On May 14—17, Jazz at Lincoln Center honors NEA Jazz Master Wayne Shorter with a four-day festival taking place in all three venues at Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, located at Broadway at 60th Street, New York. Among the most transformative figures in music, Shorter is also regarded as one of the most significant and prolific performers and composers in jazz and modern music. During the highly-anticipated Wayne Shorter Festival, audiences will experience a rare big band reinterpretation of some of Shorter’s most masterful material by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, including many tunes now regarded as standards of our time. For these concerts in Rose Theater (May 14-16), Shorter himself will join the orchestra in celebration of his unique and definitive compositions.
From bebop to fusion, Shorter’s perpetually explorative music played pivotal roles in three essential ensembles: Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, Miles Davis’ Second Great Quintet, and Weather Report. A ten-time GRAMMY® Award winner, Shorter also has one of the most cherished bodies of recorded work, and his broad-spectrum artistry has resulted in collaborations with artists from Milton Nascimento to Joni Mitchell.
“Over the years, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra has enjoyed collaborating with modern jazz masters, arranging their music and performing it together on our stages, from Chick Corea, Kenny Garrett, and Ahmad Jamal to the Sachal Jazz Ensemble” explained Jason Olaine, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Director of Programming. “This year we look forward to an historic union with Wayne Shorter, whom Wynton Marsalis calls ‘the heir to Thelonious Monk’s seat as Poet Laureate of Jazz.’ Mr. Shorter is also one of the giants of jazz improvisation, with a haunting, lyrical sound, and a keen depth of harmonic perception in his playing. He is perhaps the best in the world.”
As part of the Wayne Shorter Festival, saxophone titan Joe Lovano and trumpet icon Dave Douglas will lead their Wayne Shorter-inspired group, Sounds Print Quintet, for two nights in The Appel Room on May 15-16. In Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, an all-star group of younger musicians, led by bassist Russell Hall, takes on Shorter’s early compositions from May 15-17. The group also features three distinctive saxophonists: Stacy Dillard, Tivon Pennicott and Julian Lee.
The complete Wayne Shorter Festival schedule and details:
Wayne Shorter
Wayne Shorter and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis
Wayne Shorter Festival
May 14-16, 2015, 8pm
Rose Theater
Herbie Hancock perhaps stated it best, when it comes to his longtime collaborator and close friend, Wayne Shorter. “He is at the top of his game; he is at the peak. And we don’t know whether that’s the peak or just another mountain.” Shorter will join the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis in celebration of his compositions, which have placed him heir to modern jazz architect Thelonious Monk as the poet laureate of jazz.
Tickets start at $30.
Joe Lovano & Dave Douglas: Sound Prints Quintet,
with Lawrence Fields, Linda Oh, and Joey Baron
Wayne Shorter Festival
May 15-16, 2015, 7pm & 9:30pm
The Appel Room
The musical influence of master saxophonist and composer Wayne Shorter is incalculable. From hard bop to fusion and beyond, his contributions were not merely supplemental; they were revolutionary. Saxophonist Joe Lovano and trumpeter Dave Douglas, prominent bandleaders with highly successful recording careers and distinguished honors, are two leading voices in jazz today. As part of our Wayne Shorter Festival, they will perform with Sound Prints, their Shorter-inspired quintet, conceptualized after their shared time in the SFJAZZ Collective in 2008. Joined by pianist Lawrence Fields, bassist Linda Oh, and drummer Joey Baron, they have formed a unique, generationally-vast ensemble in direct collaboration with Shorter himself. A rare treat, this homage is a continuum of Shorter’s legacy as a vanguard of modern jazz, showcasing both new repertoire and Shorter compositions.
Tickets start at $45.
The Music of Wayne Shorter: The Early Years
Wayne Shorter Festival
May 15-17, 2015 7:30pm & 9:30pm
Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola
Featuring Stacy Dillard, Tivon Pennicott, and Julian Lee on saxophones with pianist Sullivan Fortner, bassist and Musical Director Russell Hall, and drummer Evan Sherman, these young musicians will explore Wayne Shorter’s pivotal role in two of jazz’s most renowned small groups. The group will showcase Shorter’s contributions in the late 1950s as a member of, and eventually primary composer for, Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, and his first albums with Veejay Records from 1959 to 1962. Dance and theater artists Jules Latimer, Jimmie “JJ” Jeter, and Brandon Hall also join the ensemble.
Tickets start at $40 ($25 student cover).
Tickets for the Wayne Shorter Festival at Rose Theater and The Appel Room 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). Hot Seats, $10 seats for select shows in Rose Theater and 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.
For Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola reservations, call (212) 258-9595 or visit www.jazz.org/dizzys. Dinner served nightly. General Admission: $20-$45 (unless noted otherwise); students: $5-$25 with valid student ID (selected sets only).
Many of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s concerts stream live in high-definition audio and video for free to a global audience. 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. This season, Jazz at Lincoln Center also celebrates the 10th anniversary of Frederick P. Rose Hall, “The House of Swing,” which opened its doors on October 18, 2004. Click here for the complete season schedule.
Special thanks to the Rockefeller Foundation for funding, in part, the 2014-15 Concert Season.
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.