full jazz orchestra and 16-member chorus. In the 1980s, Impulse sprang back to life during The Young Lions days and helped revive jazz during its neo-classicism movement. An important young artist of that new Impulse era was pianist Eric Reed, whose expressive playing and deep lyricism has piloted his career to the present. Reed will open the concert with his ensemble Surge, including bassist Rodney Whitaker, drummer Willie Jones III, tenor saxophonists Seamus Blake and Stacy Dillard, trombonists Andre Hayward and Danny Kirkhum, trumpeter Jim Rotundi, and vocalist Andy Bey. They will feature the music of various Impulse artists including Oliver Nelson, Freddie Hubbard, Duke Ellington, Johnny Hartman, Coltrane, and of course, Reed himself.

Free pre-concert discussion nightly at 7pm.

Link: http://jalc.org/concerts/details309a.asp?EventID=2639

212-721-6500, CenterCharge

Save up to $30 on tickets with code “Jazz25”!

$8 fee applies per ticket for orders made through jalc.org and CenterCharge. $2 fee applies to orders made at the JALC Box Office.

Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium founded in 1999 is a not for profit organization. An amalgam of patrons, entertainment venues, faith based institutions, community organizations, and musicians. CBJC is committed to preserving and promoting jazz; making the music accessible to all people. “Jazz is an American art form whose African American roots are overlooked by the majority of educational institutions in America,” said Clarence Mosley, Jr., chairman of CBJC. “Our goal is to create a museum (compliment Brooklyn Jazz Hall of Fame (TM)) to archive and educate the public about Brooklyn’s contributions to the jazz community.”

Mr. Abdullah, educator, composer, and celebrated trumpeter leads many different ensembles. The one constant within all Ahmed’s bands is the ability of his music to touch a chord in the soul of the listener. His group, Ahmed Abdullah’s Diaspora (Dispersions of the Spirit of Ra), mixes vocal styles and poetry into its presentation. Joining Ahmed’s ensemble for Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium’s anniversary celebration affair are: Dr. Salim Washington, tenor sax and flute; D D Jackson, piano; Radu, bass; Reggie Nicholson, drums; Miles Griffith, vocalist; Monique Ngozi Nri, poet/vocalist and Louis Reyes Rivera, poet.

Homage to be paid to, 2000 Brooklyn Jazz Hall of Fame inductee Noel Pointer’s string music organization, The Noel Pointer Foundation, during the festivity. Chinita Pointer, Executive Director of NPF will accept an award during the live music performance break.

Monday Nights at “For My Sweet” Garden & Event Space, located 1103 Fulton Street near Classon Avenue, hosts lively jazz presentations featuring local and international talents.  Was you there July 25^th when The Last Poets made their return to Brooklyn?  On August 8^th and 15^th  Bilal Sunni Ali, former saxophonist with the great Gil Scott-Heron performs with Mark Care-piano; Taurus Matin-bass; Sidiki Lancaster-percussion.  Tuesdays check out Rustik Tavern, 471 DeKalb Avenue @ Franklin Avenue, with Eric Frazier’s Jazz Jam Session & Open Mic. One never knows who may show up to jam with the popular house rhythm section. Eric also performs 8/22 @ “For My Sweet and 8/27 at Rappa Experience.  For locations, set times, other information contact: “For My Sweet” – jazzymondays@gmail.com, Eric Frazier Productions – www.ericfraziermusic.com 

Weekends, Fridays/Saturdays in Brooklyn: Jazzy Jazz Festival at Medgar Evers College, 1650 Bedford Avenue enter on Montgomery Street, continues into its 14^th season presenting free jazz at this community college.  Only two Fridays remaining on this music series’ calendar.  Put August 12^th on your itinerary–Nigerian born poet, guitarist Majek Feshek performs in concert for the first time in Brooklyn on 8/12/2011.  Preview Majek’s sound via this You Tube link, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxWJp0t0PnM

Every Saturday Beareather Reddy hosts Big Eyed Blues at 499 Halsey Street near Stuyvesant.  August 27^th blues vocalist Vinnie Knight performs.  E-mail bigeyed@aol.com for more information.

For information about the Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium call 718.773.2252 or visit www.cbjcjazz.org