Exit 0 festival brings a warm jazz to autumnal Cape May

The weather will most likely be autumnal, the beaches nearly empty, and the stores on winter hours, but the Exit 0 International Jazz Festival is a good reason to make an off-season trek to Cape May this weekend.

This year's fall edition of the twice-yearly festival will be headlined by one of jazz's most venerated ensembles, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra led by Wynton Marsalis.

"It's incredibly exciting to be able to present that level of artist in the fourth year of the festival," says Michael Kline, Exit 0's founder and producer.

The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra's performance brings the festival farther inland than its usual Beach Avenue haunts, to Lower Cape May Regional High School's Paul Schmidtchen Theater. Marsalis' appearance brings together two strains that have characterized the festival's programming since its founding in 2012: modern jazz and New Orleans artists.

That has included performances by trumpeter Kermit Ruffins, the Rebirth Brass Band, and Dr. John, stems from the decade-plus that Kline lived in the Crescent City, where he worked for radio station WWOZ and as an agent for artists such as Terence Blanchard.

"Being submerged in that culture for 13 years," Kline says, "I definitely try to bring some of that environment here. When you see New Orleans musicians outside of their environment, they bring the party and make it a celebration."

"At this stage of my life, it's a blessing to play with musicians with this much talent," said Marsalis. "Everybody has their own voice. Victor Goines and I have known each other since elementary school. Marcus [Printup], Ryan [Kisor], and I have been a trumpet section for 20 years. And when we play, we're going to be as serious as we were 20 years ago, if not more. . . . We play music of all eras, we write a lot of original music, and when we sit down to play, we're for real about playing."

Marsalis will also help launch Music Connects, the festival's new educational initiative. The program, undertaken in conjunction with the South Jersey Jazz Society and the Community Arts Center of Cape May, will provide 100 free tickets to the orchestra's sound-check for local students, who also have a chance for a Q&A with Marsalis.

Saxophonist and educator Michael Pedicin will also lead student musicians in the newly formed Exit 0 Jazz Band, which debuts at next year's spring festival. Plans are for programs to continue throughout the year. "I didn't want to do educational outreach that just happened during the festival and doesn't feel like it has any lasting impact," Kline says.

Several Philadelphia jazz legends feature on the bill, including guitarist Pat Martino, saxophonists Bootsie Barnes and Larry McKenna, the ubiquitous saxophonist/flutist/poet Elliott Levin, and Latin jazz ensembles PhillyBloco and Conjunto Philadelphia. Casting the net further, Israeli pianist Shai Maestro and clarinetist Oran Etkin will both appear via a new partnership with the Israeli Consulate. Veteran bassist Buster Williams, whose discography includes work with Miles Davis, Art Blakey, and Sonny Rollins, among countless others, will lead his own quartet, and Washington-born keyboardist Marc Cary will conjure the feeling of his adopted home with his Saturday-afternoon Harlem Sessions.

"The fall has a more intimate feel to it," Kline says. "In the fall, the outdoor stages are gone, but there's a warmth that comes from walking along the beachfront and hearing the music coming out of the clubs. The anxiety of the summer season is over, and it creates an energy that people really enjoy."

Inquirer Music Critic Dan DeLuca contributed to this article.

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Exit 0 International Jazz Festival

Friday to Sunday in Cape May.

Tickets: single-performance, $20-$65; full-festival and a variety of other passes available.

Information: 609-849-9202 or www.exit0jazzfest.comEndText