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:: Press Releases
For Immediate Release: February 6, 2007 | Download a PDF of this press release
The National Jazz Museum in Harlem marches on during Black History Month with an array of programming, from its weekly adult education classes Jazz for Curious Listeners and weekly concert series at the Rubin Museum of Art, Harlem in the Himalayas, to its bi-weekly interview series Harlem Speaks,and the bi-weekly performance series Harlem Swings. There are also two very special events—the Harlem premiere of vocalist Allan Harris’s Cross the River band’s musical rendering and tribute to black American pioneers of the West as well as a Dedication Ceremony for the Ella Fitzgerald Black Heritage Series commemorative stamp.
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
JAZZ for CURIOUS LISTENERS
7:00 pm | At the Metropolitan Community United Methodist Church
The National Jazz Museum in Harlem proudly announces the continuation of its free jazz course, JAZZ FOR CURIOUS LISTENERS. Classes are Tuesdays, 7 p.m. — 8:30 p.m., and will be led by the Museum's Executive Director Loren Schoenberg and guest instructors.
Topics covered will include:
- How to Listen to Jazz
- Classic Jazz Albums
- Harlem's Jazz Legacy
- Ellington and The Cotton Club
The location is Metropolitan Community United Methodist Church at 1975 Madison Avenue (NE corner of 126th And Madison). To register: http://www.jazzmuseuminharlem.org/curious.php.
Transportation:
Buses – M1, 60, 100, 101, Bx15
Subways – 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 to 125th Street
MetroNorth to 125th Street
Parking:
If you can’t park on the street, there are lots on the SW corner of 126th and Park, on Park just north of 126th, and on 126th between 3rd and Lexington.
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Special Event: Allan Harris and his “Cross That River” band
7:00 pm | Metropolitan Community United Methodist Church—Free |
Renowned jazz vocalist Allan Harris and his “Cross That River” band will begin their 2006-2007 Chamber Music America Residency Partnership Program Grant Tour of Harlem schools and family centers. The tour is timed to coincide with Black History Month and will run through April 28.
“Cross That River” examines in dramatic fashion the history of African American pioneers in the West through the stories of cowboys, homesteaders, prairie preachers, mail order brides, gamblers and others. Written and performed by Allan Harris, along with a seven piece band, “Cross That River” will be given 14 performances/lectures at schools and family centers throughout Harlem and other areas to help raise awareness of the role African Americans played in the opening of the West.
Transportation and parking the same as Jazz for Curious Listeners above.
Thursday, February 8, 2007
HARLEM SPEAKS
George Avakian, Record producer
6:30 pm | at the Jazz Museum offices (405 East 126th St., betw. Park and Lexington)
call 212-348-8300 to RSVP
FREE |
Harlem Speaks welcomes legendary producer George Avakian. His contributions to jazz have been huge through the years. A jazz critic as early as 1937, Avakian wrote about jazz for Mademoiselle and Pic during 1946-48, helped revise Charles Delauney’s famous Hot Discography when it was first published in the U.S. in 1948 and contributed to both Down Beat and Metronome. He pioneered both reissues (discovering previously unissued Armstrong items from the 1920’s) and put together one of the first jazz albums (Chicago Jazz) for Decca in 1940. After World War II, he began producing jazz records for Columbia, becoming quite influential in the 1950s when he also ran the popular music department. Among the many artists who he worked closely with were Louis Armstrong, Dave Brubeck, Duke Ellington, and Miles Davis, and he frequently penned insightful liner notes. After leaving Columbia in 1958, Avakian worked for World Pacific, Warner Bros. and RCA, freelanced with many other labels, was an important supporter of the Charles Lloyd Quartet and recently celebrated over 60 years in the jazz business.
Friday, February 9, 2007
HARLEM in the HIMALAYAS
Jon Gordon/Mark Turner
7:00 pm | At the Rubin Museum of Art
Alto saxophonist Jon Gordon and tenor saxophonist Mark Turner lead a thrilling quartet rounded out by bassist Joe Martin and drummer Jonathan Blake. Continuing in the sax duo tradition of Dexter Gordon and Wardell Gray, Johnny Griffin and Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis, Phil Woods and Gene Quill, John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderly, these young saxophone dynamos will blow the roof off of the intimate acoustic space at the Rubin Museum of Art.
Box Office: 212.620.5000 ext. 344
Rubin Museum of Art
150 West 17th Street
New York NY 10011
Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 day of the performance unless otherwise noted, and include admission to the Museum’s galleries.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
HARLEM SPEAKS: DUKE ELLINGTON
Part of the HARLEM IN THE HIMALAYAS series
At the University of Scranton, Scranton, NJ | FREE |
6:00 p.m.
“MusicTalk” with Loren Schoenberg & George Avakian
7:30 p.m.
“In Concert” with The Jazz Museum in Harlem All-Stars
(presented with funding support from Diversity Initiatives Program)
John Eckert, trumpet
Marshall Gilkes, trombone
Steve Wilson, alto sax
Carl Maraghi, baritone sax
Loren Schoenberg, piano
Steve LaSpina, bass
Ken Kimery, drums
Location: The University of Scranton Houlihan-McLean Center (Mulberry Street at Jefferson Avenue)
Please visit the University of Scranton website for further details.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
JAZZ for CURIOUS LISTENERS 7:00 pm | At the Metropolitan Community United Methodist Church
The National Jazz Museum in Harlem’s free jazz course, JAZZ FOR CURIOUS LISTENERS, continues. The sessions are led by the Museum's Executive Director Loren Schoenberg and guest instructors.
Topics covered will include:
- How to Listen to Jazz
- Classic Jazz Albums
- Harlem's Jazz Legacy
- Ellington and The Cotton Club
The location is Metropolitan Community United Methodist Church at 1975 Madison Avenue (NE corner of 126th And Madison). To register: http://www.jazzmuseuminharlem.org/curious.php. |
Thursday, February 15, 2007
HARLEM SWINGS concert series
The Harlem Blues and Jazz Band
7:00 pm | At Nubian Heritage, 5th Ave. at 126th St.
FREE
This large ensemble of venerable jazz musicians has performed everywhere from Harlem to Russia, playing in the tradition of the great big bands of jazz. Don’t miss this chance to hear them blow the blues away!
Friday, February 16, 2007
HARLEM IN THE HIMALAYAS concert series
The Jazz Museum in Harlem All-Stars playing the music of Billy Strayhorn
7:00 pm | At the Rubin Museum of Art
As Duke Ellington’s partner in composition and arranging, Billy Strayhorn left a rich body of music that stands as a starlight beacon of achievement in the American songbook. The Jazz Museum All-Stars will play well-known Strayhorn classics led by museum Executive Director Loren Schoenberg on piano.
John Eckert, trumpet
Vincent Gardner, trombone
Steve Wilson, alto sax
Jay Brandford, baritone sax
Loren Schoenberg, piano
Steve LaSpina, bass
Ken Kimery, drums
Box Office: 212.620.5000 ext. 344
Rubin Museum of Art
150 West 17th Street
New York, NY 10011
Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 day of the performance unless otherwise noted, and include admission to the Museum’s galleries.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007, 11 am
Special Event: Stamp Dedication Ceremony for the Ella Fitzgerald Black Heritage Series commemorative stamp
The Postal Service honors Ella Fitzgerald as the 30th inductee into its Black Heritage stamp series. Fitzgerald (1917-1996) was widely known as "The First Lady of Song." Her extraordinary vocal range and flexibility, combined with her gift for pitch, rhythmic sense, and flawless diction, made her a favorite of fans, songwriters and other singers. The stamp portrait, based on a photograph taken circa 1956, is by famed illustrator Paul Davis, who captured the joy and excitement that Fitzgerald brought to her music.
The ceremony takes place at Nubian Heritage, located at 2037 Fifth Avenue, off of 126th St, and begins at 11 am.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
JAZZ for CURIOUS LISTENERS 7:00 pm | At the Metropolitan Community United Methodist Church
The National Jazz Museum in Harlem’s free jazz course, JAZZ FOR CURIOUS LISTENERS, continues. The sessions are led by the Museum's Executive Director Loren Schoenberg and guest instructors.
Topics covered will include:
- How to Listen to Jazz
- Classic Jazz Albums
- Harlem's Jazz Legacy
- Ellington and The Cotton Club
The location is Metropolitan Community United Methodist Church at 1975 Madison Avenue (NE corner of 126th And Madison). To register: http://www.jazzmuseuminharlem.org/curious.php. |
Thursday, February 22, 2007
HARLEM SPEAKS
Bill Hughes, Trombonist/Band leader
6:30 pm | at the Jazz Museum offices
call 212-348-8300 to RSVP
FREE |
Trombonist Bill Hughes, or “Mr. B” as he’s affectionately called by the younger members, joined the Count Basie Orchestra in September, 1953 on a recommendation by the legendary saxophonist/flautist Frank Wess.
A 1952 product of Howard University School of Pharmacy and self-taught trombonist, Hughes had previously performed with Wess in variously sized groups and in a house band Wess led at the world famous Howard Theater in Washington, DC. At that same time Hughes was invited to join the Duke Ellington Orchestra but chose Basie where he would be more comfortable with friends like Frank, Eddie Jones and Benny Powell.
Hughes played the tenor trombone in a three-man section, which included Henry Coker and Powell. This section was at one time acclaimed as the best trombone section in jazz and their names appeared in several polls then popular in jazz magazines. During this period Hughes traveled the world with Basie, including the very first trip to Europe for the orchestra. It was also during this time period Basie was to record several of his timeless hits including “Shiny Stockings”, “Corner Pocket” and the famous rendition of the classic “April In Paris.”
From September 1953 until September of 1957 Hughes performed continuously with The Count Basie Orchestra. He took a 6 year break from touring to help raise his family and returned to the road in July 1963 where he has since remained. “Mr. B” took over the directorship of the ensemble in 2004.
Friday, February 23, 2007
HARLEM IN THE HIMALAYAS concert series
7:00 pm | At the Rubin Museum of Art
New York premiere of a song cycle composed by Frank Carlberg and set to poems by Buddhist poet Robert Creeley.
Now living in Brooklyn, Finnish-born pianist and composer Frank Carlberg has developed a musical vision that blends aspects of Thelonious Monk and Charles Mingus with contemporary classical and avant-garde influences. He has won numerous awards, performed all over the world with the likes of Steve Lacy, George Garzone, Ron McClure, the Either/Orchestra, and Christine Correa, and taught at Berklee College of Music, New England Conservatory, and Oulunkyla Jazz Conservatory.
Carlberg's debut as a leader came in 1993 with Blind Drive. Ugly Beauty, a duo recording with Christine Correa, followed in 1994. A quintet session titled Crazy Woman followed in 1996. Variations on a Summer Day, Carlberg's particularly ambitious 2000 effort, is a song cycle for jazz ensemble and voice based entirely on the text of a poem by Wallace Stevens. Carlberg has composed close to one hundred songs to texts by 20th century poets. His latest recording, In the Land of Art, was released by Fresh Sound Records in 2003.
One of the most significant American poets of the 20th century, the late Robert Creeley published more than 60 books of poetry, numerous essays and articles and more than a dozen books of prose. His numerous honors include two Fulbright fellowships, a Guggenheim fellowship, Yale University's biennial Bollingen Prize in Poetry and a National Book Award nomination.
Mr. Creeley liked to cite the influence on his writing of Abstract Expressionist painting and such jazz musicians as Charlie Parker and Miles Davis. Jazz taught him, he once wrote, that ''you can write directly from that which you feel." His free verse poetry emphasized the personal, the lyric, the improvisatory. |
Box Office: 212.620.5000 ext. 344
Rubin Museum of Art
150 West 17th Street
New York, NY 10011
Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 day of the performance unless otherwise noted, and include admission to the Museum’s galleries.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
JAZZ for CURIOUS LISTENERS
7:00 pm | At the Metropolitan Community United Methodist Church
The National Jazz Museum in Harlem’s free jazz course, JAZZ FOR CURIOUS LISTENERS, continues. The sessions are led by the Museum's Executive Director Loren Schoenberg and guest instructors.
Topics covered will include:
- How to Listen to Jazz
- Classic Jazz Albums
- Harlem's Jazz Legacy
- Ellington and The Cotton Club
The location is Metropolitan Community United Methodist Church at 1975 Madison Avenue (NE corner of 126th And Madison). To register: http://www.jazzmuseuminharlem.org/curious.php. |
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