Summer@MW returns with Sam Bush, Cecile McLorin Salvant and John Pizzarelli

Grammy Award-winning multi-instrumentalist Sam Bush,  Grammy-Award winning jazz singer, composer  and visual artist Cécile McLorin Salvant, and jazz guitarist and vocalist John Pizzarelli will highlight the third Summer@MW series presented by Music Worcester.

The headline artists "represent a noticeable array of musical styles, including American folk music, Broadway, the Great American Songbook, Bluegrass and 'Newgrass,' Hollywood, and the blues," Music Worcester said in an announcement.

The Summer@MW series began in 2021 and "raised Music Worcester’s status to that of a year-round presenter while also allowing the organization to take advantage of summer touring of jazz and folk musicians/ensembles with which it was never previously able to engage," Music Worcester said. The first two Summer@MW seasons have featured Rhiannon Giddens with the Silkroad Ensemble, Hot Sardines, Boston Brass, Tony DeSare, Trey McLaughlin and the Sounds of Zamar, and the Brubeck Brothers Band.

Bush, a mandolin/fiddle/guitar-playing "newgrass" icon  will perform 8 p.m. June 9 at The Hanover Theatre and Conservatory for the Performing Arts, 2 Southbridge St., Worcester. Tickets $28+ adults; $25 students/youth.

McLorin Salvant won the Thelonious Monk competition in 2010 and has received three consecutive Grammy Awards for Best Jazz Vocal Album. She will perform 8 p.m. July 21 at the BrickBox Theater at the Jean McDonough Arts Center, 20 Franklin St. Tickets $75 adults; $17.50 students; $7.50 youth.

The events feature Music Worcester debuts for Bush and McLorin Salvant.

"American songbook champion" Pizzarelli has been a popular visitor to Worcester since playing at the former El Morocco restaurant's Nile Lounge as part of the El's Monday night jazz series nearly three decades ago. However, his last appearance here with Music Worcester was in 2014. He will perform 8 p.m. July 22 at Mechanics Hall, 321 Main St., Worcester. Tickets $39+ adults; $17.50 students; $7.50 youth (table seating available).

“Showcasing such an incredible range of talent at such an amazing set of Worcester’s cultural venues seemed so logical,”said Music Worcester executive director Adrien C. Finlay about The Hanover Theatre, BrickBox Theater and Mechanics Hall.

Each of the venues "affords a perfect setting to maximize the artistic experience, whether it be the intimacy of Cécile McLorin Salvant’s vocals at the BrickBox Theater, the joy of John Pizzarelli’s virtuoso guitar playing filling Mechanics Hall, or the thrill of feeling thousands of Sam Bush fans respond to his genius at The Hanover Theatre," Finlay said.

For more information and tickets, visit www.musicworcester.org.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Summer@MW returns with Sam Bush, Cecile McLorin Salvant and John Pizzarelli