SUMMER MUSIC: Blue Curtain returns this month with free performances at Princeton High School Performing Arts Center. Among the participants is vibraphonist Sasha Berliner, pictured here, who will perform on July 25.
Blue Curtain returns this July with three Saturday evening performances at 8 p.m. at the Princeton High School Performing Arts Center, 16 Walnut Lane. Free and open to the public, the annual concert series showcases a mix of Afro-Brazilian sounds, straight-ahead jazz, and contemporary improvisation.
The series opens on July 11 with Brazilian-American singer, drummer, and percussionist Nanny Assis, who celebrates the often-overlooked African roots of bossa nova through his project Afro-Jobim. While legendary composer Antonio Carlos Jobim is often associated with European influences, Assis shines a light on the Afro-Brazilian traditions that also helped shape Brazil’s musical identity.
Born in Salvador, Brazil, Assis is an international ambassador of Brazilian music and winner of the 2011 Brazilian International Press Award for Best Singer of the Year. He has performed with such artists as Vinicius Cantuária, Eumir Deodato, and John Patitucci, and is a master of Brazilian musical styles ranging from samba and the music of Bahia to Brazilian jazz and folkloric traditions from his homeland.
On July 18, Blue Curtain welcomes home Princeton native, trombonist, composer, and arranger Caleb Eckstein and his ensemble, the Caleb Eckstein Boptet. A graduate of Princeton High School, Eckstein went on to study jazz trombone performance and neuroscience at Northwestern University, where he worked with masters including Vincent Gardner and Tom Garling.
The series concludes on July 25 with vibraphonist, composer, producer, and bandleader Sasha Berliner. A rock drummer turned vibraphonist, Berliner moved to New York to study at The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music under vibraphonist Stefon Harris. Currently a professor of Jazz and Jazz Composition at UC Irvine, Berliner has headlined major festivals including Newport, Montreal, Monterey, and North Sea Jazz, and has collaborated with artists including Christian McBride, Tyshawn Sorey, and Cécile McLorin Salvant. Her Blue Curtain appearance offers a glimpse of her latest project, Arts & Sciences, an electric ensemble featuring vibraphone and electronic instruments ahead of the group’s debut EP release in fall 2026.
Visit bluecurtain.org for more information.