The Kennedy Center's New Hip Hop & Series Launches with the Hip Hop & Jazz Festival

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has announced Hip Hop &, a new annual season focus highlighting hip hop’s intersections with other genres, forms, and disciplines. Each year, Hip Hop & will explore the evolutionary and multitude of ways that hip hop impacts culture. The inaugural festival, Hip Hop & Jazz, celebrates the dynamic relationship between hip hop and jazz over the course of several exciting programs.  On April 19, in the Concert Hall, three legendary musicians—Rakim; two-time Grammy Award® winner DJ Jazzy Jeff; and Grammy®–nominated saxophonist, bandleader, and composer Ravi Coltrane—come together for a must-see event: The Rakim & DJ Jazzy Jeff & Ravi Coltrane Project, produced by Jill Newman Productions.

“We are so excited to launch our Hip Hop & Festival celebrating the deeply interconnected and symbiotic relationship between Hip Hop and Jazz. As two of America’s greatest art forms and vital genres within the Black Music Continuum, they have transformed global culture,” says Simone Eccleston, Director of Hip Hop Culture & Contemporary Music. “We are elated to have incredible musical vanguards such as Rakim, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Ravi Coltrane, Robert Glasper, Derrick Hodge and Igmar Thomas’s Revive Big Band, performing as part of this year’s festival uplifting the artistic contributions of icons such as Duke Ellington, J Dilla and John Coltrane. It is also extremely humbling to dedicate it to our dear friend Meghan Stabile, a creative genius whose legacy lives on through all of us.”

Tickets for the Hip Hop & Jazz Festival events are available via the Kennedy Center website or by calling (202) 467-4600.

The Hip Hop & Jazz Festival is dedicated to visionary concert producer, music impresario, and Founder & CEO of Revive Music Group, Meghan Stabile.

The Rakim & DJ Jazzy Jeff & Ravi Coltrane Project

Produced by Jill Newman Productions

Friday, April 19 at 8 p.m.

Concert Hall

An exciting collaboration between three brilliant and legendary musicians, The Rakim & DJ Jazzy Jeff & Ravi Coltrane Project is a must-see event for music and culture lovers worldwide. Conceived and produced by Jill Newman Productions and hosted as the closing event for the Kennedy Center’s inaugural Hip Hop & Jazz Festival, the “God MC” Rakim (who grew up with a love for John Coltrane’s music); the always magnificent and two-time Grammy Award®–winning DJ Jazzy Jeff; and critically acclaimed Grammy®–nominated saxophonist, bandleader, and composer Ravi Coltrane meld their incredible music, history, and influences together for one epic evening of music backed by a live band. The evening will also feature a special opening set by DJ Jazzy Jeff.

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