First Saturday Jam Session with David Durrah

November 2, 2019 2:00pm

Calling jazz musicians of all ages! Grab your instrument, bring a chart, and build your chops with Harlem icon, pianist David Durrah and a community of budding contemporary musicians and living legends.

Don’t play an instrument? Saturday Sessions are a space for musicians and fans alike to soak up Harlem’s vibrant live music scene.

$10.00 Suggested Donation

The Saturday Sessions are presented in partnership with the Jazz Foundation of America’s Gig Fund program, with support from New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts.

More Info: bitly.com/2Hr2CDM

Location
The National Jazz Museum in Harlem
58 West 129th Street
New York NY 10027 US ... See MoreSee Less

Harlem Jazz Series - Kahlil Kwame Bell Trio

October 15, 2019 12:00pm - 2:00pm

Kahlil Kwame Bell, having made nearly 90 recordings with numerous musical icons and legends as well as with his own talented band, has been called “one of the most prolific musicians in the industry today.” He plays over 1,000 percussion instruments and has experimented with wood and clay flutes. His musical output varies from jazz to rock to hip-hop; from European classical to world music; from spirituals to spoken word accompaniments. His layering of sounds and instruments, sometimes blended with unique rhythms, reflects his view of the unity of cultures through music. His work for other musicians, as well as his renditions of his own compositions, can be heard almost daily on jazz and world music radio programs worldwide. Bell uses an innovative percussion instrument called the slappaphone, whose unusual sound captivates all who hear it. Asked about the instrument, Bell says, “The slappaphone called me when I first heard it and it has become my voice … offering rhythm and melody to the listener.”

Featuring:
Kahlil Kwame Bell – drums

1st set: 12:00pm - 12:45pm (15 min break)
2nd set: 1:00pm - 1:45pm

House doors open at 11:30 am

Price: $15

More Info: bitly.com/2pZPxZ8

Location
Greater Calvary Baptist Church
43-55 West 124th Street btwn Malcolm X Blvd and Fifth Ave
New York NY 10027 US ... See MoreSee Less

Intergenerational Jazz Jam

November 10, 2019 2:00pm

Jazz Power Initiative’s Intergenerational Jazz Jam brings together singers, musicians, dancers, spoken word artists and audiences of all ages to experience the power of jazz, community, and swing. Jams take place on the second Sunday of each month from 2-5 PM at the National Jazz Museum in Harlem located at 58 West 129th Street in Manhattan.

Pianist and master educator Eli Yamin has a way of bringing people together through jazz. He’s a blues evangelist who partners an infectious love for the music with a passion for sharing it in ways that everyone can understand. His musical workshops, full of clapping, singing, dance and play, invite listeners to feel the music deep in their bones.

Here, Yamin and friends kick off the afternoon with a romping set of blues and jazz, followed by an all-ages jam session open to musicians, singers, and dancers of every stripe.

Cost: Free

More Info: bitly.com/2ZnEhok

Location
The National Jazz Museum in Harlem
58 West 129th Street
New York NY 10027 US ... See MoreSee Less

Chimurenga presents FESTAC '77, a concert by Craig Harris - October 25, 2019 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm - FREE

Craig Harris' performance of "FESTAC '77" is part of Chimurenga's three-day installation of its Pan African Space Station in New York, in collaboration with the Vera List Center at The New School. This project explores the legacy of African-America's participation in FESTAC '77.

Craig Harris. Artist Statement on FESTAC '77

In January of 1977, I attended FESTAC, the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture in Lagos, Nigeria, as a member of the Sun Ra Arkestra. This trip informed me as to my place in the world as a musician and a person. It was deeply impactful to see and interact with people from the entire African Diaspora. Every day, I would go to the different compounds of different countries and absorb myself into my people — so different, yet so alike. The long, daily conversations about music, dance, food, religion, etc. made every day like a master class, from the members of the Guiana Ballet to the theater group from Australia to the night time highlight at Fela Anikulapo Kuti's infamous Shrine. As a composer, I had no choice but to convey this in music. In the spring of 1981, I started and completed FESTAC '77. The world premiere was in March 1982 at Saint Peter's Church, New York City. In June 1982, a section of it was performed and recorded at Carnegie Hall and released on Warner Brothers Elektra/Asylum records as "The Young Lions."

The work is for a small chamber ensemble of 5 strings, 3 reeds, 2 brass, 4 percussions and voice, and is divided into 8 sections. It reflects my experience from and meditations on my trip and the significance of being a young African American on the continent for the first time, joining so many others from the diaspora, celebrating ourselves and our culture.

For FESTAC to be presented again at this time in history, the year 2019, four hundred years since the first Africans were kidnapped and brought to this continent, is to acknowledge our strength as a people. It is taking the tragic and making it magic! It is excelling against all odds and still standing.

FESTAC '77 by Craig Harris is presented by Chimurenga, recipients of Vera List Center's 2018-2020 Jane Lombard Prize for Art and Social Justice, and co-produced by Arts & Education Continuum with the Vera List Center for Art and Politics and the School of Jazz and Contemporary Music at The New School.

Location:
The New School, Tishman Auditorium, University Center
63 Fifth Avenue between 13 & 14 Streets
New York City

bitly.com/322I5xz ... See MoreSee Less