NARROWSBURG, NY — An all-star lineup of performers from the region will play at Tusten Jazz on Friday and Saturday, October 27 and 28 at the Tusten Theatre and Krause Hall.

The festival is presented by the Delaware Valley Arts Alliance (DVAA) and curated with the creative direction of Kevin Hays and Ryan Keberle.

 Grammy Award-winning musician Hays, who is from Narrowsburg, kicks off the festival at 7 p.m. at the Tusten Theatre with a performance blending his own compositions, improvisations and classics on piano and multiple keyboards. 

Following Hays, New York City-based saxophonist Tivon Pennicott and his quartet—fresh from a European tour—will perform. Pennicott has appeared on Esperanza Spalding’s disruptive recording Radio Music Society (Heads Up International, 2012) and Gregory Porter’s Liquid Spirit (Blue Note, 2013) and Take Me to the Alley (Blue Note, 2017). He has performed at the Royal Albert Hall, the Berliner Philharmonie and at Carnegie Hall.

On Saturday, beginning at 2 p.m. at Krause Hall (on the second floor of the DVAA building), Kazzrie Jaxen will perform “Bolts of Melody.”

Jaxen, from Callicoon, combines the poetry of Emily Dickinson with the compositions of Jaxen’s friend, the celebrated musician Connie Crothers (1941-2016).

At 7 p.m., Tusten Jazz concludes at the Tusten Theatre with first, a performance by Sarah Elizabeth Charles and Jarrett Cherner, and is followed by the Sullivan All-Stars Jam.

Vocalist Charles and pianist Cherner (who hail from Livingston Manor and Brooklyn) will perform their original duo album, “Tone.” The husband-wife duo crafted the project during the pandemic, and it features piano harmonies, intricate multi-tracked vocal parts and subtly placed echoes and effects. 

The Sullivan All-Star Jam features musicians Thurman Barker (from Jeffersonville) on drums, Kevin Hays returning on piano, Ryan Keberele (from Forestburgh) on trombone and Joe Michaels (from Northeast PA) on bass offer a performance to celebrate jazz—a uniquely American art form. 

Tickets cost $60 for a VIP pass, $30 for evening shows and $15 for daytime shows. There is no charge for kids aged 12 and under. 

A DVAA member discount is available.

To learn more, visit www.delawarevalleyartsalliance.org/tusten-jazz/.