Two first-call soloists – Sherman Irby and Elio Villafranca – are set to premiere new works and arrangements on February 20 and 21 in Jazz at Lincoln Center’s The Appel Room (Frederick P. Rose Hall, Broadway at 60th Street, New York, New York), taking us on a journey through North America and the Caribbean.
For Journey Through Swing, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra saxophonist Sherman Irby explores the migration, development, and evolution of jazz through the lens of swing. Irby first performed with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra in 1995, making his mark with Roy Hargrove and Elvin Jones along the way. Highlighting important and differing regions of jazz, Irby will cover Chicago (Gene Ammons and Johnny Griffin), Kansas City (Count Basie and Charlie Parker), West Coast cool jazz (Chet Baker and Dave Brubeck), New Orleans (Buddy Bolden and Jelly Roll Morton), New York City (Art Blakey, Horace Silver, and Freddie Hubbard), and more. When speaking of these imperative locales of jazz, Irby correlates, “Just as English has many different dialects, jazz has its own various styles relating to its home regions.” An impressive lineup of sidemen join Irby for these shows: Victor Goines on tenor saxophone and clarinet; Bruce Harris on trumpet, Vincent Gardner on trombone, Eli Bishop on violin, James Chirillo on guitar, banjo and steel, Charles Craig, Sr. on piano, Gerald Cannon on bass, and Alvester Garnett on drums. Sherman Irby’s Journey Through Swing performances will take place in The Appel Room on February 20 at 7pm and February 21 at 9:30pm.
An artist who incorporates elements of Bebo Valdés, Perez Prado, and Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Elio Villafranca is a leading voice of music today and part of an extraordinary lineage of Cuban pianists. He possesses a unique gift of conceptualizing projects that fuse the jazz idiom with his extensive knowledge of percussion and Latin rhythms. For Music of the Caribbean, along with his band the Jass Syncopators, Villafranca will present The Suite of the Caribbean, a debut work focusing on the influences of the Congolese traditions of rhythms, melodies, and dances through the music of Puerto Rico, Santo Domingo, Haiti, and Jamaica. Via this four-movement work with Congolese drumming and costumed dancers, Villafranca will showcase unifying elements of these islands, which share similar cultures despite their diverse histories. Villafranca is joined by his band, Jass Syncopators, and special guests legendary trumpeter Jon Faddis and rising-star cellist and vocalist Leyla McCalla. Elio Villafranca’s Suite of the Caribbean premieres in The Appel Room on February 20 at 9:30pm and February 21 at 7pm.
These concerts will stream live in high-definition audio and video for free to a global audience via jazz.org/live. The concerts will also be available on Livestream’s mobile and connected TV applications with real-time DVR, chat, photos and other materials available to fans worldwide.
Jazz at Lincoln Center’s 2014–15 Concert and Education Season features a season-long journey “through the Americas.” Through a diverse array of concerts and programs, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s 27th season will explore how jazz has both integrated and influenced the rich musical traditions of the Caribbean and North, South, and Central America. Click here for the complete season schedule.
Tickets for Sherman Irby’s Journey Through Swing and Elio Villafranca’s Music of the Caribbean in The Appel Room start at $45. Tickets can be purchased through jazz.org 24 hours a day 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).
Note: Hot Seats, $10 seats for select 9:30pm performances in The Appel Room (excluding Jazz & Popular Song concerts), are available for purchase to the general public on the Wednesday prior to each performance. Subject to availability. Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Hot Seats Ticket Discount Program is supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
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