Sweet Honey in the Rock (Photo by Sharon Farmer.)

The 15th annual Healdsburg Jazz Festival will feature the vocal ensemble Sweet Honey in the Rock, a two-day tribute to bassist Charlie Haden and the premiere of the Healdsburg Jazz Festival Freedom Jazz Choir.

The festival, scheduled to run May 31 through June 9 at various venues in the Healdsburg area, also includes an exclusive appearance by the duo of saxophonist Charles Lloyd and pianist Jason Moran.

Sweet Honey in the Rock, an a cappella group that combines African chanting, African American gospel, spirituals, jazz, blues and folk music, will give the closing performance of the festival.

The Haden tribute will will include Carla Bley, Bill Frisell, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Lee Konitz, Ravi Coltrane, Geri Allen, Chris Potter and more.

Bassist and composer Marcus Shelby and the Healdsburg Jazz Festival joined forces to create a choir of more than 100 voices, funded by a James Irvine Foundation grant. The choir will perform with the 17-piece Marcus Shelby Orchestra.

The Healdsburg Jazz Festival was founded 1999 by its artistic director, Jessica Felix.

For a full schedule: www.healdsburgjazzfestival.org.

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