Lost Jazz Shrines this May – 13th Season – Celebrating 52nd St.

Humanities program at 7PM, Free: Recollections of 52nd Street – 
Willard Jenkins to interview Dan Morgenstern (NEA Jazz Master and Director of the Institute of Jazz Studies, Rutgers University). 

Concert at 8:30PM – $25 / students, seniors $15 

Matt Wilson – musical director / drums 
Scott Robinson– saxophones, brass 
Frank Kimbrough – piano 
Ray Drummond – bass

No stranger to the 52^nd Street scene, Thelonius Monk, considered “one of the giants of American music,” is recognized as a multi-dimensional genius of modern jazz. This concert will be inspired by the great jazz master.

Matt Wilson – musical director / drums; Jeff Lederer – reeds; Tia Fuller – reeds; Kirk Knuffke – brass; Curtis Fowlkes – brass; Vijay Iyer – piano; Mary Halvorson – guitar and Chris Lightcap – bass.  New York’s 52^nd St. is most often associated with small-combo jazz performances.  However, a wide range of larger groups graced the stages of the clubs of Swing Street. This concert will focus on the music of these groups. Dizzy Gillespie, Mary Lou Williams, Fats Waller, Tadd Dameron, John Lewis, John Kirby and other notables of the era will be explored.  

Matt Wilson – musical director / drums; Terell Stafford – trumpet; Gary Versace – piano / organ; Martin Wind – bass and Candido – conga..  In 1947, Dizzy Gillespie partnered with Chano Pazo to create a new recipe for jazz called Afro-Cuban jazz. This unique fusion of sounds and cultures became a significant part of the jazz landscape. We will commemorate this soulful marriage by pairing one of today’s most acclaimed jazz groups, ‘Matt Wilson’s Arts and Crafts,’ with conga and bongo master, Candido Camero.  Maestro Candido, who will celebrate his 90^th birthday on April 21, performed with Dizzy Gillespie, Machito and other Afro-Cuban pioneers.  The concert will focus on those collaborations as well as music from Candido’s influential jazz debut, Candido, which displays Candido’s exquisite blending of hand drums in the swing time feel.