Legendary saxophonist Kenny Garrett will headline the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation’s third annual Martin Luther King Weekend Jazz Journey concert on Friday, January 17 at Dillard University’s Lawless Memorial Chapel on a bill that will also feature dynamic singer-songwriter and guitarist Raul Midón.

Saxophonist Kenny Garrett (above) and Raul Midón will perform a free concert at Dillard University on January, 17 2014.

One of the most acclaimed jazz musicians of the past three decades, in the mid-Eighties, Garrett succeeded Donald Harrison as the alto saxophonist in Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers and would later go on to join Miles Davis’ band. A perennial name on Downbeat Magazine’s year-end readers poll, Garrett’s solo work has garnered him six Grammy nominations, including a nod this year for his album Pushing the World Away. In 2010, Garrett took home a coveted, gold gramophone from the association as a member of the post-bop super group Five Peace Band, a feat he shared with bandmates Chick Corea, John McLaughlin, Kenny Garrett, Christian McBride and Vinnie Colaiuta, for its eponymous live album.

Blind from infantcy, the prodigously talented singer and guitarist Raul Midón — who also has a knack for emulating the sounds of a trumpet — has accompanied everyone from international star Julio Iglesias to hip-hop heavyweight Snoop Dogg to jazz giant Marcus Miller to pop playboy Jazon Mraz to queen diva Christina Aguilera across his career. In addition to his long list of credits, Midón has released seven albums himself, most recently 2012’s Invisible Chains Live from NYC.

The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation’ third annual Martin Luther King Weekend Jazz Journey featuring Kenny Garrett and Raul Midón is free to attend; however, seating is limits and cannot be reserved in advance. Dillard University’s Lawless Memorial Chapel is located at 2601 Gentilly Boulevard (map). Doors for the show open at 7:00 p.m.