Our first CapePOPS! concert of the season is right around the corner on October 21 and 22, and if you don’t yet have tickets, you’ll want to secure them now. “Byron Stripling & Friends” will be packed with American jazz favorites in the great New Orleans tradition. The Barnstable Performing Arts Center is going to swing!

Renowned trumpeter and accomplished conductor Byron Stripling will lead the Cape Symphony orchestra and play his heart out as well. Phenomenal, award-winning guest vocalist Carmen Bradford will dazzle. “I Got Rhythm,” “Sweet Georgia Brown,” “Birth of the Blues,” and other beloved standards will have you on your feet. Who could ask for anything more?

You’re in for a special treat before the concerts, too. Cape Cod’s own Michael Persico of Classic Jazz Visions will give a presentation of the photographs of Jack Bradley, longtime friend and personal photographer of the one and only Louis Armstrong (and also a Cape Cod resident). Mr. Persico will share music, rare photographs and treasured stories of Louis Armstrong and other jazz luminaries of the time. The presentations will begin an hour before showtime.

Why does jazz make people feel so good? “It’s feelings inside coming out,” says Byron Stripling. “People who originated jazz were oppressed, and this music took them from oppression to expression. It’s shouting from the rooftops who and what you are, and the love you have for the world in spite of what’s gone on in your life. It’s creating beautiful art for the world even though it has made you bitter.”

“If I can sing something, or play something that can inspire, uplift people, maybe change someone just a little bit… that’s why we’re here as artists. I believe the theater is a magical place, full of the songs that have been sung there. When people leave, hopefully they feel a little bit better.”

Purchase tickets to Byron Stripling & Friends here.