Bill Cunliffe trio members, from left, Cunliffe, Martin Wind and Tim Horner

Grammy Award winner and two-time Emmy nominated jazz pianist Bill Cunliffe headlines the 2011 Mānoa Jazz and Heritage Festival Sept. 24 under the stars at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Andrews Outdoor Theatre.

1989 winner of the $10,000 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano Award, Cunliffe is known for his swinging, lyrical playing style and inventive compositions and arrangements. He played and arranged for Buddy Rich, toured Europe with Frank Sinatra and performed with Ray Brown, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Benny Golson, Woody Shaw and James Moody. He has released a dozen CDs, most recently Blues and the Abstract Truth, Take 2, which reached #2 in the JazzWeek radio polls. He is collaborating with producer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on a documentary about jazz and basketball in Harlem in the 1930s.

The Bill Cunliffe Trio also performs at the UH Hilo Performing Arts Center on Friday, Sept. 23. See the center website or call (808) 974-7310 9 a.m.–1 p.m. Tuesday–Friday for ticket information.

The trio includes world-class musicians Tim Horner on drums and Martin Wind on bass. Joining them on the Mānoa Jazz and Heritage Festival program will be the Dean Taba Quintet, featuring Dean Taba on bass, Tim Tsukiyama on saxophone, DeShannon Higa on trumpet, Noel Okimoto on percussion and Kyle Matsuda on piano.

The UH Mānoa Jazz Ensemble under the direction of Reggie Padilla will open the show at 6 p.m.

Gates open at 5:30 p.m. Food and drink will be available for purchase or concertgoers can bring their own picnics and coolers (no alcoholic beverages or glass containers). Purchase tickets online, at any UH ticket outlet or by calling (808) 944-2697. For more information, visit the Outreach College website.

Friends of Mānoa Jazz are invited to a pre-concert blast for pupu, drinks, a chance to talk to the artists backstage, tickets with first choice of concert seating and a free Mānoa Jazz T-shirt. Participation is limited to the first 50 friends; call (808) 956-8246 for information.

This Outreach College Mānoa Arts and Minds event is part of a Performing Arts Presenters of Hawaiʻi tour sponsored in part by Baus Engineering, with funding provided by the City and County of Honolulu, Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority and the Hawaiʻi State Foundation on Culture and the Arts.

Tags: Andrews Outdoor Theatre, Hilo Performing Arts Center, music, Outreach College, UH Hilo, UH Manoa