Esperanza Spalding News

Birdland Jazz Club announces schedule for June 18-June 24:

Violinist Matthijs van Dijk, vocalist Nicky Schrire, and cellist Ariella Caira team up for a performance that celebrates collaboration and reinterpretation. The trio perform and celebrate new music, from pop to classical, as well as revamped and reconstructed versions of songs by Nirvana, The Beatles and Massive Attack.

The Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery has opened its call for entries to the fifth triennial Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition. Entries will be accepted now through Sept. 3, 2018, at portraitcompetition.si.edu. Established in 2006, the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition invites artists (who are at least 18 years of age) living and working in the United States to submit one portrait for consideration. Selected artworks are featured in a museum exhibition and some artists are awarded prizes. This year, the competition will focus on broadening the definition of portraiture while highlighting the genre's relevance in contemporary art and culture.

Birdland will kick-off their great week of programming with Stacey Kent, Tiffany Austin Septet featuring special guest Carl Allen, Bruce Harris, and more!

Vangeline Theater, with renowned Japanese composer and musician Yuka C. Honda (Japan) and butoh dancer Vangeline, perform the World Premiere of Elsewhere from May 24 - 26, 2018 at 8 pm at Gibney Dance: Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center, 280 Broadway (Entrance at 53A Chambers Street). Tickets are $15 in advance ($20 at the door) and can be purchased at https://gibneydance.org/performance/pop/vangeline-and-yuka-c-honda-elsewhere/ or by calling (646) 837-6809.

For the seventh consecutive year, singers from around the world will gather online to compete in the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition (aka the 'SASSY' Awards) -- a 21st century version of the amateur night at the Apollo Theater that helped launch the career of a gifted teenager from Newark, Sarah 'Sassy' Vaughan, more than 75 years ago.

Newcomer Treya Lam is releasing the next bite of her upcoming debut album: “Sapphire Skies” shows off Treya's own visually detailed lyricism and string skills, with the accompaniment of mentor Kaki Kingand a full team of female musicians, mixers, and engineers. Still to come is Treya's long in-the-works debut, Good News, this June, as well as a grab-bag of local NYC shows, including her own release show (6/7), a gathering in Green-Wood Cemetery (5/29), and a BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Event (7/28) (details below).

Birdland will kick-off their great week of programming with BOSSABRASIL Presents Marcos Valle, Veronica Swift and Emmet Cohen Trio, Abelita Mateus, and more!

The Los Angeles Philharmonic Association announced today the extension of Herbie Hancock's contract as the William Powers and Carolyn Powers Creative Chair for Jazz through the 2021 season at Hollywood Bowl and the 2020/21 season at Walt Disney Concert Hall.

On May 12, 2018, Berklee College of Music President Roger H. Brown presented an honorary doctor of music degree to Esperanza Spalding. Spalding, a 2005 graduate of the college, delivered the commencement address to the graduating class and an estimated audience of nearly 7,000 guests.

Dream team band R+R=NOW has released 'Change Of Tone,' the enticing lead track from their forthcoming debut album Collagically Speaking, which will be released June 15 on Blue Note Records. 'Change Of Tone,' which is available today to stream or download, moves with ease between its various sections and styles, highlighting each of this remarkable collective's members along with vocal contributions by Goapele.

The Playing For Change Foundation is joining with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's (UNESCO's) International Jazz Day to announce a long-term partnership involving mutually beneficial programs and events. The partnership will debut as part of the seventh annual International Jazz Day on April 30, featuring legendary talent including Herbie Hancock, Dianne Reeves, Branford Marsalis, and more.

Back by popular demand following last season's 100th birthday tribute to Ella Fitzgerald, Gabrielle Stravelli sings the songs of Richard Rodgers in "It Might as Well Be Swing," at the Axelrod Performing Arts Center on Sunday, May 27 at 3pm. Stravelli will be joined by a 17-piece swing band, including acclaimed jazz pianist Dr. Art Topilow and clarinetist Carl Topilow, conductor of the Cleveland Pops Orchestra.

Kaki King is excited to introduce Treya Lam, the first artist signing to Kaki's own label,Short Stuff Records. A classically trained multi-instrumentalist based in Brooklyn, Treya's debut album, Good News, was produced by Kaki (who also plays multiple instruments throughout the album), and recorded with an array of talented female musicians, most notably Catherine Popper (Ryan Adams, Jack White, Norah Jones) on upright bass, and mixer Erin Tonkon (David Bowie, Esperanza Spalding). Mastered by Sarah Register,Good News is an instant classic, full of the kind of songwriting and raw talent that has never gone out of style, as well as a message of love, longing. Because as Treya says, 'It's never too late to have a happy childhood.'

Saratoga Performing Arts Center announced that on the heels of Todd Barkan's recent National Endowment for the Arts' (NEA) Jazz Masters fellowship award -- the highest honor the U.S. bestows on jazz artists -- he will join its Freihofer's Saratoga Jazz Festival as the featured host and D.J. broadcasting live from the SPAC amphitheater.

Vangeline Theater presents Japanese Butoh dancer Dai Matsuoka (principal dancer with celebrated butoh company Sankai Juku) on April 21, 2018, at 8pm at Cameo Studios, 307 W. 43rd Street, Studio A, NYC. With this performance, Vangeline Theater debuts its Studio Series, where audiences enjoy the unique opportunity to witness the skill and polish of talented dancers in an intimate setting. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at https://nine.brownpapertickets.com. Doors open at 7:45pm - Space is limited to 60.

Abingdon Theatre Company (Tony Speciale, Artistic Director; Denise Dickens, Producing Director) has announced casting for the first production of its 25th Anniversary main stage season, The Gentleman Caller, a new play by Philip Dawkins (Charm, Le Switch, The Homosexuals).

Vangeline Theater presents Japanese Butoh dancer Dai Matsuoka(principal dancer with celebrated butoh company Sankai Juku) on April 21, 2018, at 8pm at Cameo Studios, 307 W. 43rd Street, Studio A, NYC. With this performance, Vangeline Theater debuts its Studio Series, where audiencesenjoy the unique opportunity to witness the skill and polish of talented dancers in an intimate setting.

Carnegie Hall today announced the names of the 79 young musicians selected from across the country for NYO2, a three-week, intensive summer orchestral training program for outstanding American instrumentalists ages 14-17. The members of NYO2 2018-coming from 24 US states plus Puerto Rico-have been recognized by Carnegie Hall as exceptionally talented musicians who not only embody a very high level of artistry, but who also come from a wide range of backgrounds, representing a future for American orchestral music that includes communities which have often been underserved by and underrepresented in the field. Twenty-two musicians will be returning to NYO2 from previous seasons. In addition, 18 musicians who previously took part in NYO2 have been accepted to the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America (NYO-USA) in summer 2018.

As part of Jazz Appreciation Month, Governor Doug Ducey has issued an official proclamation declaring April 2018 as Jazz Appreciation Month and April 30, 2018 as International Jazz Appreciation Day.  Representing Governor Doug Ducey to present the Proclamation was Barry Wong, Director of the Governor's Office of Equal Opportunity.  Mr. Wong read the proclamation to audiences at The Nash  on March 29 at the Lewis Nash Pro Jam, with Lewis Nash and Doc Jones in attendance.  The Proclamation will be on display at The Nash throughout the month.