Jazz at Lincoln Center makes music for all ages–even toddlers. On October 30 at 9PM EST, Jazz at Lincoln Center Presents: A Swingin’ Sesame Street Celebration will debut on national PBS stations.
The hour-long special will feature the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis along with Elmo, Bert & Ernie, Big Bird, Herry Monster, Grover, Oscar the Grouch, The Count, Abby, Hoots the Owl, and Rosita.
The orchestra takes Sesame Street favorites like “Rubber Duckie,” “I Don’t Want to Live on the Moon,” and “People in Your Neighborhood” and re-imagines them for the stage. On October 30, PBS will premier the Sesame Street gang singing these classics to a sold out audience.
Since 1969, Sesame Street has introduced young children to music and culture. Jazz legends like Dizzy Gillespie, Herbie Hancock, and Mary Lou Williams all performed on the show. Kenny Rampton, member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, plays in Sesame Street’s house band.
In this special, Wynton Marsalis meets back up with the familiar the Children’s Television Workshop characters after visiting them on the show in 1991 and 1998.
A Swingin’ Sesame Street Orchestra is funded by Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization behind the show. The performance is a part of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s educational and diverse programs that hope to ensure that younger generations appreciate jazz in the future.
Jazz at Lincoln Center’s other educational programs, such as Swing University, WeBop, Essentially Ellington, and Middle School Jazz Academy are available online at jazz.org. They aim to show jazz as a metaphor for democracy and freedom.
Paying tribute to Sesame Street’s New York roots, as of May 1, 2019, sunny days can be found every day at the intersection of West 63rd Street and Broadway. Honoring the show’s 50th anniversary, New York City gave Sesame Street its own real intersection.
Jazz great Wynton Marsalis has been a frequent guest on Sesame Street—and now, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the landmark series, he’s returning the favor. On A Swingin’ Sesame Street Celebration, Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra host the gang in the “House of Swing” for a big band salute to a very special show.
