A Night of Jazz Together w/ Mike Stern, Bill Evans, Keith Carlock, Viktor Krauss & Tommy Smith

Like the SIMS Foundation, the Musicians Treatment Foundation aims to facilitate free and low-cost health care for uninsured/underinsured players – specifically targeting the hand, shoulder, and elbow issues pro musicians endure after spending years on the road. This pair of interlinked benefits intends to raise funds and awareness for the organization. The party begins at Parker Jazz Club on Friday, with a ripping lineup headed by fusion guitar star Mike Stern, who cut an album with Austin’s Eric Johnson a few years back, and eclectic saxist Bill Evans, with whom Stern played in Miles Davis’ early-Eighties comeback band. Given the dearth of touring jazz acts to our city and the intimacy of Parker Jazz Club, expect this one to sell out. The same musicians reappear at the Long Center on Saturday alongside Austin singer-songwriter queen Shawn Colvin and Wimberley stringed instrument polymath Sarah Jarosz, whose touring band includes guitarist and producer John Leventhal, Rosanne Cash’s musical and professional partner who’s also worked with Colvin. Local artists the Accidentals, Allen Mayes, Luis Angel Ibañez, and Tameca Jones round out the bill, while Sirius XM’s Broadway specialist Seth Rudetsky and Austin City Limits executive producer Terry Lickona MC. – Michael Toland