Ella Fitzgerald, Nancy Wilson, and Lena Horne famously posed the timeless question: “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?” Jazz at Lincoln Center invites you in from the cold and the crowd to ring in the New Year with swing and style. There’s no city with more allure on New Year’s Eve than New York, so whether you’re having a romantic night out or celebrating with friends or family, Jazz at Lincoln Center is the place to be for an unbeatable countdown to 2015.
Ring in the Swing: A New Year’s Eve Dance Party takes place on December 31 with doors opening at 8:30pm in The Appel Room. Back dropped by the finest view in New York City, hip revelers will launch into 2015 with the help of alternating appearances by Michael Mwenso and the Late Night Session Big Band and Lavay Smith and the Red Hot Skillet Lickers. Now in its third year, Ring in the Swing is a not-to-be-missed event. Dance the night away and enjoy a Southern-style buffet dinner, open bar, champagne toast, and party favors, all while taking in the awe-inspiring view of Central Park. Trained as both a vocalist and trombonist, Mwenso has won various musical competitions, including the Royal Northern College of Music and the Arts Educational Young People’s awards. In 2010, he join the programming team at Jazz at Lincoln Center where he curates and leads the popular Late Night Sessions at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola. Sultry chanteuse Smith evokes a sensuous era of glamorous jazz divas, adding a modern, feminist twist. Whether singing her own compositions or drawing on a large repertoire of classics, Lavay and the Red Hot Skillet Lickers, her all-star 8-piece band, cook up an instant recipe for good times.
Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola ends the year on a high note with a one-night only appearance by the acclaimed Wynton Marsalis Quintet with special guests Jared Grimes and Kate Davis on New Year’s Eve. Rarely seen in New York City, the all-star ensemble features multi-reedist Walter Blanding, bassist Carlos Henriquez, drummer Ali Jackson, and pianist Dan Nimmer, sharing the club’s stage with trumpeter and Jazz at Lincoln Center Managing and Artistic Director Marsalis and two show-stopping special guests. Choreographer, tap dancer and Tony-Award nominee Grimesis a recipient of the 2014 Annual Fred & Adele Astaire Awards for Outstanding Male Dancer in a Broadway Show for his role in After Midnight. Vocalist, bassist and songwriter Davis was named the 2013 “Rising Star” in the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition and has been recognized as a National Young Arts Silver Winner. The performance will be available via live web stream. Click here for the schedule and more information on Jazz at Lincoln Center’s live webcasts.
Tickets:
Tickets for Ring in the Swing: A New Year’s Eve Dance Party are $325 per person including live music, open bar, dinner buffet, party favors, champagne toast, and the best view in New York City. Doors open at 8:30pm. Tickets for the Wynton Marsalis Quintet with special guests Jared Grimes and Kate Davis at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola on New Year’s Eve are $375 per person for the early set (includes music charge, 4-course meal, and party favors). Doors Open at 6pm, and the music begins at 7:30pm until 9:30pm. Tickets for the midnight set are $550 per person (includes music charge, 5-course meal, champagne toast, and party favors). Doors open at 10pm, and music begins at 11pm.
Tickets for New Year’s Eve events at Jazz at Lincoln Center can be purchased through jazz.org or CenterCharge at 212-721-6500, open daily from 10am to 9pm. Tickets can also be purchased at the Jazz at Lincoln Center Box Office, located on Broadway at 60th Street, ground floor. Box Office hours: Monday-Saturday from 10am to 6pm (or 30 minutes past curtain) and Sunday from noon to 6pm (or 30 minutes past curtain).
Jazz at Lincoln Center proudly acknowledges its major corporate partners: Amtrak, Bloomberg, Brooks Brothers, The Coca-Cola Company, Con Edison, Entergy, HSBC Premier, The Shops at Columbus Circle at Time Warner Center, and SiriusXM.