Bill Charlap News

In 2019, Flushing Town Hall offers a breadth of outstanding global music, family programs, exhibitions, jazz and workshops. From January through June, Flushing Town Hall will present 72 programs, including 18 world music shows, 10 jazz performances, eight family programs, seven classical music concerts, three exhibitions, and more.  The spring season is a continuation of 40th anniversary celebrations of the Flushing Council on Culture and the Arts (FCCA), the steward of Flushing Town Hall.

Each year, savvy jazz fans look forward to the annual Highlights In Jazz series. For almost a half century, the Jack Kleinsinger-produced events have brought together a multitude of beloved jazz musicians spanning an eclectic mix of generations and styles. The 2019 season is no exception, with four stellar concerts featuring some of the brightest luminaries in jazz today.

Birdland will kick-off their exciting month of programming with the following acts:

Segerstrom Center for the arts presents Grammy® Award-winning vocalist Kurt Elling in a special holiday set “The Beautiful Day” - Kurt Elling Sings Christmas for two performances on December 15 at 7 pm and 9 pm. Declared by The New York Times as “the standout male jazz vocalist of our time,” Kurt Elling returns to the Center with a special program that will feature a repertoire of songs from his holiday album, The Beautiful Day. Elling says, “I knew I didn't want to make a 'religious' record, just as I knew I didn't want to make a standard, swingin' jazzy Christmas. I'm trying to expand my consciousness and embrace the goodness of the season, and I want to include everybody. For me, Christmas is a time of consideration, of pondering mysteries.”  Inventive and fresh, this very special program reimagines the sounds of Christmas, mixing traditional carols decked out in new arrangements with songs that are revelations and rediscovered treats. Elling wraps the universal themes of hope, light, wonder, mystery, and goodwill in musical packages full of delightful surprises.

Segerstrom Center for the arts presents Grammy® Award-winning vocalist Kurt Elling in a special holiday set “The Beautiful Day” - Kurt Elling Sings Christmas for two performances on December 15 at 7 pm and 9 pm. Declared by The New York Times as “the standout male jazz vocalist of our time,” Kurt Elling returns to the Center with a special program that will feature a repertoire of songs from his holiday album, The Beautiful Day. Elling says, “I knew I didn't want to make a 'religious' record, just as I knew I didn't want to make a standard, swingin' jazzy Christmas. I'm trying to expand my consciousness and embrace the goodness of the season, and I want to include everybody. For me, Christmas is a time of consideration, of pondering mysteries.”  Inventive and fresh, this very special program reimagines the sounds of Christmas, mixing traditional carols decked out in new arrangements with songs that are revelations and rediscovered treats. Elling wraps the universal themes of hope, light, wonder, mystery, and goodwill in musical packages full of delightful surprises.

In four stellar concerts featuring some of the brightest luminaries in jazz today, 2019's Highlights In Jazz series brings together a multitude of beloved jazz musicians spanning an eclectic mix of generations and styles. You'll hear unforgettable performances from jazz veterans including Warren Vaché, Houston Person, and Norman Simmons; up-and-comers like Veronica Swift, Christian Sands, and Peter and Will Anderson; and straight-ahead stalwarts such as Steve Turre, George Cables, Buster Williams, along with many more. These gifted players and others will pay tribute to a pantheon of jazz legends, including this year's featured honoree, trumpeter Randy Brecker; plus, the music of Randy Weston, Erroll Garner, Sidney Bechet, Louis Armstrong will also be featured.

Birdland will kick-off their great week of programming with Veronica Swift and Emmet Cohen Trio, Carole Sloane "Still Autumn in New York," Ken Peplowski Big Band, and more!

Great Performances presents an unprecedented union of two of the greatest living jazz singers, Tony Bennett and Diana Krall, as they honor the legacy of the premiere songwriting duo of the Great American Songbook, George and Ira Gershwin. In Love is Here to Stay, Bennett and Krall team up to perform definitive interpretations of Gershwin favorites such as "Love is Here to Stay," "Fascinating Rhythm" and "They Can't Take That Away From Me." Behind-the-scenes sequences recorded during the making of their Billboard #1 jazz album, "Love is Here to Stay," highlight the personal and musical rapport that these two artists have established over the course of their 20-year friendship. Interviews with Bennett and Krall reveal the meaning behind the music and the process of creating this collaborative album together.

The Eighth Annual Bickford Benefit Concert featuring an all-star ensemble of outstanding jazz artists from the Tri-State area comes to the Bickford Theatre at the Morris Museum for one night only on Monday, November 12, 2018 at 7:30 PM. The ensemble includes trumpeter/vocalist Bria Skonberg, cornetist Warren Vache, trombonist Mariel Bildsten, clarinetist Dan Levinson, pianist Rossano Sportiello, guitarist/vocalist Molly Ryan, bassist Rob Adkins, and drummer Mark McLean.  All of the ticket sales from this concert will go to support programming at the Bickford Theatre.

Birdland will kick-off their exciting month of programming with the following acts:

Birdland will kick-off their great week of programming with week two of the "Second Annual Celebration of Ron Carter" with the Ron Carter Quartet, Capathia Jenkins & Louis Rosen 'PHENOMENAL WOMAN: The Maya Angelou Songs,' Alex Frondelli Quartet, and more!

The Mabel Mercer Foundation put itself in a tricky spot to start this year's New York Cabaret Convention: how do you define what cabaret today looks like?

Recognized by the world not only for their bold-face names, but especially by their superb talents, New Jersey Performing Arts Center's seventh annual TD James Moody Jazz Festival (November 4-18) is packed with performances by today's most listened-to luminaries on the jazz scene. NJPAC Jazz Advisor, six-time Grammy winner Christian McBride says, 'I'm beyond excited to announce the seventh annual TD James Moody Jazz Festival at NJPAC. It's gonna be a good one, baby. There's something very, very special about jazz vocalists, and we're committed to making sure the legacy of jazz vocals is alive and thriving. This year we'll present the world's finest singers, from Dianne Reeves and Gregory Porter to Cecile McLorin Salvant and Lalah Hathaway, and will continue to search for the next greats through the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition -- the SASSY Awards -- which is always a huge hit.'

For three decades, the unofficial launch of 'autumn in New York' has been marked by the annual Cabaret Convention of The Mabel Mercer Foundation. This year, their four individual concerts will once again be presented at 6 p.m. at the Rose Theater, Jazz at Lincoln Center, beginning Today, October 9thand running through Friday, October 12th. More than seventy diverse vocalists -- ranging in age from seventeen to ninety -- are scheduled to entertain; thirteen of these will make their New York Cabaret Convention debuts during the 2018 performances.

Birdland will kick-off their great week of programming with the following acts:

Birdland will kick-off their exciting month of programming with Dee Dee Bridgewater with the Theo Croker Quintet, Kevin Eubanks Quartet, Anita Gillette, Ron Carter's Great Big Band, Quartet and Golden Striker Trio, Alan Broadbent Trio, Capathia Jenkins & Louis Rosen, Jay Leonhart, Pasquale Grasso Trio, Ken Peplowski with Special Guest Sinne Eeg, Jim Caruso's Cast Party, and more!

Verve Records hosted a sparkling album launch event at the iconic Rainbow Room in New York City last night that was highlighted by a stellar performance from Tony Bennett and Diana Krall of songs from their new collaborative album, LOVE IS HERE TO STAY, which is released today on Verve Records.

Hide the Moon and the Stars, the sublime new duo recording from pianist Bryn Roberts and guitarist Lage Lund, isn't the kind of jazz album that needs to be read about before it can be understood and enjoyed. It didn't premiere as part of a postmodern opera or multimedia performance; there isn't an overarching concept gleaned from abstract expressionism or the poetry of Rumi. Rather, with its casually stunning interplay and lyrical original music, it's “simply a good showcase for these two particular players, these two voices, these two musical personalities who've been friends for over a dozen years,” Roberts says.

Violinist Joseph Lin will lead the Cooperstown Summer Music Festival Chamber Ensemble in a performance of four of Bach's Brandenburg concertos at 7:30pm on Sunday, August 26 at the Otesaga Resort Hotel ballroom.

Tony Bennett and Diana Krall celebrate their shared love of the music of George and Ira Gershwin on their new collaborative album, LOVE IS HERE TO STAY, set for a 14th September release on Verve Records.