Mayor Bloomberg Proclaims May 10 'Women in Jazz Day'

To celebrate the acclaimed documentary The Girls in the Band coming to Lincoln Center, Mayor Bloomberg has proclaimed Friday, May 10 "Women in Jazz Day." The date celebrates the legacies of female jazz musicians and marks the first in a weeklong series of screenings of The Girls in the Band at the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center at Lincoln Center. Written, directed and produced by Judy Chaikin and produced and executive produced by Michael Greene, the film tells the stories of female jazz and big band instrumentalists from the 1920s to the present day and chronicles their inspired journeys and struggles for recognition. Tickets for the screenings are on sale now at http://bit.ly/10tfvNn; please see below for complete screening schedule. More info on the film can be found at http://www.thegirlsintheband.com/home/.

The Lincoln Center screening is hosted in part by the Women in the Arts and Media Coalition and New York Women in Film and Television with support from artists and the New York business and cultural community including Woody Allen, Herb Alpert, Mercedes Ellington, Renée Fleming, Wynton Marsalis, Bette Midler, Maria Schneider and Jonathan Tisch. The host committee chair is Ann Ziff, Chairman of the Metropolitan Opera, with additional funding provided by the American Federation of Musicians Local 802 and herFlix.

Combining archival footage and interviews with musicians including drummer Viola Smith, saxophonists Roz Cron, bassist Carline Ray and trumpeter Clora Bryant, Chaikin explores how even in the face of extreme prejudice, sexism and racism these women helped shape the history of American music and bravely challenged the racial barriers that prevented white and black musicians from working together. The film also reveals how female jazz musicians of today, including Maria Schneider, Anat Cohen, Sherrie Maricle and Esperanza Spalding, are continuing to build upon the talent and courage of their predecessors.

Judy Chaikin, a graduate of AFI's Directing Workshop for Women, first came to recognition when she wrote, produced and directed the 1987 Emmy-nominated PBS documentary Legacy of the Hollywood Blacklist. In 2004 she received her second Emmy nomination for the documentary Building on a Dream. Chaikin has also worked on the ABC series "FBI: The Untold Stories," the CBS Movie of the Week Stolen Innocence and the PBS documentary Los Pastores. Michael Greene is President and CEO of Artist Tribe and previously served for 15 years as the President/CEO of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences Grammy Awards where he founded the Grammy Educational Foundation and The Musicares Foundation, providing financial grants and assistance to music professionals in need.