Jazzy Ash & The Leaping Lizards Come to Walton Arts Center

Walton Arts Center is excited to present a lively and soulful concert just for children and families by Jazzy Ash & The Leaping Lizards perform Tuesday, March 27, 2018 at 6 pm.

Tickets are $9 for kids and $15 for adults and can be purchased in-person at the Walton Arts Center Box Office, by calling 479.443.5600 or by visiting waltonartscenter.org. For downloadable photos visit the Jazzy Ash Dropbox.

From jazz to Caribbean rhythms to the lively children's music, Jazzy Ash's songs celebrate the magic of movement, with a lot of sugar and sass thrown in, New Orleans-style. Her fourth album Swing Set was released in July 2017.

The album features 14 songs that represent and celebrate music created by African-American children, adults and musicians from the mid-1800s to the early jazz era. Swing Set gives listeners a fresh take on sassy playground clapping songs, soulful lullabies and classic New Orleans melodies, all presented in style by Jazzy Ash and her band.

Jazzy Ash, also known as Ashli Christoval, grew up with a mom from New Orleans and a dad from Trinidad. Music infused her home life every day, from jazz to Caribbean rhythms to the lively children's music, which was playing all the time for the kids in her mother's home day care. She often spent summers in New Orleans with her aunts and grandparents, enjoying the culture and music that permeated their West Bank neighborhood. Later on, after becoming mom to two sons, she earned a degree in early childhood development and embarked on her music education program, Leaping Lizards Music.

Bon Voyage, released in 2015, features gypsy jazz, zydeco, swing, blues and Dixieland, to encourage kids and their grown-ups to celebrate the music of New Orleans as part of the American folk music heritage. Red Tricycle called Bon Voyage one of the "best kid-rock albums to put on repeat". Jazzy Ash's cover of the Louis Armstrong classic "Heebie Jeebies" reached #1 on SiriusXM Kids Place Live radio.

Jazzy Ash's strong alto vocals and a fully orchestrated sound add to some sophisticated listening for the grownups. For kids, these songs celebrate "the movement of life," according to Christoval. "These songs are about all things that move around - bikes, trains, boats, fireflies, etc. - and all of the ways we move our bodies, too."

Walton Arts Center is Arkansas' largest and busiest performing arts presenter. Each year more than 195,000 people from Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma and beyond attend more than 400 public events at Walton Arts Center, including performances, rehearsals, community gatherings, receptions, weddings and more. Approximately 45,000 students and teachers participate annually in arts learning programs at Walton Arts Center, and almost 200 volunteers donate 21,000 hours of time each year to its operations. Walton Arts Center presents entertainers and artists from around the world including Broadway musicals, renowned dance companies, International Artists, up-and-coming jazz musicians and more. As a non-profit organization, Walton Arts Center enjoys the generous support of public sector funding, corporate sponsorship and private donors, allowing audience members to pay on average only 45% of the cost of programs offered. To learn more about Walton Arts Center, visit www.waltonartscenter.org.

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