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| Harlem Jazz Shrines Festival: Geri Allen Jams at Apollo  Connie's Inn, Mexico's, Minton's Playhouse, Savoy Ballroom, Small's Paradise, Monroe's Uptown House … in these unassuming often crowded, Harlem clubs and restaurants the aural alchemy of "Mugicians" such as trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, saxophonist Charlie Parker, drummer Kenny Clarke, guitarist Charlie Christian and pianist Thelonious Monk created angular melodies, complex polyrhythms, daring harmonies and it-hip, slang-centric lyrics, song titles and word puns that coalesced into the modern jazz form known as bebop. The music was forged in the trial-by-fire rituals of musical Darwinism known as the jam session – where musicians would lock horns and exchange ideas, motifs, dreams and schemes.At the Harlem Jazz Shrines Festival, pianist/composer Geri Allen takes the "jam" to new ground with her band, Time Line, at the Apollo Music Café, 253 West 125th Street, on Friday, May 13, and Saturday, May 14, at 10:00 pm each night. Synthesizing a unique artistic voice out of many jazz styles has been Geri Allen's stock-in-trade since she emerged on the scene during the 1980s. The ethnomusicology-trained, Detroit-born pianist/composer/educator worked with an impressive array of jazz greats from singer Betty Carter to bassist Charlie Haden, and released her own critically-acclaimed discs including Flying Toward the Sound, a live solo piano recording inspired by Cecil Taylor, McCoy Tyner, and Herbie Hancock; and a quartet date, Live. Allen holds court at the Apollo Music Café with her group, Timeline featuring Kenny Davis, bass; Kassa Overall, drums; Maurice Chestnut, tap; and special guests Don Byron, clarinet; Jaimeo Brown, drums; JD Allen, sax; and Chris Sholar, guitar. The Apollo Music Café, which debuted in February, 2011, is a new music series that showcases some of the best, underground artists on the cutting edge of music innovation and performance execution. Performances include a diverse mix of live music performance, poetry, spoken word, comedy and spinning DJs. The musical scope of the Café represents the full range of the Apollo's musical history – from R&B, hip hop and world music, to soul, blues, gospel and rock & roll. Performances have been selected by a rotating group of curators, including stewards from the general public. Allen and company will no doubt have the Apollo Music Café swinging from bebop and beyond, presenting the tradition in transition while foretelling the shape of jazz to come. Three esteemed Harlem cultural organizations – the Apollo Theater, Harlem Stage and Jazzmobile – have joined forces to present the first Harlem Jazz Shrines Festival May 9–15, 2011. Celebrating the unique legacy of jazz in the uptown community, the Festival will bring both established and emerging artists to some of the famed venues where jazz flourished in Harlem: Lenox Lounge, Showman's Café, the Apollo Theater, Alhambra Ballroom, and Minton's Playhouse. Other festival events will take place at Harlem Stage Gatehouse, Columbia University and a variety of locations throughout the Harlem area. Other Harlem Jazz Shrines highlights include: • The Apollo Jazz Show: Wycliffe Gordon's Jazz à la Carte, 8pm at the Apollo. Famed artist and composer, Wycliffe Gordon presents a show featuring the music of the Temple University Big Band, with vocalists Carla Cook and Nikki Yanofsky; tap dancer Savion Glover; saxophonist Grace Kelly; and trombonist Corey Wilcox, Director/Choreographer Ken Roberson among others. • Fats Waller Dance Party: Small's Paradise Tribute with Jason Moran & Meshell Ndegeocello – Harlem Stage presents two nights of Waller's music taken to new heights in a social mixing dance party featuring 2010 MacArthur Genius pianist Jason Moran & dynamic singer/bassist Meshell Ndegeocello. • Jam Sessions & Conversations at Minton's Playhouse – Jazzmobile re-creates Minton's legendary "cutting contests" with emerging jazz talents and an all-star house bands curated by T.S. Monk. • Blazing Tongues: The Singers & Writers of Lenox Lounge – Harlem Stage, in partnership with Columbia University's Center for Jazz Studies and Institute for Research in African American Studies, curates two evenings of music and literature. • Battle of the Big Bands – Jazzmobile produces two nights of big bands featuring the George Gee Swing Orchestra and the Harlem Renaissance Orchestra at the Alhambra Ballroom. All tickets for Harlem Jazz Shrines Festival events are affordably priced at just $10 or free. For tickets and more information on the Festival and its partners, visit the organizations' websites at www.apollotheater.org, www.jazzmobile.org and www.harlemstage.org. Log on to www.harlemjazzshrines.com. for updates and additional information. Harlem Jazz Shrines is made possible by generous support from the National Endowment for the Arts and The New York Community Trust – Elizabeth Meyer Lorentz Fund. This program is also supported, in part, by public funds from The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, Council Member Inez E. Dickens, and Speaker Christine Quinn. Apollo Music Café is made possible by generous support from Heineken, the Official Imported Beer Sponsor of the Apollo Theater's 2010-11 Season. This program is also supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council Wycliffe Gordon's Jazz à la Carte was commissioned with partial support through Meet the Composer's National Commissioner's Network and the Baisley Powell Elebash Fund. The Fats Waller Dance Party has been made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts as part of American Masterpieces: Three Centuries of Artistic Genius. About the Apollo Theater The Apollo Theater is one of Harlem's, New York City's, and America's most iconic and enduring cultural institutions. Since introducing the first Amateur Night contests in 1934, the Apollo Theater has played a major role in cultivating artists and in the emergence of innovative musical genres including jazz, swing, bebop, R&B, gospel, blues, soul, and hip-hop. Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, Sammy Davis, Jr., James Brown, Michael Jackson, Bill Cosby, Gladys Knight, Luther Vandross, D'Angelo, Lauryn Hill, and countless others began their road to stardom on the Apollo's stage. Based on its cultural significance and architecture, the Apollo Theater received state and city landmark designation in 1983 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This winter, the non-profit Theater will introduce new programming building on its rich legacy and supporting presentations of forward looking, contemporary music, dance, theater and performance art events. About Harlem Stage Since 1979, Harlem Stage has been one of the nation's leading arts organizations devoted to the creation and development of new works by performing artists of color. Harlem Stage supports artists and organizations around the corner and across the globe. And it provides children and adults with engaging and interactive education programs. Harlem Stage is a performing arts center that celebrates and perpetuates the unique and diverse artistic legacy of Harlem and the indelible impression it write your comments about the article :: © 2011 Jazz News :: home page |