Led by Music Director and lead Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra trombonist Vincent Gardner, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis presents Jazz in the Key of Life on January 15 & 16, 2016 at 8pm in Rose Theater, located in Frederick P. Rose Hall, Broadway at 60th Street, New York. Gardner and fellow members of the JLCO will debut more than a dozen new jazz arrangements of r&b and pop classics from the late 1960s and 1970s.
Among other songs, the JLCO will revisit Stevie Wonder’s “Another Star,” “All in Love is Fair,” and “Smile Please;” Donny Hathaway’s “Thank You Master (For My Soul)” and “Sugar Lee”; The Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby”; and Crosby, Stills & Nash’s “Wooden Ships.” (See complete song list below.) Gardner will himself create five new arrangements of these songs, drawing upon his extensive experience working with all genres of music. A member of the JLCO for a decade and a half, Gardner has also toured and/or recorded with The Count Basie Orchestra, The Duke Ellington Orchestra, Harry Connick, Jr., Lauryn Hill, Chaka Khan, and A Tribe Called Quest. He is also a talented vocalist, who was a DownBeat “Rising Star” Critic’s Poll Nominee in the Male Vocalist category in 2014.
Gardner has contributed many arrangements to the JLCO and other ensembles, including “The Jesse B. Semple Suite” that was inspired by the short stories of Langston Hughes and commissioned by Jazz at Lincoln Center in 2009. For the JLCO’s first concert of 2016, he will lead the orchestra as they revisit and reinterpret songs from one of the most influential musical eras of the last 50 years. JLCO members Chris Crenshaw, Carlos Henriquez, Sherman Irby, Ali Jackson, Ted Nash, Marcus Printup and Wynton Marsalis will create new arrangements of these timeless tunes as well.
Tickets for Jazz in the Key Life can be purchased throughjazz.org24 hours a day or via 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 60thStreet, 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.
Themed ‘Jazz and American Song’, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s 28th season celebrates the music of the stage and silver screen and uplifts jazz’s emerging voices through an impressive array of more than 80 concerts and programs, anchored by the exceptional Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis. These concerts will also stream live in high-definition audio and video for free to a global audience via jazz.org/live. Click here for the complete season schedule.
Songs featured in Jazz in the Key of Life will be selected from the following:*
“All In Love Is Fair” by Stevie Wonder (Innervisions, Stevie Wonder, 1973)
“Another Star” by Stevie Wonder (Songs in the Key of Life, Stevie Wonder, 1976)
“Blame It On The Boogie” by Mick Jackson, David Jackson, and Elmar Krohn (Destiny, The Jacksons, 1978)
“Eleanor Rigby” by Paul McCartney (Revolver, The Beatles, 1966)
“For All We Know” by J. Fred Coots and Sam M. Lewis (Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway, self-titled, 1972)
“I Say A Little Prayer” by Burt Bacharach and Hal David (The Windows of the World, Dionne Warwick, 1967)
“Smile Please” by Stevie Wonder (Fulfillingness’ First Finale, Stevie Wonder, 1974)
“Street Life,” by Will Jennings and Joe Sample (Street Life, Crusaders featuring Randy Crawford, 1979)
“Sugar Lee,” by Donny Hathaway (Everything is Everything, Donny Hathaway, 1970)
“Thank You Master (For My Soul)” by Donny Hathaway (Everything is Everything, Donny Hathaway, 1970)
“White Room” by Jack Bruce and Pete Brown (Wheels of Fire, Cream, 1968)
“Wooden Ships” by David Crosby, Paul Kantner, and Stephen Stills (Crosby, Stills & Nash, self-titled, 1969)
“Your Song” by Elton John and Bernie Taupin (Elton John, self-titled, 1970)
*Subject to change.
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.
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Please visit jazz.org for more information.