IMANI RECORDS ALL STARS / CARNEY'S OTHER ROOM, FRIDAY, 9:00PM & 10:50PM / CONVENTION HALL, SATURDAY, 1:45PM
THE STORY:
Philadelphia based pianist, composer, band leader, raconteur Orrin Evans and his wife, Dawn, founded Imani Records in 2001 as a vehicle for Evans to release leader projects that couldn’t otherwise find a home. The label relaunched in 2018, with the release of albums by saxophonist Caleb Wheeler Curtis and bassist Jonathan Michel.
In creating and operating Imani Records, in organizing bands that navigate streams of expression outside his wheelhouse, Evans drew inspiration from his parents. His father, Donald Evans, was a playwright and educator who self-produced his plays; his mother, Frances, an opera singer who put on concerts in various alternative venues. “I like to make things happen,” is a key Evans mantra. Another is the notion that the broad network of musicians with whom he intersects – including the members of his various bands – comprise an extended family, or village. “I like to connect the dots, get a bunch of people together and see what happens from that mix.”
THE SOUND
Exit Zero Jazz Festival has benefited greatly from Evans applying his entrepreneurial and curatorial sides. Orrin, a Board Member of the Cape May Jazz Festival Foundation, has introduced Artists and projects to the Festival stages beginning back in 2022 with the debut of Philly Jawn. Expect to hear top notch artistry and creative expression when Josh Lawrence, Maria Marmarou, Madison Rast, and Andrew Rosenkilde take the stage.
