Credit: Photo by John Abbott

Credit: Photo by John Abbott

Aaron Diehl will arrive in St. Petersburg with a heavy heart following the loss of his friend and trio bandmate, Grammy-winner Lawrence Leathers, who was murdered in the Bronx.

Hopefully this set as part of the MFA’s Marly Music series helps the 33-year-old virtuoso pianist and composer grieve. At the least, it will give Bay area jazz and classical followers a chance to be up close and personal to a talent who has collaborated with trumpeter Wynton Marsalis (who called the pianist “the real Diehl”), Miami jazz singer Cécile McLorin Salvant, and even the New York Philharmonic. Past Diehl programs have included works by Aaron Copland, Antonín Dvorák and Philip Glass to tunes by Jelly Roll Morton, James P. Johnson and Duke Ellington, so expect to be surprised when Diehl finally arrives on Sunday.

Aaron Diehl. Sun., June 16. 2 p.m.-4 p.m.. $15-$25. Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg. mfastpete.org.

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This article appears in Jun 13-20, 2019.

Read his 2016 intro letter and disclosures from 2022 and 2021. Ray Roa started freelancing for Creative Loafing Tampa in January 2011 and was hired as music editor in August 2016. He became Editor-In-Chief...