MoCA Westport has announced that its 2021 Fall Benefit, The Art of Jazz, will take place on Saturday, September 18, 2021. The celebration of art and music will feature a silent auction, live auction, and live music by Grammy Award-winning Jazz tenor saxophonist Wayne Escoffery. Post-auction entertainment will be hosted by DJ Mo.

Proceeds from the event will provide critical funding to support MoCA Westport’s mission to build a deeper understanding of, and passion for, the arts by presenting thought-provoking and relevant arts experiences. MoCA Westport relies on financial support from the community to fund its range of events, exhibitions, and outreach. 

The live auction will be hosted by Westporter Dave Briggs, a former CNN, NBC Sports and Fox News anchor. 

Even those who are not attending The Art of Jazz in person will be able to support the Museum through the silent auction, including curated items and experiences from Westport-based small businesses. Bidding will open online beginning September 4, 2021. 

“We extend an invitation to everyone to join us as we celebrate the arts and raise funds to support our mission. We are proud to serve as a community resource, and we deeply appreciate the support of the public, local businesses, and our Board and Committee members in helping to bring this event to fruition,” stated Ruth Mannes, MoCA Westport’s Executive Director.  

“Our organization has a long-standing heritage of holding visually-stunning and lively fundraisers, and we look forward to returning to that tradition,” she added. 

The event will take place inside the Museum’s galleries and will be held rain or shine. Tickets for The Art of Jazz will go on sale to MoCA Westport Members on Wednesday, July 28th and to the general public on Wednesday, August 4th, 2021. 

MoCA Westport thanks Westport Lifestyle magazine for serving as its Exclusive Media Sponsor for the event. A range of additional sponsorship opportunities for The Art of Jazz are available. For further information, contact Cynthia Dempster, Director of Donor Cultivation and Sponsorships, at cynthia@mocawestport.org or 203/222-7070.

About Wayne Escoffery 

2014 Downbeat Critics Poll Winner and Grammy-Award winning tenor saxophonist Wayne Escoffery is one of the Jazz world’s most talented rising stars and in-demand sidemen. In 2006 he secured one of the most coveted gigs in jazz: a frontline position in Tom Harrell’s working quintet. For over a decade Escoffery was mostly associated with trumpet master having toured the globe with the trumpeter, recorded seven CDs with The Tom Harrell Quintet and co-produced four of those releases. He has also been a member of The Mingus Dynasty, Big Band and Orchestra since 2000 and has made several recordings with the group. Over the years he has recorded and performed internationally with the who’s who in Jazz including Ron Carter, Ben Riley, Abdulah Ibrahim, Eric Reed, Carl Allen, Al Foster, Billy Hart, Eddie Henderson, Rufus Reid, Wallace Roney and Herbie Hancock just to name a few. 

About Dave Briggs 

Dave Briggs has lived in Westport since 2008 with wife Brandi and three kids Emerson, Will & Logan. He has spent his career in television as both a sports and news reporter/anchor. His career started in the Black Hills of South Dakota in Rapid City before moving on to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Then came the big-league break in Boston where Dave covered Red Sox World Series Championships, Patriots Super Bowl Titles and a Celtics NBA Championship. Then things took a right turn to politics hosting ‘FOX & Friends Weekend’ at FOX News. Five years later it was back to sports at NBC hosting NHL, NASCAR, NFL and Rio Games Tennis coverage. Like the tennis ball Dave continued the back and forth returning to politics and news, anchoring ‘Early Start’ (4-6 am) at CNN. He also hosted online coverage of the 2021 NCAA Basketball Tournament. Most recently Dave has created content for Moffly Media, creating an Instagram series entitled ‘Connecting Connecticut’ interviewing influential CT residents from politics to media, business and the arts.