Jazz at Lincoln Center presents the Appel Room debut of The Swing Collective, a new quintet of talented young musicians representing five countries of origin, March 23-24. The Swing Collective – featuring Grammy Award-winning American drummer, composer, and bandleader Ulysses Owens, Jr., Chilean saxophonist Melissa Aldana, Trinidadian trumpeter Etienne Charles, Cuban pianist Elio Villafranca, and Japanese bassist Yasushi Nakamura – made their first appearance in Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola in 2017 and are back by popular demand. For two nights in The Appel Room, these artists will debut brand new works composed specifically for this collective.
“The Swing Collective was created to encompass a group of very celebrated musicians within a younger generation that are making a global statement with the music,” says Owens. “Each of us comes from different cultures, but we all love to swing and create music on a high level.”
Chilean tenor saxophonist Melissa Aldana made history in 2013 as the first female instrumentalist to win the prestigious Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition, and she has since become a bandleader and soloist known for her fierce sound and gift for melody. Trinidadian trumpeter Etienne Charles is a 2015 Guggenheim Fellow whose signature blend of Afro-Caribbean musical traditions in contemporary jazz contexts has made him an audience favorite at Jazz at Lincoln Center and beyond. Cuban pianist Elio Villafranca condenses a cross-continental scope of influences into musically ambitious original works. Japanese bassist Yasushi Nakamura is a versatile rhythm player and soloist widely regarded as one of New York’s hardest-swinging and most dependable musicians. Finally, Jacksonville, Florida native Ulysses Owens, Jr. is a multi Grammy Award-winning drummer, composer, and bandleader who has released several acclaimed albums as a leader and played with Christian McBride, Joey Alexander, Diane Schuur, and Kurt Elling.
The Swing Collective will take place in The Appel Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Frederick P. Rose Hall, located at Broadway at 60th Street, New York, New York. For additional information and to purchase tickets, visit jazz.org.
Jazz at Lincoln Center’s 2017–18 season celebrates the organization’s 30th anniversary. Since the first downbeat of its summer concert series in 1987, Jazz at Lincoln Center has been a vital part of the global cultural landscape. Jazz at Lincoln Center was established as an independent non-profit organization in 1996; opened Frederick P. Rose Hall, the “House of Swing”, in 2004, making it the world’s first venue designed specifically for jazz; and launched Blue Engine Records in 2014 to share its vast archive of recordings. Over the past three decades, Jazz at Lincoln Center has become an important advocate for jazz, culture, and arts education globally, reaching an audience of nearly 2 million people of all ages and experiences through concerts, webcasting, musical instruction, and distribution of music scores—the vast majority of which is free of charge. To date, Jazz at Lincoln Center has produced more than 1,200 original concerts in the New York City area, with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra having performed in over 446 cities in 41 countries on five continents.
This milestone season reflects on 30 years of celebrating the universal language of music and the influence of jazz in the present day. Throughout the 2017–18 season, Jazz at Lincoln Center will bring together a wide array of events, projects, virtuoso musicians, composers, and educators to illustrate the collaborative nature of the art form. Jazz at Lincoln Center’s 2017–18 season features performances by renowned artists including Joey Alexander, Chick Corea, Paquito D’Rivera, Eliane Elias, Ellis Marsalis, Dick Hyman, Marilyn Maye, Steve Miller, and Dianne Reeves; as well as Jazz at Lincoln Center debuts by the Harlem Quartet and vocalist and songwriter Somi. The milestone season will conclude with a grand finale world premiere by Wynton Marsalis, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Managing and Artistic Director.
TICKET INFORMATION:
Ticket prices start at $10. All single tickets for The Appel Room and Rose Theater can be purchased at jazz.org 24 hours a day or through CenterCharge at 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:
Monday–Saturday: 10am–6pm (or 30 minutes past curtain)
Sunday: 12pm–6pm (or 30 minutes past curtain)
For more information about Jazz at Lincoln Center’s 30th anniversary season, go to jazz.org.
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Jazz at Lincoln Center proudly acknowledges
its major corporate partners:
Bloomberg, Brooks Brothers, Centene Charitable Foundation, The Coca-Cola Company, Con Edison, Entergy, SiriusXM, Steinway & Sons, The Shops at Columbus Circle at Time Warner Center, and United Airlines.