Free concerts put on by the Jazz & Heritage Foundation during Jazz Fest this year have exceeded all expectations as New Orleans’ Leah Chase and clarinetists Evan Christopher and Gregory Agid will perform at the Jazz & Heritage Center. The Jazz & Heritage Concert Series will take place on both Saturdays of Jazz Fest, with Leah Chase performing on April 27 and Evan Christopher teaming up with Gregory Agid to perform on May 4. Both shows start at 9:30 p.m. and are free.

The April 27 performance featuring Leah Chase is titled “Cabaret Tremé” and will consist of one set only, with doors opening at 9 p.m. The New Orleans jazz singer and famed storyteller will perform songs that interpret memorable events throughout her life, each engaging the audience in a unique way. With an old soul voice full of jazz and blues, Chase encompasses the life of a true New Orleans musician.

Chase was born in the Tremé neighborhood of New Orleans with powerful and famous roots beginning in her parents and continuing deep within her. Her father, Edgar Lawrence “Dooky” Chase, Jr., was a well-known restaurateur, bandleader and civil rights activist. Her mother, Leah Chase, is a celebrity chef and winner of many awards, including the James Beard Lifetime Achievement Award. With a vocal degree from Loyola University and a study experience at Juilliard School in New York, Leah Chase’s pure talent has guided her throughout her life full of ups and downs. Chase expresses all of these rollercoaster of events- marriage, childbirth, divorce, the death of a sister and helping her mother run the restaurant, living in a FEMA trailer after Hurricane Katrina- through her songs and engages the audience in her experiences. She is now a teacher at many different institutions and programs.

Saturday, May 4, “Bechet to Batiste” is the name of Evan Christopher and Gregory Agid’s night of performing. This performance will focus on the influences of Sidney Bechet as well as Alvin Batiste, both exploring the history of traditional clarinet music. Contemporary originals composed by Agid and Christopher will be performed, as the two will demonstrate living traditions speaking to the past and future.

For more about the event of the Foundation supporting it, visit here.