WHRO’s Jae Sinnett and jazz quintet take “fun, sophisticated” jazz to the Attucks

WHRO’s Jae Sinnett is performing at the Virginia Arts Festival in the jazz ensemble The Jae Sinnett Zero to 60 Quintet.

Sinnett, a drummer, composer and jazz music educator, hosts WHRV’s Sinnett in Session and The R&B Chronicles where he shares some of the classics and his favorites.

In his upcoming performance, Sinnett will welcome a number of guests to the stage including longtime collaborators Allen Farnham on piano and Terry Burrell on bass; as well as Grammy-nominated trumpeter Randy Brecker and Italian saxophonist Ada Rovatti.

Sinnett spoke with WHRO News Director Mechelle Hankerson about preparing for the night at the Attucks Theatre.

This interview was lightly edited for length and clarity.

Mechelle Hankerson: Thanks for taking a break from hosting your shows to talk with us in the newsroom. You’re performing as part of the Virginia Arts Festival in The Jae Sinnett Zero to 60 Quintet. How did the group come together?

Jae Sinnett: It's usually been the quartet – saxophone, piano, bass and drums, but this time around, for this concert (there are) some very, very special guests. The jazz legend, trumpeter Randy Brecker, formerly of the Brecker Brothers that he led, co-led with his late brother Michael, and his saxophone-playing extraordinaire wife, Ada Rovatti.

Ada is Randy's wife, and the two of them have really created something very special. How they connect with each other in their arrangements, and that closeness like Randy had with his brother Michael — that similar closeness is with Ada.

To have them join the trio of my quartet to make it a quintet is an honor for us. We look forward to playing with the quintet.

Mechelle Hankerson: What’s your favorite part of performing in Hampton Roads?

Jae Sinnett: My favorite part of performing is knowing that people listening are really getting something that makes them feel good with what we're doing.

It's when I look out and I see audiences moving their heads, tapping their feet, feeling what we're playing. It's the feel (of the) the music that's really important to me, because intellectually, a lot of people who don't play jazz aren't going to really understand what we're doing … and that's not really the important part of it. You don't have to understand what we're doing. We just want you to be able to feel a certain way when we play.

And hopefully that's a good feeling, right? You could have the other feeling, right, and you just want to go, “I got to get out of here!” But fortunately, that doesn't happen often with our performances.

That's probably the most important thing with me, in addition to playing with these extraordinary musicians.

They make me better, not just musically, but as a person, because they're such great human beings in addition to being extraordinary musicians.

Mechelle Hankerson: What can people expect at the Attucks Saturday night from The Jae Sinnett Zero to 60 Quintet?

Jae Sinnett: We'll play some of Randy's music, we'll play some of Ada’s music, we'll play some of my music. One word that comes to mind is variety.

There'll be a wide scope of jazz styles. I don't want to go as far as to say there's something for everyone, but you'll hear something funky. You'll hear something swinging. For sure, you will hear jazz. I mean, you will hear some jazz. If you want to hear some jazz, Saturday night at the Attucks Theatre is the place to be to hear some jazz.

Our music is very melodic, it's very rhythmic, it's very cool, it's very sophisticated, and it's fun. Above all else intellectual, it's fun. It's fun music.

Anybody watching the show from the audience perspective will see five people up there really having a great time playing our instruments and playing this music.

The Jae Sinnett Zero to 60 Quintet performs Saturday, October 12 at the Attucks Theatre in Norfolk. Tickets can be purchased online.

WHRO’s CEO and President Bert Schmidt is on the board of the Virginia Arts Festival. He is not involved with editorial decisions.