Max Roach News

BAM R&B Festival returns for two weekends of free performances at Fort Greene Park, set for Saturdays and Sundays, October 2—3 and October 9—10. The widely-known festival, which has grown to become one of Brooklyn's beloved outdoor traditions, brings together the community and groundbreaking artists—from music legends to bold new voices across the genre of R&B.

Season subscriptions will go on sale on Tuesday, August 31 at 9:30am, with single tickets becoming available on Wednesday, September 15 at 9:30am. Learn more about the full lineup here!

'Mr. SOUL!” was also shortlisted at the 93rd Academy Awards in the category of Best Original Song, for “Show Me Your Soul” by Grammy Award-winning composer Robert Glasper and Grammy Award-winning singer Lalah Hathaway. 

For their 25th-season performance opener, the Franklin Stage Company presents a concert featuring Ghanaian master drummer Kwaku Kwaakye Obeng and Cameroonian singer Gino Sitson whose music blends jazz, gospel, blues, and traditional African polyrhythms and melodies in exciting, innovative ways.

As the jazz world slowly emerges from the more than year-long pandemic, the New Orleans-born alto saxophonist Donald Harrison – the critically-acclaimed, innovative musician with four decades of experience as an instrumentalist, sideman and leader who has worked with everyone from Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers and salsa legend Eddie Palmieri, to the legendary rapper Notorious B.I.G. – unleashed a flurry of new projects, along with some prominent news features.

On July 1, 2021 Birdland will open its doors to the public for the first time since March 2020. To mark the grand reopening, Birdland is bringing back 1949 prices as a thank you to returning patrons.

Woodie King, Jr., Founder and Producing Director of New Federal Theatre (NFT), will retire from leadership of the famed theater company on June 30, 2021, handing the baton to NFT's newly appointed Artistic Director, Elizabeth Van Dyke.

Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra has announced the return of their Socially Distanced Summer in-person concerts at Olympia Fields Country Club on May 19, June 23, July 14 and August 4, at 6:15 p.m. and 7:45 p.m., plus the streaming of the final concert of the IPO Reimagined season.

The Impulse! 60 series will kick off on May 14 with two of the four releases that launched the label known as The House That Trane Built, in 1961: Ray Charles’ singular and long-out-of-print Genius + Soul = Jazz and Gil Evans Orchestra’s superb Out of the Cool. Charles’ album will also be made available digitally for the first time in years.

Understanding, a blazing 1970 concert recording featuring the Detroit-born master percussionist Roy Brooks leading a gifted quintet through its spirited paces at Baltimore's Famous Ballroom, will be released by Reel to Real Recordings in June.

Choreographer and director Camille A. Brown was honored by the International Society for the Performing Arts (ISPA) on Thursday evening, January 14th, 2020 with the Distinguished Artist Award, presented by Alicia Adams, VP International Programming at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Today, The Cleveland Orchestra announced details of its 2021 Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration. In the Orchestra’s 41st year of offering music to celebrate and reflect on the life and legacy of Dr. King, it will provide a variety of ways for guests to honor him in the safety of their homes from January 14 through early February.

National New Play Network, the country's alliance of nonprofit theaters that collaborate in innovative ways to develop, produce, and extend the life of new plays, has announced the recipient of this year's Annual Commission: Nambi E. Kelley, in partnership with San Diego Repertory Theatre, will develop her new play, Project American X.

From November 8 to 15, 2020, be a part of history as Jazz Festivals across the country join forces to present top jazz talent performing online. From coast to coast, over a dozen Festivals have collaborated to bring all Canadians together in an effort to unite us in our love of jazz music.

On the eve of Charlie 'Bird' Parker's 100th birthday, it is impossible to overstate the impact and influence that the legendary jazz icon has had on music and culture. Born on August 29th, 1920, in Kansas City, Kansas, Parker is simply one of the most important Black American figures in history.

New England Conservatory's Jazz Studies Department has hired renowned drummer, composer and educator Nasheet Waits to join the jazz faculty beginning in the 2020-2021 academic year.

Pianist/composer Lafayette Gilchrist and saxophonist David Murray perform livestream duo concerts, Friday & Saturday, August 28a?'29 at the Village Vanguard.

Leading up to Birda??s 100th birthday and throughout the year, the celebration will encompass a series of releases spanning a variety of media and perspectives in order to explore the full span of his inestimable legacy.

Woodie King Jr., founder of New Federal Theatre has penned an article exclusively for BroadwayWorld, discussing New Federal Theatre's past, present and more.

The Philly POPS announces today the mission and ongoing work of its Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Task Force.