Sag Harbor - The Sag Harbor American Music Festival is excited to announce that the inaugural main stage concert at the Bay Street Theatre will feature the inimitable singer Monica Mancini. Mancini will be performing a concert of music honoring her father, the late composer Henry Mancini. Joining her on the bill is Sag Harbor resident and world-renowned jazz trumpeter Randy Brecker leading his all-star East End band.

This concert kicks off a two-day extravaganza of music, running September 30 to October 1. Created to celebrate American music within this unique community, the Festival will feature many local performers, as well as international superstars such as Mancini and Brecker. Information on all the concerts, tickets and venues can be found online.

Concord Records recording artist and double-Grammy nominee Mancini, daughter of famed film composer Henry Mancini and the notable studio singer Ginny O'Conner Mancini, has carved out an impressive career as a concert performer, appearing with major symphony orchestras worldwide, including the Chicago Symphony, New York Pops, Boston Pops, Dallas Symphony, Seattle Symphony and the London Metropolitan Orchestra.

She began singing early on as a member of the Henry Mancini Chorus, which led to a successful career in the Los Angeles studios, where she appeared on countless film scores and recordings with such notable artists as Placido Domingo, Quincy Jones, and Michael Jackson. Her debut CD, simply titled "Monica Mancini" was the companion to her PBS television special, "Monica Mancini: On Record."

On June 15, 2010, Mancini released her fifth album "I've Loved These Days" - a collection of classic 1960s songs featuring collaborations with Stevie Wonder, Brian Wilson, Jackson Browne, and Take 6, arranged for full orchestra.

To celebrate the release of the USPS Henry Mancini Commemorative Postage Stamp, Mancini kicked off an extensive 60-city tour, followed by sold-out concerts at Carnegie Hall, Disney Hall, Boston Symphony Hall and Tanglewood with John Williams and the Boston Pops.

Composer John Williams writes "Monica Mancini brings her talent, musicality and most of all, love to the music, and proves that the passage of musical genes didn't stop with the Bachs, Strausses or Ellingtons!"

Brecker has been shaping the sound of Jazz, R&B and Rock for more than four decades. His trumpet and flugelhorn performances have graced hundreds of albums by a wide range of artists from James Taylor, Bruce Springsteen and Parliament-Funkadelic to Frank Sinatra, Steely Dan, David Sanborn, Jaco Pastorius, Horace Silver and Frank Zappa.

Brecker's history is as varied as it is distinguished. Born 1945 in Philadelphia to a piano-playing father, Randy's musical talent was nurtured and encouraged from an early age. He began playing R&B and funk in local bar bands while in his teens, and developed an ear for Hard Bop through his father's record collection. "I'd listen to Sonny Rollins, Lee Morgan, Miles' Quintets, Art Blakey, Horace Silver, the Clifford Brown/Max Roach group."

Brecker attended Indiana University from 1963 to 1966 where he played with the IU Big Band and in various jazz groups and soul bands including Booker T and the MGs (Booker T. Jones was at IU pursuing an education degree at the time). As a member of the IU Big Band, Brecker toured the Middle East and Asia for three months on a tour sponsored by the State Department in 1966. He stayed on in Europe for another three months and was a winner in the first (and only) International Jazz Competition in Vienna. He moved to New York City later that same year, where he landed gigs with Clark Terry's Big Band, the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra, and the Duke Pearson Big Band, with whom he recorded two albums. Brecker also began his foray into jazz-rock by joining Blood, Sweat and Tears. He worked with BS&T for a year and played on their Innovative 1968 debut, "Child is Father to the Man."

Brecker left BS&T to join the Horace Silver Quintet. "BS&T was a very structured situation - I needed to stretch out and play." In 1968, Randy recorded his first album as a leader, 'Score' (re-issued in 1993 on Blue Note), which also featured a young and then unknown 19 year-old tenor saxophonist named Michael Brecker.

Brecker's newest release on the Half Note Red/Dot label is "Randy Brecker with the Danish Radio Big Band + Strings."

"The Jazz Ballad Song Book." Just released in July 2011 it's garnering much national airplay. In 2008, "Randy in Brasil," was recorded in Sao Paulo with a full complement of great Brazilian musicians. Released on Summit/MAMA Record in the U.S., JVC in Japan, and on XYZ in Europe in 2009. Chosen one of the Top 10 CDs of 2008 by AllAboutJazz.com, the CD won the Grammy for "Best Contemporary Jazz Album," bringing Randy's Grammy total to five.

A "Tribute to the Brecker Brothers" featuring Randy and recorded live at the Hamamatsu Jazz Festival in Japan with Yoichi Murata's Solid Brass & Big Band was released by JVC Victor in Japan in late 2008. Many of the Brecker Brothers most famous compositions were included, along with famous tunes from the Jaco Patorious catalogue.

And in 2009, Brecker's roots were celebrated with the release of "Jazz Suite Tykocin," a project initiated and conceived by the Polish pianist and composer Wlodek Pawlik, featuring Brecker as a soloist with members of the Bialystok Philharmonic. Tykocin is the area in Poland where Randy's ancestors (mother's maiden name: Tecosky) hail from, a fact that Pawlik discovered while helping to search for a donor for Michael.

As a composer, performer and in-demand Yamaha clinician, Randy Brecker continues to influence and inspire young musicians around the world. He feels like he is just starting out!

The schedule of free music performances taking place throughout Sag Harbor Village on Saturday, October 1, the second day of the festival. Saturday events will last approximately one hour each and will feature musicians in a variety of venues such as restaurants, stores and galleries:

 • 11 a.m. - Escola De Samba BOOM (30-piece percussion) at the Sag Harbor Windmill

 • 12 noon - Eclectic musicians, including Jim Turner, at two to three locations along Main Street sidewalks during daylight hours.

 • 12:30 p.m. - Who Dat Loungers (New Orleans party band) at Old Whalers Church.

 • 1 p.m. - Young Songwriters in-the-round: Leah Laurenti, Sara Hartman, and Alyssa Scartozzi at The Whaling Museum.

 • 1:30 p.m. - Richie Siegler Quartet (straight-ahead Jazz) at LifeStyle.

 • 2 p.m. - Dick Johansson & the Highlanders (Folk/Americana/pop) at The Whaling Museum.

 • 2:30 p.m. Keve Wilson Cabaret Oboe at TAhe American Hotel.

 • 3 p.m. - Caroline Doctorow & The Steamrollers (Folk/singer-songwriter/Americana) at The Whaling Museum.

 • 3:30 p.m. - Vanessa Trouble & Co. (Great American Songbook) at Sylvester & Co.

 • 4 p.m. - Mamalee Rose & Friends (Blues/R&B) at Page at 63 Main Street.

 • 4:30 p.m. - Alfredo Merat (Latin Jazz Fusion) at Tutto Il Giorno.

 • 5 p.m. - Robert Bruey and Julie Kathryn (acoustic guitar/singer-songwriters) at Phao.

 • 5:30 p.m. - Bryan Downey and Mariann Megna (acoustic guitar/singer-songwriters) at Grenning Gallery.

 • 6 p.m. - The Montauk Project (rock) at La Superica.

 • 6:30 p.m. - Steve Watson's "Matilda" featuring Darcey (Eclectic Acoustic Jazz) at Romany Kramoris Gallery.

 • 7 p.m. - The Complete Unknowns (Bob Dylan Tribute) at Pomme Café.

 • 8 p.m. to 9 p.m.: "Dinner Hour"

 • 9 p.m. - Official After Party ($10 donation) at Dodds & Eder with Dan Bailey & Living Rhythm (Reggae/African/Ska/Latin)

Performances will take place outdoors - weather permitting, otherwise inside.
The Sag Harbor American Music Festival was created to celebrate the unique community of Sag Harbor through a weekend of live performances of Jazz, Blues, Folk, R&B and Americana. Running September 30 to October 1, 2011, the inaugural Festival will feature main stage concerts at Bay Street Theatre and Old Whalers Church, while local galleries and restaurants will serve as more intimate venues alongside outdoor locations, offering a variety of free performances throughout the weekend. Organizers hope the Festival will become an annual event that promotes collaboration between professional musicians, businesses, educators, and community organizations of Sag Harbor, along with local media outlets and the broader East End community. The Sag Harbor American Music Festival is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and all donations are tax deductible.