NYS Music 202​0

Tag: orchestra

  • Elmo Makes Lincoln Center Debut on ‘A Swingin’ Sesame Street Celebration’

    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.

    sesame street

    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.

    sesame street
    Wynton Marsalis and Ernie

    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.

  • Wynton Marsalis seizes attention with ‘The Ever Fonky Lowdown’

    This past week Blue Engine Records released The Ever Fonky Lowdown, Wynton Marsalis’ latest extended composition, a groundbreaking, satirical look at democratic freedom, abuse of power, racism, and cultural corruption.

    The Ever Fonky Lowdown
    Photo by Luigi Beverelli. 2/17/20

    Some of jazz legend Mynton Marsalis’ best work of the last four decades has been influenced by socio-cultural and political issues. In 1985, his Black Codes (From the Underground) won a Grammy, in 1996, Blood on the Fields became the first jazz piece ever to win a Pultzier Prize, All Rise was performed by Symphonic Orchestras all across the world in 2002, and in 2007, From the Plantation to the Penitentiary was said to “[reveal] some important truth about this country with a lot of anger and heart.” It seems only fitting that now, during this historical time of national protest, Wynton Marsalis release a new work that reflects on these human rights issues.

    The Ever Fonky Lowdown directly addresses the racism, deception, and greed that clouds the country’s chances of human rights for all and pushes us further away from democracy. It was written in 2018 to combat human suffering and exploitation on the universal scale, but is now, in 2020, more topical than ever. The album’s narrator, “Mr. Game,” says it himself: “We are here tonight, but this is an international hustle. It has played out many times across time and space and is not specific to any language or race. It takes on different flavors according to people’s taste, but always ends up in the same old place.” These issues have been happening to countless all throughout history, and it is time to strip away the distractions to attack the injustice’s sources directly.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IurvhGqimkY

    The Orchestra singers act like a narrative Greek chorus and call upon several different forms of jazz, Gospel, American folk, swing, New Orleans funk, and more. The celebratory music is its own character and satirically expresses the joy with which humans hurt one another. The 53 track piece is both entertaining and thought provoking.

    “Usually I research and learn a lot of new material for longer pieces. For this one, I went with music and mythology that I have lived. From the music my father and great New Orleans drummer and composer James Black played in the 60’s, to the funk we played in the 70’s, to the modern jazz we have been blessed to play, teach and shape over these last decades, The Ever Fonky Lowdown is an antidote to the poisonous (and largely unquestioned) cultural mythology that continues to infect our general quality of life.”

    Wynton Marsalis
    The Ever Fonky Lowdown

    Marsalis wants the listener to question what is shown to him: the propaganda, media, and populism. He encourages all to look beyond what is shown to us and find our immediate reality and work to improve it. Essentially, The Ever Fonky Lowdown asks, ‘Where do we go from here?’ Marsalis answers:

    “There’s no real answer on the Left or the Right. The solution lies outside of the game. But, we have to rise above our position on the board to get a broader view…..and then decide individually, if we have the will to fight for a collectively better country (or world) populated with ‘others’. It boils down to the basic question of predation vs. symbiosis—do we want to help one another or exploit each other?”

    Wynton Marsalis

    The Ever Funky Lowdown is available now for streaming or purchasing, and a 2018 live performance is on Facebook.

  • Hudson Valley Philharmonic to Stream Virtual Concert

    On Saturday, July 18, Bardavon Presents will stream the first Hudson Valley Philharmonic Virtual Concert Hall for free. The performance is curated by HVP Maestro Randall Craig Fleischer and will showcase favorite pieces performed by the talented HVP musicians. 

    hudson valley philharmonic

    As Bardavon is not sure when audiences will be able to gather together once again due to the Coronavirus pandemic, they are streaming virtual performances on YouTube for fans to enjoy from home. The HVP Virtual Concert Hall #1 will stream on July 18 at 8PM and will feature the following pieces along with commentary from Fleischer:

    Reinhold Glière, 8 Pieces, Op.39, Scherzo, Performed by Madeline Fayette, Cello, and Abi Fayette, Violin

    Reinhold Glière, 8 Pieces, Op.39, Berceuse, Performed by Madeline Fayette, Cello, and Abi Fayette, Violin

    Gioachino Rossini, The Barber of Seville Overture, arr. for two flutes, Performed by Marcia Gates, Flute, and Jill Sokol, Flute

    J.S. Bach, French Suite No. 2, Allemande, Performed by Elizabeth Handman, Viola

    J.S. Bach, French Suite No. 2, Courande, Performed by Elizabeth Handman, Viola

    Jay Ungar, Ashokan Farewell, Performed by Frances Duffy, Harp

    Bela Bartok, Romanian Folk Dances, Allegro Moderato, Performed by Rachel Handman, Violin

    Donna Doyle, “Cave of the Heart”, Performed by Gregory K. Williams, Viola

    Gioachino Rossini, William Tell Overture, English Horn solo, Performed by Joel Evans, English Horn

    Hatikva (trad.), Performed by Harvey Feldman, Bassoon

    Subscribe to Bardavon Presents on YouTube so you don’t miss this or their upcoming shows planned for July through November. Bardavon is still selling tickets online for future events and updates their ticket holders on the status of the scheduled events.

  • Jazz at Lincoln Center Streams Ellington’s “Black, Brown, and Beige”

    Blue Engine Records, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s music label, has released Black, Brown, and Beige, their first release dedicated entirely to famous jazz composer Duke Ellington.

    Photo from Wikimedia Commons Public Domain

    Jazz at Lincoln Center’s in-house recording label, Blue Engine records’ Black Brown and Beige is a recording of a live Rose Theater performance in 2018 by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. Wynton Marsalis, the center’s managing and artistic director, says: “Black, Brown and Beige sits alone in the history of jazz. It covers a mosaic of not just Afro-American but of American styles of music.” 

    Born in 1899, Duke Ellington was a master jazz composer and musician for several decades and was an important figure during the Harlem Renaissance. He thought of his music not only as jazz but also “beyond category,” and he wrote pieces that influenced American music for the greater part of a century. He led the best-known orchestral jazz group of all time. Composer Percy Grainger even wrote that “The three greatest composers who ever lived are Bach, Delius and Duke Ellington.” 

    Black, Brown, and Beige, which includes nine tracks in total, originally debuted at Carnegie Hall in 1943 while Ellington was still alive. Elliot called it  “a parallel to the history of the Negro in America.” It is a notable work in both African-American history as well as that of all American orchestral compositions.

    Jazz at Lincoln Center is happy to release a present-day recording of the piece that does Elliot’s greatest work justice and makes it digitally available to countless people today. Blue Engine Records’ mission is to feature both past and present works that make up an entire canon of music to bring old and new fans of jazz together.