SUMMERSTAGE Announces Cancellation of Events Due to Hurricane Irene

Due to Hurricane Irene and by city ordinance, all outdoor permitted events taking place after 2:00 PM on Saturday, August 27 through Sunday, August 28 have been cancelled.

The below listed SummerStage shows will be cancelled. Further details on the rescheduling of events have not yet been determined.

The discussion panel, Charlie Parker: The Man and The Music will continue as originally planned for on Friday, August 26th, at 6:30 PM. This event will take place at: The Harlem School of the Arts - 645 St. Nicholas Avenue, New York, NY 10030. Tel: (212) 926-4100. Seating is limited and is first come first served. Guests should RSVP via email to: RSVP@SummerStage.org or call (212) 360-1399.

For the most up-to-date scheduling and line-up for all SummerStage programming, follow SummerStage via the below links and visit www.SummerStage.org for festival information.
Twitter: @SummerStage
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/SummerStageNYC

City Parks Foundation (CPF) is the only independent, nonprofit organization to offer park programs throughout the five boroughs of New York City. We work in over 750 parks citywide, presenting a broad range of free arts, sports, and education programs, and empowering citizens to support their parks on a local level. Our programs and community building initiatives reach more than 600,000 people each year, contributing to the revitalization of neighborhoods throughout New York City.

Cancelled Shows

Charlie Parker Jazz Festival featuring
TOOTS THIELEMANS / James Carter / TIA FULLER / CÉCILE McLORIN SALVANT
Saturday, August 27
Marcus Garvey Park, Manhattan
Show at 3:00 pm
Artist Website: http://www.tootsthielemans.com
NEA Jazz Master Jean ‘Toots' Thielemans is the preeminent player of the jazz harmonica. With a musical career that has spanned nearly 70 years on both the radio as well as the big and small screen, Thielemans has taken a simple instrument and brought it into the contemporary jazz ensemble. From his collaborations with some of the biggest names in jazz such as MiLes Davis, Charlie Parker, Benny Goodman and Ella Fitzgerald and pop stars such as Paul Simon and Billy Joel, Thielemans has harnessed his ability to express both sweet and the bitter emotions with the harmonica, which has made him a favorite worldwide. In 1962, Thielemans recorded his most enduring composition, "Bluesette," which remains a jazz staple and has been recorded by scores of artists over the years.

Artist Website: http://jamescarterlive.com
James Carter is a powerhouse musician and one of the most admired saxophonists of his generation, garnering applause for his role in helping to propel jazz full tilt into the future over the past twenty-five years. As a master of numerous reed instruments, Carter has mesmerized the jazz world since his debut. Since then, he has released numerous albums to critical acclaim, including Layin' In The Cut and Chasin' The Gypsy which led Rolling Stone to assert that "...Carter is as near as jazz gets nowadays to a Young Turk-not some ironically avant-post-rock experimentalist but a cocky scene stealer with...a knack for coming up with noticeable records." Carter's most recent recording will be released in Spring 2011, and is titled, Caribbean Rhapsody.

Artist Website: http://www.tiafuller.com
When Tia Fuller picks up her saxophone to play, the notes and reverberations of her musical elixir fill the room. Fuller's artistic fearlessness filled by her agile, buoyant and elegant full-bodied sax lines effortlessly convey a number of moods and grooves. The dynamic saxophonist has maintained a blossoming career, with several albums including 2010's acclaimed release, Decisive Steps (Mack Avenue Records). In between recording and being a jazz educator, Fuller was also selected as a member of the all-female band touring with R&B star, Beyoncé. She is a featured soloist on the Beyoncé Experience DVD and has also appeared on number of major television shows, such as The Oprah Winfrey Show, and Today Show.

Artist Website: http://www.cecilemclorinsalvant.com
Hailed by The New York Times as a singer "who stamps out the lines with authority and power and a bit of outrageousness," Cécile McLorin Salvant is a French-American jazz singer that is being recognized as one of the brightest stars in the jazz world today. Growing critical acclaim highlights her unique interpretations of jazz and blues standards and her ability to tackle compositions rarely performed among today's jazz vocalists. Salvant enjoys popularity internationally, and has performed with renowned musicians such as Jean-François Bonnel and Dan Nimmer. During her first prize-winning performance at the prestigious 2010 Thelonious Monk International Vocal Jazz Competition, The New York Times states, "[she] zeroed in on notes, sang at crawling tempos more than once, made her voice into a creaking door, a fog, then a laser."

**NEA Jazz Masters Live is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest that celebrates the living legends who have made exceptional contributions to the advancement of jazz.**

HENRY V
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Jenny Bennett, Music by Patricia Ju
Co-produced by Classical Theatre of Harlem
SummerStage Theater Presented By Time Warner
Saturday, August 27 and Sunday, August 28
East River Park, Manhattan
Show at 8:00 pm
Artist Website: http://www.classicaltheatreofharlem.org
The Classical Theatre of Harlem (CTH) is a professional theatre company founded at the Harlem School for the Arts. In each of its productions, which have included numerous works by playwrights such as Shakespeare and Euripides, CTH is dedicated to returning the "classics" to the stages of Harlem, to nurturing new, young, and culturally diverse audiences, and to producing theatre that truly reflects the diversity of ideas and the racial tapestry of America.

Explore the brutally thoughtful, fiercely funny, belligerent diplomacy of King Henry V with The Classical Theatre of Harlem as they interpret William Shakespeare's classic. Our young King Henry V takes the throne, his dying father's advIce To "busy giddy minds with foreign quarrels" ringing in his ears. His reputation as a fun-loving lad who's lived among The Common folk inspires love from commoners and disregard from his enemies. He lays claim to France, and invades the country with a "band of brothers." Join CTH's powerful exploration of what it means for a king to bear the burdensome expectations of the crown - and the people to bear the expectations of the king - as Henry V works to win the hearts of all.

Director Jenny Bennettt pilots a nonstop, intense scrutiny of kings and citizens in this play that dissects humanity's warmongering with gripping actors, a thrilling score and fierce dance.

Charlie Parker Jazz Festival featuring
Archie Shepp QUARTET / MADELEINE PEYROUX / Anat Cohen / THE GERALD CLAYTON TRIO
Sunday, August 28
Tompkins Square Park, Manhattan
Show at 3:00 pm
Artist Website: http://www.archieshepp.net/
Saxophone player, composer, pianist, singer, politically committed poet, playwright, Archie Shepp is a legend. He has entertained audiences around the world for nearly 50 years with his multi-instrumental talents. Shepp's music emulates the themes and stylistic elements provided by the greatest voices of jazz. His music highlights the juxtaposition of original black American music: blues and spirituals. At the head of the Avant-Garde Free Jazz movement, Shepp combines his own unique style with his inspirations: the wild raspiness of his attacks, his massive sound sculpted by a vibrato mastered in all ranges, his phrases carried to breathlessness, his abrupt level changes, and the intensity of his tempos, but also the velvety tenderness woven into a ballad.

Artist Website: http://www.madeleinepeyroux.com/
Inspired by the cornerstones of jazz, songstress Madeleine Peyroux began her music career as a teenage busker on the quaint, acoustic streets of Europe, where she enhanced her vocal and guitar skills. The New York Times said she "could inhabit Billie Holiday and Edith Piaf, doing the tragic, pinched-voIce Thing perfectly." Peyroux is best known by her fans for intimately arranged covers of the early American blues and jazz repertoire. With her latest album Bare Bones, she explores a different realm of expressing herself through a collection of self-penned compositions and collaborations.

Artist Website: http://www.anatcohen.com
An established bandleader and prolific composer, idiomatically conversant with modern and traditional jazz, classical music, Brazilian choro, Argentine tango, and an expansive timeline of Afro-Cuban styles, Anat Cohen has established herself as one of the primary voices of her generation on both the tenor saxophone and clarinet. The New York Times has said of her work, "In many ways she's an ideal: well prepared, passionately literate in music far outside her local circle, [and] an improviser with gusto."

Artist Website: http://www.geraldclayton.com/
Grammy nominated Gerald Clayton, born in the Netherlands to a musical family, was exposed to a variety of music styles at an early age. His passion and talent on the piano was immediate and allowed him to cultivate his dynamic sound with audiences nationally and internationally, while sharing the stage with numerous jazz greats. His sophisticated yet modern style has been praised by the Jazz Times and Los Angeles Times. Clayton's trio, with Justin Brown (drums) and Joe Sanders (bass), allows him to explore and expand his creativity in music. Their "arrangements, full of broken and stuttered rhythm, pinpoint dynamics and classically ordered introductions" give audiences an experience of "three dimensions...focused down to one," according to the New York Times.

JAGGED EDGE / AVANT / Melanie Fiona
Presented in Association with Globe Star Media and WBLS
Sunday, August 28
Mainstage at Central Park, Manhattan
Doors at 2:00pm, Show at 3:00 pm
Artist Website: http://www.jaggededge.net/
Jagged Edge has sold over 8 million records, won countless awards and gained impressive nominations while solidifying their place in R&B history with hit singles such as, "He Can't Love U," "Let's Get Married," "Promise," and "Where the Party At." With catchy lyrics and hypnotic beats, numerous albums, including A Jagged Era, J.E. Heartbreak, and Jagged Little Thrill, have help spots at the top of the Billboard charts.

Artist Website: http://www.avantofficial.com/
As a singer and songwriter, Avant has gained critical acclaim for his musical achievements. Several of his albums, including My Thoughts, Ecstasy and Private Room, went platinum and featured numerous top 10 singles such as "Separate," "Makin' Good Love," and "Read Your Mind." His soulful songs reflect the ups and downs of relationships. His latest album, The Letter hones in on his ability to create successful love ballads and mood records.

Artist Website: http://www.melaniefiona.com/
Melanie Fiona shares her passion for music with her debut album, The Bridge which is a collection of soulful songs that highlights her retro sound and combines the traditions of classic soul with modern music R&B stylings. Several of her singles have climbed the Billboard charts, including "It Kills Me," which peaked at number one on the R&B/Hip-Hop Song Charts.