JESS ON JAZZ

For the 10th annual Jazz ’N Caz music festival, running from Thursday, Sept. 22, to Saturday, Sept. 24, the climax of the event will center around a major figure not only in jazz history, but one who is also near and dear to locals as a Syracuse native and Cazenovia College alumnus. Oscar- and

Emmy-winning songwriter Jimmy Van Heusen, who wrote more songs recorded by Frank Sinatra than any other composer, will be honored with Saturday’s 7:30 p.m. performance from Gap Mangione and the New Big Band at the Catherine Cummings Theatre, 16 Lincklaen St., Cazenovia.

Theater manager Colleen Prossner felt honoring Van Heusen was a natural choice for the event. “We’re celebrating that he attended, how he’s tied in and connected to the college,” she says. “He’s one of the best jazz songwriters of all time and he’s from here. He was playing and writing these songs at Cazenovia College and then went on to write for Sinatra and so many other people. It’s just incredible.”

The music begins on Thursday at 8 p.m. with the return of Colleen Pratt, whose rich vocals will embrace modern and classic pop and Motown tunes when she delivers a free concert on the lawn of the Brae Loch Inn, 5 Albany St., Cazenovia. On Friday, Sept. 23, at the Catherine Cummings Theater, check out the Brubeck Brothers Quartet at 7:30 p.m., with Chris Brubeck on bass and trombone, Dan Brubeck on drums, Mike DeMicco on guitar and pianist Chuck Lamb, followed by Henry Butler at 9:15 p.m. Saturday at 4 p.m. will feature music from the Cazenovia High School Vocal Ensemble, Cazenovia High School Jazz Ensemble and Cazenovia College Singers, with the Mangione concert at 7:30 p.m.

But the jazz doesn’t end there.

On Friday and Saturday nights at 11 p.m. at the Lincklaen House’s Seven Stone Steps, 79 Albany St., Cazenovia, jam sessions will ring into the wee hours. The nightcaps will feature a core keys, drum and bass trio, allowing for community players or Jazz ‘N Caz performers to jump in and add to the groove.

Prossner recalls, “A few years ago when {local piano talent} Noah Kellman was 16 or 17 he and his friends played with the Brubeck Brothers and it was such a great opportunity for them. It’s so special to see old and new coming together in their love for the same music.”

A $10 donation is suggested for the evening events at the Catherine Cummings Theatre. For more information, visit www.cazenovia.edu/jazz.

Climb Ev’ry Mountain

It may be premature for snow, but it’s still worth checking out Cazenovia Mountain, 5251 Rathbun Road, Cazenovia, for Ski Caz Jam 5 on Saturday, Sept. 24, 3 to 11 p.m. The all-ages show will benefit Two Smiles One Hope, a Syracuse-based non-profit foundation raising money and awareness of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. The lineup of jam, funk and tribute groups will include Sophistafunk, Dark Hollow, The Brethren, Lee Terrace, Andrew Greacen and the Massachusetts-based Ryan Montbleau Band, who will celebrate their CD release of Live at Life is Good (Blue’s Mountain Records) at 1 p.m. (For a CD review, visit www.syracusenew times.com and click the “Blog” link at the top navigation bar.)

Tickets are $30, with $60 VIP tickets which include admission and beverages. Children 12 and under are free with an accompanying adult admission. Outside food and beverages will not be permitted inside the gates and no pets are allowed. Gates open at 2 p.m.

—Jessica Novak