Attucks Jazz Club Series Returns to the Attucks Theatre
for Another Season of World-Class Jazz

The region’s destination for jazz, the Attucks Jazz Club transforms the historic Attucks Theatre’s top-floor ballroom into an intimate, neon-lit haven for live music. With open cabaret table seating, a club bar and every seat just steps from the stage, audiences experience the music up close and personal. Featuring an impressive roster of jazz artists from around the country, the Attucks Jazz Club monthly series delivers the energy of a true jazz club, the way it was meant to be heard. Presented by Virginia Arts Festival and SevenVenues.

Curated by acclaimed jazz pianist John Toomey, the Attucks Jazz Club series brings some of the most exciting players in jazz to Norfolk.  A favorite among local jazz fans, Toomey is a dazzling pianist and is joined by accomplished jazz bassist Jimmy Masters at each performance. Toomey’s namesake trio plays with each featured guest artist on the Attucks Jazz Club stage.

All Attucks Jazz Club performances begin at 7:30 pm at the Attucks Theatre, 1010 Church St., Norfolk. Tickets are $30 per performance, with savings available for multiple shows: purchase three performances and save 10%, or four or more and save 20%.

Tickets are available online at www.vafest.org, by phone at 757-282-2822, or at the Virginia Arts Festival Box Office, 440 Bank Street, Norfolk, open Monday - Friday from 10 am to 5 pm. Tickets are also available through Ticketmaster.

Attucks Jazz Club 2026-2027

Mike Rodriguez, trumpet
John Toomey Trio
September 26 at 7:30 pm

Michael Rodriguez is a Grammy Award-winning trumpeter and composer who has performed and recorded with some of the most influential names in jazz, including Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Quincy Jones, Joe Lovano, and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. A member of the internationally acclaimed SFJAZZ Collective, Rodriguez previously toured with Chick Corea’s Spanish Heart Band, whose album Antidote won the 2020 Grammy Award for Best Latin Jazz Album. He has released two albums as a leader and five albums with his brother, pianist Robert Rodriguez, including the Grammy-nominated Impromptu. Rodriguez is also a faculty member at New York University and the Juilliard jazz program and an internationally sought-after clinician.

Dani Assis, vocals
John Toomey Trio
October 24 at 7:30 pm

Dani Assis is an award-winning vocalist and rising star in jazz and Brazilian music, born into a family of accomplished musicians. The son of singer Adriana Quadros and percussionist and vocalist Nanny Assis, he began performing at a young age and was immersed in New York’s vibrant Brazilian music scene. A graduate of Oberlin Conservatory, where he studied with acclaimed artists including La Tanya Hall and Jamey Haddad, Assis is the winner of the Blues Alley Jazz Society’s Ella Fitzgerald Jazz Vocal Competition. He has performed alongside legendary bassist Ron Carter and acclaimed artists including Lakecia Benjamin, Helio Alves, Chico Pinheiro, and Edu Ribeiro, blending jazz and Brazilian influences with his distinctive voice and improvisational style.

Gabriela Allemana, vocals
John Toomey Trio
November 14 at 7:30 pm

Gabi Allemana is a Brazilian-American vocalist from Chicago currently completing her Bachelor of Music in Jazz Voice at Oberlin Conservatory. Raised on jazz by her father and deeply connected to her Brazilian heritage, she has performed with Uniting Voices Chicago and collaborated with acclaimed artists including Yo-Yo Ma and Bobby McFerrin. A 2022 YoungArts Silver Award recipient in Jazz Voice, Allemana has performed at Carnegie Hall and for the United Nations Council. Based between Cleveland and Chicago, she studies with notable musicians including La Tanya Hall, Gerald Cannon, and Eddie Henderson, bringing a fresh perspective to jazz through her blend of Brazilian and American influences, original compositions, and arrangements.

Sherman Irby, saxophone
John Toomey Trio
January 16 at 7:30 pm

Sherman Irby is an acclaimed saxophonist, composer, and educator born and raised in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, who began playing saxophone at age 12 and went on to earn a B.A. in Music Education from Clark Atlanta University. After moving to New York, Irby became a fixture at Smalls and recorded two albums for Blue Note Records, Full Circle and Big Mama’s Biscuits. He has performed and recorded with an extraordinary roster of jazz legends, including Roy Hargrove, Marcus Roberts, Betty Carter, Elvin Jones, the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, and the Boys Choir of Harlem. A dedicated educator and mentor, Irby has served as an Artist-in-Residence at jazz camps and universities and founded Black Warrior Records, through which he continues to champion innovative jazz and emerging artists.

Jason Palmer, trumpet
John Toomey Trio
February 6 at 7:30 pm

Jason Palmer is an acclaimed trumpeter, composer, and educator recognized as one of the leading voices in contemporary jazz. A recipient of the Massachusetts Cultural Council Music Composition Fellowship, the French American Cultural Exchange Jazz Fellowship, and winner of the Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet Solo Competition, Palmer was also named by DownBeat as one of the magazine’s "Top 25 Trumpeters of the Future." He has released 17 albums as a leader, toured in more than 40 countries, and performed with acclaimed artists including Mark Turner, Greg Osby, Allison Miller, Grace Kelly, and Matana Roberts. In addition to his international performing career, Palmer serves on the faculties of Berklee College of Music, the New England Conservatory, and Arizona State University, and previously taught at Harvard University and The New School.

Tom Beckham, vibraphone
John Toomey Trio
March 13 at 7:30 pm

Tom Beckham is an acclaimed New York-based vibraphonist, composer, and educator whose career spans more than three decades. He has released four albums as a leader, including Suspicions, Center Songs, Rebound, and Flower Starter, and co-leads the quartet Cali Mambo with pianist Dred Scott, whose debut album was released in 2024 on Ropeadope. Beckham has performed, toured, and recorded with a diverse range of artists and ensembles, appearing on more than 28 recordings and working across jazz, swing, soul, contemporary music, and film and television. A graduate of Berklee College of Music and former student of Gary Burton and Ed Saindon, Beckham teaches vibraphone and improvisation at The New School and has presented masterclasses and clinics throughout the U.S. and Europe.

About Virginia Arts Festival
Virginia Arts Festival celebrates their 30th anniversary season in 2027. VAF has transformed the cultural scene in Southeastern Virginia, presenting great performers from around the world to local audiences and making this historic, recreation-rich region a cultural destination for visitors from across the United States and around the world. The Festival has presented numerous U.S. and regional world premieres and regularly commissions new works of music, dance, and theater from some of today’s most influential composers, choreographers, and playwrights. The Festival’s arts education programs reach tens of thousands of area schoolchildren each year through student matinees, in-school performances, artist residencies, masterclasses and demonstrations.

About SevenVenues
The City of Norfolk’s SevenVenues serves to link Norfolk’s residents, visitors, and tourists to Norfolk’s rich cultural arts and entertainment community. Besides providing entertainment services, the City of Norfolk’s Department of Cultural Facilities, Arts and Entertainment is also responsible for the maintenance, repair, management, and operation of the City’s seven public assembly facilities which include: Scope Arena, Chrysler Hall,  Attucks Theatre, Wells Theatre, Harrison Opera House, Harbor Park, and Open Air Events.

Media Contact:
Alli Pereira
apereira@vafest.org
757-282-2804