Cuban-born pianist and composer Elio Villafranca returns to Jazz at Lincoln Center’s The Appel Room to present a new ambitious and culturally enlightening program, Letters To Mother Africa, on October 14-15 at 7pm and 9:30pm. For this special engagement, Villafranca convenes African instruments and a stellar group of musicians and vocalists including Billy Harper, Lewis Nash, David Murray, Dezron Douglas, Abdou Mboup, Vuyo Sotashe and special guests to examine a wide range of jazz written with great reverence to Africa. In addition to original compositions by members of this ensemble, the group will perform diverse and transformative arrangements of music by Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Max Roach, Art Blakey Randy Weston, Eric Dolphy, and Lonnie Smith. By composing and arranging such a vast array of music for this unique concert, Villafranca will explore a powerful tradition within jazz and uncover inspiring new avenues of expression.
Free pre-concert lectures nightly at 6pm and 8:30pm.
Letters to Mother Africa will take place at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s The Appel Room at Frederick P. Rose Hall, located at Broadway at 60th Street, New York, New York.
Tickets prices start at $65.50 and can be purchased on jazz.org 24 hours a day or by calling CenterCharge on 212-721-6500, open daily from 10am – 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 are 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 acknowledges its partners: Amtrak, Bloomberg, Brooks Brothers, The Coca-Cola Company, Con Edison, Entergy, HSBC Premier, SiriusXM, Steinway & Sons, The Shops at Columbus Circle at Time Warner Center and United Airlines.