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| Second Annual Harlem Jazz Shrines Festival Set for May 7 - 13 The Apollo Theater, Harlem Stage and Jazzmobile, Inc. have joined forces again to present the second annual Harlem Jazz Shrines Festival May 7–13, 2012. Continuing the mission of the inaugural festival, the three venerable cultural organizations will present a series of concerts and events to celebrate the rich legacy of jazz in the uptown community. Bringing both established and emerging artists to famed Harlem venues, the festival will pay tribute to Club Harlem, Clark Monroe's Uptown House, Havana San Juan Club, Small's Paradise, Minton's Playhouse, Showman's Café, Park Palace, Lenox Lounge and the Apollo Theater. In addition to concerts at jazz shrines, other festival events will take place at Harlem Stage Gatehouse, Columbia University and a variety of locations throughout the Harlem area. Designed to draw a diverse audience of neighborhood residents, New Yorkers and tourists, all events are offered at the affordable price of $10. Concerts are scheduled to allow people the option of attending several events each day, continuing the tradition of non-stop jazz throughout Harlem. Highlights of the 2012 Harlem Jazz Shrines Festival include: • Wycliffe Gordon's Jazz à la Carte – The Apollo's variety shows of the 1930's made a stellar comeback last year under the music direction of composer/trombonist Wycliffe Gordon and the director/choreographer Kenneth L. Roberson. The show returns when Gordon celebrates the world-renowned Apollo with host Maurice Hines, tap star Savion Glover, the Juilliard Jazz Orchestra, vocalist Theresa Thomason, pianist Aaron Diehl, trumpeter Philip Dizack, trombonist/vocalist Natalie Cressman and the Apollo Dancers. • Tribute to Club Harlem: Celebrating Cecil – Three of today's most innovative pianists honor the uncompromising creative force of Cecil Taylor in two evenings of solo and duet performances. Vijay Iyer, Amina Claudine Myers and Craig Taborn will perform at the Harlem Stage Gatehouse. • Small's Paradise: (Re) Created – Jazzmobile will take the bold leap to re-create the legendary Small's Paradise, once Harlem's premier night spot and longest-operating club. Working in collaboration with the Government and Community Affairs Department at the City College of New York, Jazzmobile will re-create Small's Paradise at Harlem USA, featuring the Revive Music Paradise Band, a 12-piece house band backing the famous Small's floor show complete with dancers (tap and swing) and singers recalling the music of Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway and James P. Johnson. Small's Paradise (Re)Created sheds new light on an old tradition. • Showman's Late Night Jazz – A week-long series produced by the Apollo Theater and Showman's at the legendary club frequented by Duke Ellington, Sarah Vaughan, Pearl Bailey, Grady Tate and countless others, continues the tradition with sessions featuring Danny Mixon, Lonnie Youngblood, Lou Volpe, Cynthia Holiday and Sarah McLawler. • Tribute to Clark Monroe's Uptown House at Harlem Stage Gatehouse – Featuring some of the world's finest instrumentalists and vocalists, this year's Grammy winner for Best Jazz Vocal Album The Mosaic Project gives females a place to support and celebrate each other from a musical and social perspective. Terri Lyne Carrington will be joined by Lizz Wright, Nona Hendryx, Ingrid Jensen, Tia Fuller, Helen Sung, Mimi Jones and Nir Felder to construct creative consciousness as "women with voices." • Minton's Playhouse: Legends on the Bandstand – Jazzmobile brings the famed club on 118th Street back to life with a celebration of some of the legends of the esteemed bandstand. Acknowledging iconic contributions are keepers of the flame, including TK Blue celebrating Charlie Parker, octogenarian Barry Harris remembering Thelonious Monk, Winard Harper with a tribute to Max Roach and an artist TBD paying homage to Dizzy Gillespie. Each set will be followed by a late night jam. The three partners are again collaborating with Columbia University to bring humanities programming that will further highlight the cultural significance of Harlem and the Festival. The University's programming includes The Savoy King, a documentary on Swing-era drummer/bandleader Chick Webb, Ella Fitzgerald and the renowned Savoy Ballroom as well as an exploration of the spiritual dimensions of Harlem's aesthetic legacies in jazz. The Harlem-wide jazz festival focuses on the venues, music, and artists that were central to Harlem's cultural landscape from the 1920's through the 1970's and on contemporary jazz artists. Designed to create a resurgence of jazz opportunities in Harlem, the Apollo Theater, Harlem Stage and Jazzmobile will present jazz in all its various forms and diverse formats including jazz dance, concert, club, cabaret and dance events. Through a dynamic range of programming, the Harlem Jazz Shrines Festival will enable the partners to highlight the role that local Harlem venues have played in the development of jazz. "Following a successful and exciting inaugural festival year, the Apollo Theater is thrilled to continue to delve deeper not only into our own rich history, but also into the unique legacy of Harlem as an international center of jazz and culture, " said Mikki Sheppard, Executive Producer of the Apollo Theater. "The Festival is an economic driver for Harlem – it's a collaboration designed to support the artists, partner organizations, local clubs, restaurants and other local businesses throughout Harlem. To partner with Harlem Stage and Jazzmobile is an honor, and it has been a great pleasure to share programming and marketing ideas with these two outstanding cultural organizations." Pat Cruz, Executive Director of Harlem Stage, added, "We are pleased to have seen music fans from around the world, as well as community residents, turn out to celebrate Harlem's jazz shrines and other venues. This partnership with Jazzmobile and the Apollo is an excellent way to share resources while continuing to build upon our mission of extending the legacy of jazz and music into the future through performances of young, dynamic artists." "Jazzmobile has presented emerging artists and jazz giants throughout the beautiful City parks and streets of Harlem for 47 years, but in our partnership with Harlem Stage and the Apollo, we enjoy the special and unique challenge of recreating, reimagining and remembering some of Harlem's jazz shrines, " said Robin Bell-Stevens, President & CEO of Jazzmobile. "Our founder, the legendary Dr. Billy Taylor, would be proud to see jazz flourishing again at Small's Paradise and Minton's Playhouse and to know that during this week-long festival, jazz fans from around the world will be walking through the streets of Harlem 'hopping' from club to club and concert halls throughout the community." Harlem Jazz Shrines is made possible with 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; New York State Funding from Senator Bill Perkins, Assemblyman Keith L. T. Wright; the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation; and the New York State Council on the Arts. Celebrating Cecil is supported, in part, by public funds from the NEA Jazz Masters Live, a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest. 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. Throughout its history, the Apollo has been a champion of jazz and jazz musicians. From the historic night in 1934 when Ella Fitzgerald first won Amateur Night, to performances by Benny Carter, Julian “Cannonball” Adderley, Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Billie Holiday and Cab Calloway, the list of jazz greats who played the Apollo goes on and on. The Apollo Theater’s new vision builds on its legacy and supports both artists and curators, who are African American and culturally diverse and emerging, mid-career and established in their career. The Apollo will continue to present historically relevant work and increase our presentations of more forward looking, contemporary work. About Harlem Stage For nearly 30 years Harlem Stage has been one of the nation’s leading arts organizations, having achieved particular distinction through commissioning and presenting innovative works by artists of color and facilitating a productive engagement with the communities it serves through the performing arts. Harlem Stage has a long-standing tradition of supporting artists and organizations around the corner and across the globe, including legendary artists such as Harry Belafonte, Max Roach, Sekou Sundiata, Abbey Lincoln, Sonia Sanchez, Eddie Palmieri, and Tito Puente and contemporary artists such as Bill T. Jones, Vijay Iyer, Mike Ladd, Tania Léon, Carl Hancock Rux and Jason Moran. Its education programs each year provide 10, 000 New York City children with access to a world of diverse cultures through the performing arts. In 2006, Harlem Stage opened its new home, ¬ the landmarked, award-winning Gatehouse - once the source of fresh water flowing to New York City, now a vital source of creativity, ideas and culture. About Jazzmobile Jazzmobile, Inc., America’s oldest not-for-profit arts organization created just for jazz, was founded in 1964 by NEA Jazz Master Dr. Billy Taylor and Daphne Arnstein. Its mission is to presen write your comments about the article :: © 2012 Jazz News :: home page |