Greg Abate

Provincetown Jazz Festival

By DAN SIDMAN

Jazz musicians from New Orleans, Florida, New York, Providence, Boston, and Cape Cod convene at the sixth annual Provincetown Jazz Festival, taking place Friday and Saturday at Provincetown High School.

This year's festival commemorates the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and celebrates the resurgence of the New Orleans jazz scene. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the New Orleans Musicians' Clinic, which provides a health clinic for uninsured jazz musicians in New Orleans. The clinic was founded and directed by Bethany and Johann Bultman of Provincetown and New Orleans.

The music starts at 8 p.m. Friday. The evening's performers are saxophonist Greg Abate, vocalist Dane Vannatter, and, opening the fest, New York pianist and vocalist Janice Friedman, accompanied by Chris Rathbun on bass and Bart Weisman on drums.

The festival resumes at 8 p.m. Saturday with opening act the Berklee Rising Stars, Berklee College of Music students Clay Lyons (sax) and Matt Joseph (trumpet). They will be joined by Berklee faculty musicians Suzanne Davis (piano), John Lockwood (bass) and Bob Kaufman (drums).

They will be followed by a musical tribute to New Orleans by Paul Sanchez and Steve Ahern. Sanchez was born in New Orleans and has lived and worked there for most of his life. He has appeared on the HBO series “Treme.” In January, he was voted Songwriter of the Year by OffBeat Magazine.