Il Jazz cat club Ascona closes the year with an event that combines Christmas atmosphere, African-American tradition and the vitality of contemporary gospel. Monday, December 15, 2025, at 8:30 p.m., the Cat Theater will welcome Nathan Mitchell together with the vocal group The Voices of Inspiration, protagonists of a concert that is part of the long collaboration with Free Green Music of Bibo Verda, an organization that celebrates the 35th anniversary of the festival Gospel & SpiritualsTickets and information are available on official club website.
The return of gospel to Ascona
The club's Christmas program maintains the style that has made its artistic choices recognizable over the years: uniting diverse traditions and giving space to artists capable of expressing music as a collective experience. Mitchell, an American composer, singer, producer, and keyboardist, arrives in Ticino after a series of European tours that confirm his growing success in the gospel-soul scene.
His artistic career has been marked by numerous awards: a Grammy nomination, three NAACP Image Award nominations, and a constant presence on the Billboard charts, where he has placed ten songs in the Top 30, three of which reached number one. Projects such as For All Eternity e Smooth Groove have significantly contributed to defining his identity between smooth jazz, soul and contemporary spirituality.
A career rooted in African-American tradition
Mitchell brings with him a musical background developed in the churches of Tampa, Florida, where he learned to view gospel as a form of sharing, testimony, and celebration. His charisma and ability to connect with audiences are among the most recognized traits of his live work, which has seen him collaborate with artists such as Najee, Kirk Whalum, Norman Brown, Irene Cara, and Dawn Robinson.
In Ascona, he will perform both as a singer and pianist, offering a selection of songs that span traditional gospel, modern soul, and spiritually inclined R&B, with dynamic arrangements and a clearly defined choral dimension.
The voices that shape the sound
Contributing to the evening's soundscape will be The Voices of Inspiration Singers, an ensemble composed of Natisha Johnson (tenor), Mariah Adams (alto), Sabrina Byrd (soprano), and Sierra Amore (soprano and alto). Their voices, intertwined in harmonies typical of African-American tradition, are an integral part of Mitchell's artistic project, with whom they share training, musical language, and stagecraft.
The concert program features a mix of energetic songs, engaging grooves, and intense vocal performances, creating an atmosphere of celebration, reflection, and direct contact with the audience.
An event supported by the territory
The initiative is also made possible thanks to the support of sponsors and institutions that collaborate with the Jazz cat club: BancaStato as main partner, the Republic and Canton of Ticino through the DECS (Swisslos), Coop Cultura, the Municipality of the Borgo di Ascona, as well as Ascona4net, Chiasso4net, the daily newspaper The region and the Locarno Culture Foundation.
This setting further confirms Ascona's commitment to maintaining a cultural program that combines artistic quality and audience participation, offering the Ticino community an opportunity to experience gospel music in an authentic and engaging way.
