Mary Lou Williams News

National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Jane Chu has approved more than $25 million in grants as part of the NEA's first major funding announcement for fiscal year 2018. Included in this announcement is an Art Works grant of $35,000 to the Monterey Jazz Festival in support of the Monterey Jazz Festival's 2018 Commission Piece, to be composed and performed by Oscar Hernandez and the Spanish Harlem Orchestra.

 Innovator, music pioneer, composer and pianist Chick Corea pairs with the incomparable king of American jazz orchestras, Jazz at Lincoln Center Or chestra in the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall for a powerhouse concert on March 25, 2018. Since embarking on a solo career in 1966, Corea has been at the forefront of jazz, both as a renowned pianist forging new ground as an innovative electric ke yboardist with his acoustic jazz bands Return to Forever, the Elektric Band, and now, the electro / acoustic Vigil.

Black stars of television and documentary and narrative filmmakers converging to celebrate Black Public Media (BPM)'s signature series AfroPoP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange; the public television documentary series about the global Black experience is now in its 10th year. Black Public Media is a national media arts organization that funds Black films and trains filmmakers.

The Ladies Day Jazz Quartet will kick off Women's History Month with a performance at Club Bonafide, 212 East 52nd Street, New York, NY, on Thursday, March 1st, 2018 at 7:30 pm.

Catherine Russell brings Harlem to Main Street with her Harlem on My Mind show at the Jeanne Rimsky Theater in February.  This is the second of three programs celebrating Black History Month at Landmark.

Grammy Award-winning jazz and blues vocalist Catherine Russell comes to Zankel Hall today, November 3 at 9:00 p.m. with a performance celebrating the golden age of Harlem. Journeying through the heart of the great African American songbook, Russell channels legendary singers like Ethel Waters, Billie Holiday, and Dinah Washington with the swinging music of Fats Waller, Benny Carter, Irving Berlin, and others.

Grammy Award-winning jazz and blues vocalist Catherine Russell comes to Zankel Hall on Friday, November 3 at 9:00 p.m. with a performance celebrating the golden age of Harlem. Journeying through the heart of the great African American songbook, Russell channels legendary singers like Ethel Waters, Billie Holiday, and Dinah Washington with the swinging music of Fats Waller, Benny Carter, Irving Berlin, and others.

The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO) with Wynton Marsalis, 'the greatest large jazz ensemble working today' (Chicago Tribune) will perform in Overture Hall on Sat., Sept. 23 at 7:30 p.m. with Badger High School Jazz Ensemble of Lake Geneva performing as the opening act. The stop in Madison also offers somewhat of a homecoming for pianist Dan Nimmer, who grew up in Wisconsin.

Grace, serenity, and rhapsody are on abundant display throughout the 14 songs pianist Deanna Witkowski performs with her trio on 'Makes the Heart to Sing: Jazz Hymns,' set for release November 3 on Tilapia Records.

The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO) with Wynton Marsalis, 'the greatest large jazz ensemble working today' (Chicago Tribune) will perform in Overture Hall on Sat., Sept. 23 at 7:30 p.m. with Badger High School Jazz Ensemble of Lake Geneva performing as the opening act. The stop in Madison also offers somewhat of a homecoming for pianist Dan Nimmer, who grew up in Wisconsin.

Midtown Direct Rep (MDR) launches its 2017-18 reading series, Theater at The Woodland, with a free presentation of SOMETHING TO LIVE FOR, a new play with music, written by Rob Zellers, directed by Billy Porter, with music supervision by Zane Mark and musical direction by Darryl Ivey. 

The Kentucky Center is offering a wide variety of entertainment as it opens its 34th arts season. Fall performances will feature author and radio personality Garrison Keillor, all-male a cappella group Straight No Chaser, Emmy winner Travis Wall's dance company Shaping Sound as well as many others.

The world-renowned Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO) is a 15-piece musical group consisting of some of the best ensemble players, soloists and arrangers in jazz music, and led by famed trumpeter and composer Wynton Marsalis. Their show contains a wide variety of musical works, including original and historic compositions, Jazz at Lincoln Center-commissioned pieces and masterworks from celebrated musicians such as Duke Ellington, Mary Lou Williams and Charles Mingus.

The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis (JLCO) comprises 15 of the finest jazz soloists and ensemble players today. The orchestra makes a return to the Marcus Center's Uihlein Hall on Wednesday, October 11 at 7:30 pm.

Showcasing world-class jazz and classical music, IN/TERSECT is a rare opportunity to experience some of the most sophisticated music being created today. The two-day music festival is produced with Chamber Music America and curated by Patrick Zimmerli.

???????The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts today announced programming for its 2017–2018 jazz season, the sixth presented under Artistic Director for Jazz Jason Moran, who has extended his contract with the Kennedy Center to continue in this role through 2021. The season features celebrations of some of the jazz world's greatest luminaries and shines a light on contemporary artists. Under Moran's direction, the Kennedy Center remains committed to artist-centered jazz programming, which presents a wide spectrum of artists and work that highlights the rich and diverse history of this American art form while simultaneously looking forward to new frontiers.

For two and a half days in the middle of May, prominent jazz composers, musicians, scholars, students, and industry professionals from across the world flocked to Tampa, FL to convene for the first Jazz Composers' Symposium in almost 10 years. Taking place in the University of South Florida School of Music's impressive new building/concert hall located just north of downtown Tampa, the almost 200 conference registrants were afforded an all-too-rare opportunity to connect with fellow jazz composers while engaging with celebrated master artists, becoming exposed to a variety of new music, and discussing related music industry trends.     

The Jazz Power Initiative (formerly The Jazz Drama Program) will hold its Spring Benefit Gala -- An Evening of Celebration and Song -- on Wednesday, June, 7, 2017 from 7 - 9 PM at The Dimenna Center, New York (450 West 37th Street), it was announced today by Eli Yamin, the organization's Managing and Artistic Director.

Saxophonist and clarinetist Victor Goines joins director Andy Clausen and the New York Youth Symphony Jazz Band for its season finale on Sunday, May 7th at the Appel Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center at 3:30pm.

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, under the leadership of Kennedy Center Artistic Director for Jazz Jason Moran, continues to celebrate the legacy of jazz artist Mary Lou Williams with the annual Mary Lou Williams Jazz Festival, May 4, 2017 at 8 p.m. in the Eisenhower Theater.