Bronx Music Hall Celebrates Louis Armstrong’s 125th Birthday With A Free Concert By The American Symphony Orchestra Jazz Ensemble
The month's programming continues with an Andean music and cultural festival, a performance by Chilean vocalist Natalia Bernal and more.
The Bronx Music Hall will kick off its August lineup on Aug. 3 with a free outdoor concert celebrating Louis Armstrong's 125th birthday, featuring the American Symphony Orchestra Jazz Ensemble performing a program of the jazz icon's lesser-recorded works. The month's programming continues with an Andean music and cultural festival, a performance by Chilean vocalist Natalia Bernal and a live podcast exploring the Bronx's blues and R&B legacy.
Presented through a first-time partnership between the American Symphony Orchestra and the Bronx Music Hall, the concert will take place one day before Armstrong's 125th birthday. Curated by longtime orchestra member Louis Bruno, the program includes 'Cool Cart Blues,' 'Don't Forget to Mess Around,' 'Hear Me Talkin' to Ya,' 'If We Never Meet Again' and 'New Orleans Stomp.' The ensemble features Alphonso Horne on trumpet and vocals, Zoe Obadia on saxophone and clarinet, Ron Wilkins on trombone and vocals, Steve Benson on guitar, Bruno on bass and Kory Grossman on drums.
August Lineup
Mon., Aug. 3 - 125 years of Louis Armstrong
5:30 PM | Free
Celebrate the 125th anniversary of Louis Armstrong with the American Symphony Orchestra Jazz Ensemble in a free outdoor concert at the Bronx Music Hall Plaza. Experience a curated selection of Armstrong's rarely performed works, brought to life by an outstanding lineup of New York jazz musicians. In case of rain, the concert will occur in the Bronx Music Hall's theater.
Wed., Aug. 5 - Noche Andina: Breath of the Andes
6:00 PM | $10
Join us for an evening of live music, dance, and dialogue, featuring artists from the Andean diaspora, including LiberArte's visiting artist-in-residence, Amado Espinoza, from Cochabamba, Bolivia. The festival will also have an outdoor Andean market with artisanal goods and fresh, traditional foods.
Thurs., Aug. 6 - Nuevas Voces: Natalia Bernal Quintet
8:00 PM | $15 Doors open at 7:30 pm
The BMH continues its incredible Nuevas Voces summer line-up of women in Latin jazz with Chilean vocalist Natalia Bernal, who was raised in the beautiful coastal city of Iquique, nestled between the Pacific Ocean and the Atacama Desert. Based in New York City since 2007, her sound embodies the drama and intensity of the natural surroundings of her homeland.
From an early age, she was immersed in a rich musical tradition: she learned the great Latin American standards from her Chilean father and Uruguayan mother, and she breathed deeply of the "Música Popular" from Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Cuba, Peru and Brazil.
Through her studies at Escuela Moderna de Música (Chile) and Berklee College of Music (USA), Natalia expanded her jazz vocabulary to create a sumptuous tapestry of sound that remains suffused with the rhythms and melodies and of trovadores of Latin America.
Sat., Aug. 8 - Bronx Rising! Bronx Blues and R&B Part 1
Doors: 6:30 PM | Event: 7:00 PM | $15
The first in the Bronx Rising! series of Blues & R&B kicks off with a performance by local celebrities the Morrisania Band Project (MBP). Before the concert join us for a live podcast recording by Gary Axelbank of the Bronx Music Podcast where he'll interview MBP director Elissa Carmona and vocalist Monica Hope, daughter of jazz legends Elmo and Bertha Hope, a powerful blues and Gospel singer who was raised in the Bronx .
