Sybil Gage, labeled by Florida Today music critic Mike Munoz as “the undisputed Queen of local jazz” and chosen by Brevard Live Magazine  as the best musician in Brevard, will be the headliner for this year’s annual Space Coast Jazz Society Benefit.

The event, which raises money for the SCJS Scholarship Fund, will be at 2 PM Sunday March 11 in the Cocoa Beach Courtyard by Marriott. The benefit is open to the public. All seats are $25. They will be sold at the door but seating is limited and it is recommended that you buy your tickets in advance.  There will be free hors d'oeuvres and a cash bar.

Click here for mail-in reservation form.

It will be  Sybil’s second SCJS appearance. She brought down the house when she and her trio played for us in January of 2010. The trio includes Leon Olguin on piano, Ernie Wilson on bass and Dennis Thompson on drums.

Pianist Ossie Wright and his Groove Division Jazz Quintet will headline the Space Coast Jazz Society’s Jazz Appreciation Month  concert on Sunday, April 15.

It will be an encore performance for the quintet, which drew standing ovations in its initial SCJS appearance last January.

The concert  will be at the Cocoa Beach Country Club in Cocoa Beach and will start at 2 PM. Cost is $7 for SCJS members and $10 for nonmembers. No charge for students.  Tickets at the door. Call 453-4191 for more info.

Wright will be backed by Gerald Adderly on saxophone, Bert Bonaparte on bass, William McClenton on drums and Ron Griffith on saxophone.

The Jazz Quintet is one of many Groove Division ensembles that entertain at jazz festivals, night clubs, weddings and corporate  events. It has performed  in Brevard County  at the Crowne Plaza in Melbourne, where it headlined two free Wednesday Concerts  sponsored by WGRV The Groove.

Wright, a school music educator, is a mainstay of the Fort Pierce Jazz and Blues Society. He sharpened his liking for jazz when he was a student at Florida A & M, where he was a member of the school’s jazz-favoring marching band.

Wright’s piano style has been likened to that of Oscar Peterson. In addition to classic jazz, Wright plays a lot of smooth jazz and blues. At the SCJS concert, his group will be performing  straight-ahead jazz out of the Great American Songbook.