Cincinnati native Fred Hersch had just begun his acclaimed Jazz career when doctors diagnosed him with HIV in 1986. Hersch used the diagnosis as a platform for discussion and has subsequently raised funds and awareness for a variety of related organizations, all while becoming one of Jazz’s most revered and innovative pianists.  

Van Dyke Parks is not a household name. His recorded catalog, revered by a cultish number of fans, has sold sparsely yet his influence is inescapably broad. Parks' work as a producer/arranger and the amazing artists he's worked with over the past four decades has cemented his iconic status — perhaps most famously The Beach Boys. Parks is making a rare appearance as an artist at the MidPoint Music Festival, traveling with Clare and the Reasons, who serve as his opening act and backing band.  

Jazz saxophonist Gene Walker, a Columbus native, has been a critical element of that city's vibrant Jazz scene as a solo artist, a bandleader (he fronts both the Cotton Club Orchestra and the Generations Band) and an educator (he taught Jazz saxophone and combo classes at Ohio State University, the Jamey Aebersold Jazz Camps and does outreach to area schools through the American Jazz Experience Program, among other educational programs).  

Jazz trumpeter Jim Rotondi has played with a veritable Hall of Fame collection of players (Ray Charles, Lionel Hampton, Charles Earland, Lou Donaldson and Curtis Fuller among them) and on more than 70 albums over the past two decades, as well as a dozen CDs by All For One, the Hard Bop sextet he co-founded in 1996. His Cincinnati appearance will be as a part of All For One (featuring pianist David Hazeltine), which has become one of New York's most respected Jazz groups.  

Play It Forward was set up to "assist Greater Cincinnati musicians and their families in times of catastrophic need," offering financial support to artists, many of whom have no health insurance. Sunday's show features excellent local Pop Rock bands Chaselounge and Giant Wow as well as a special appearance by pioneering '80s Electro/Synth Pop group Perfect Jewish Couple.  

In the liner notes to 'When I Look In Your Eyes,' Jazz vocalist Amy London's 2007 debut CD as a band leader, radio host and author Sheila Anderson cites London among an "elite group of female stylists, including Sarah Vaughn, Carmen McRae, Nina Simone and Shirley Horn." High praise indeed for a Cincinnati native whose voice has been described by acclaimed pianist (and fellow Cincinnatian) Fred Hersch as "a beautiful and expressive vocal instrument."   

For instrumental Jazz/Fusion/Jam quartet Garaj Mahal, the next logical frontier to explore would be to add vocals to its repertoire. Although the band has utilized vocal melodies as a textural component over the years, the members have never actually sung in the strictest definition of the term ... until the recent release of their seventh album, 'More Mr. Nice Guy.'  

There's nothing out of the ordinary about a band doing a string of local dates to celebrate the release of an album. It is unusual when the album is nearly two years old and the band has to fly in from France for the shows. For Boogie Woogie Blues piano master Ricky Nye, the CD release hoopla is turning out exactly the way he envisioned it, if slightly after the fact.   

If the United Nations is looking for a Jazz pianist, Amina Figarova would certainly fit the bill. Born in Azerbaijan, she played and composed at a prodigal age, then studied in her homeland before pursuing the Jazz performance programs at Rotterdam Conservatory and Berklee College of Music in Boston. Four years after Figarova's 1994 debut album, 'Attraction,' she was accepted into the Thelonious Monk Jazz Colony in Aspen Colorado.