Dot ensembles to be showcased at South End’s outdoor jazz fest

Two Dorchester youth ensembles will be performing this Saturday during the climax of the 11th annual Berklee Bean Town Jazz Festival, a massive free South End bash which tens of thousands are expected to attend.

“Boston’s biggest block party” (running from noon to 6 p.m. on September 24) starts on the corner of Mass Ave. and Columbus Ave. This year’s festival, which celebrates global music and global responsibility (recycling and composting), features three stages with performances from over 15 acts.

The Blue Hill Boys and Girls Club and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Dorchester (BGC) will be among eight local teen groups appearing in the “Music Clubhouse Youth Showcase,” which starts at noon on the Natixis Global Asset Management Stage.

The music director for the Dorchester Music Clubhouse is Dot native and resident Ayeisha Mathis. A former Berklee City Music student, she was among Berklee president Roger Brown’s first group of “presidential scholars.”

“As a young musician I performed at the Beantown Jazz Festival on several occasions,” she recalls. “It was experiences like those that drove me to work harder to become a professional musician so that I could experience moments like that all of the time.”

As soon as Mathis graduated from Berklee, she went on to work for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Dorchester. Now she mentors teens from her neighborhood to feel what she felt and to achieve what she achieved.

“I believe the experience these young musicians will get from performing at the Beantown Jazz Festival will allow them to feel what it would be like to perform as ‘real artist’ and ‘real musicians.’ It also shows them that diligence will lead to great opportunities.”

The following members of Clubhouse AllStarrz have been rehearsing their 7 minute set for about 8 months: Jala Bennett (14) vocalist; Emily Carvalho (15) vocalist; Isaiah Shephard (12) vocalist; Ronnie Shephard (16) keyboardist; Manny Brandao (14) bassist, drummer; Dashawn Borden (11) percussionist; and Shane Kelly (14), guitarist.

Blue Hill Music Director Rick Aggeler, who graduated from Berklee in 2007, has been running the Studio Heat program at the Talbot Avenue facility. His recording artists-in-training include the following: Javon “Yung Fresh” Martin (15) Rapper/Drummer; Josiah White (12) Rapper; Eche “Obama” Onamura (11) Rapper; Tony Henry (16) Vocalist/Pianist; Alize Cabral (15) Vocalist; Isaiah Lauture Rapper/Bassist ; Andy Mottley (12) Drummer/Bassist; Mario Simon (12) Pianist/Guitarist ; and Akeylah Roscoe Hunter (12) Pianist/Rapper.

Among the professionals appearing at the festival are Bernie Worrell, Oleta Adams, Rafael Zaldivar, Pablo Ablanedo, Louis Hayes, Marcus Santos and Bloco AfroBrazil. Berklee faculty, students and alums also feature prominently. View the full schedule at beantownjazz.org.