Charlie Parker cut his teeth on Harlem jazz, in the 1940′s Parker played in after-hours clubs in Harlem like Clark Monroe’s Uptown House and Minton’s Playhouse, on top of that he played with musicians such as Thelonious Monk, guitarist Charlie Christian, and drummer Kenny Clarke. City Parks Foundation proudly announces the 20thanniversary celebration of the beloved late summer jazz favorite, the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival. In the world of modern music, few figures loom as large or cast as long a shadow as saxophonist Charlie Parker, best known as “Bird” (short for “Yardbird”) to generations of musicians. He was born in 1920, and almost sixty years since his death in 1954, he is universally celebrated for single-handedly inventing bebop and bringing jazz into the modern era.
City Parks Foundation is proud to celebrate this historic milestone with an expanded 3-day schedule featuring contemporaries of Charlie Parker as well as jazz musicians that continue to shape and drive the art form. This year’s celebration also includes the world premiere of a newly commissioned reworking of the album Charlie Parker with Strings and performances by a slate of word artists, courtesy of the Bowery Poetry Club and A Gathering of the Tribes.
As in past seasons, the festival culminates on the final weekend of August to coincide with Parker’s birthday, with performances uptown on Friday evening and Saturday afternoon in historic Harlem’s Marcus Garvey Park (this year in the newly refurbished Richard Rodgers Amphitheater), blocks from the clubs in which bebop was born; and downtown on Sunday afternoon in Tompkins Square Park, across the street from the apartment that Parker called home.
For the first time, the festival has expanded its programming with an entire week of workshops, lectures, and intimate performances presented with The Jazz Foundation of America, The Harlem School of the Arts, Ginny’s Supper Club, Revive Music School and The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music.
Join us to learn something new about Bird, listen to artists you love, discover some new favorites, and reconnect with old friends- but most of all to ENJOY the enduring legacy of Charlie Parker and jazz in New York City.
The complete Charlie Parker Jazz Festival schedule follows. For the most up-to-date scheduling and line-up for all SummerStageprogramming, follow SummerStage via the below links and visit www.SummerStage.org for festival information.
Charlie Parker Jazz Festival Lineup
Friday, August 17
Jazz Legends: Charlie Parker Tribute
5:00 PM –7:00 PM
Whole Foods Market Upper West Side, (808 Columbus Ave. at 97th Street)
A tribute not only to Bird, but to the jazz heritage of the neighborhood and the many greats that played at Mikell’s Jazz Club, the former resident at the address.
Presented in partnership with the Jazz Foundation of America
FREE, No Reservations Required
Sunday, August 19
The New School for Jazz & Contemporary Music Presents:
Andy Milne’s Bandwidth
9:00 PM & 10:30 PM (2 sets)
Ginny’s Supper Club at Red Rooster, (310 Lenox Ave. between 125th & 126th Sts.)
Leader, pianist and composer Andy Milne is one of the most important and respected voices in jazz today. Bandwidth is a branch of Milne’s main group Dapp Theory, as they share the same rhythm section. The sound is more acoustic, features vocals and ventures into standard repertoire with some originals. For their Charlie Parker Jazz Festival performance at Ginny’s, the band will explore music from Milne’s lesser performed works as well as some arrangements on standards, performed with vocalist La Tanya Hall.
FREE, No Reservations Required
Monday, August 20
Revive Music Presents:
Lakecia Benjamin
9:00 PM & 10:30 PM (2 sets)
Ginny’s Supper Club at Red Rooster, (310 Lenox Ave. between 125th & 126th Sts.)
A native New Yorker, Lakecia Benjamin has evolved from her beginnings as a saxophonist at Fiorello Laguardia High School for the Performing Arts, to working as a touring musician with Clark Terry’s Big Band, and in her current incarnation as horn section femme-fatale leading the Hot Spot Horns playing for the likes of Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys, and Keyshia Cole. She has simultaneously transitioned into producing her own original works with SoulSquad, a group comprised of musical peers from her days at The New School University, which she hopes will showcase her writing talents as effectively as her musicianship, while establishing the sound she has lent to so many other artist’s recordings as something uniquely her own.
FREE, No Reservations Required
Tuesday August 21
Charlie Parker on Swing Street: Musical Storytelling
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Bill’s Place (148 West 133rd Street, between Lenox and 7th Avenues)
Styled after the speakeasies and jazz joints of 1920’s and ‘30s Harlem, Bill Saxton serves up real jazz and tells the story of the history of the original “Swing Street” on 133rd St.
Presented in partnership with the Jazz Foundation of America
FREE, Reservations Required
RSVP to:CharlieParker20@Summerstage.org, Include date and name of event in subject line.
Tuesday, August 21
Charlie Parker in 2012: Bird (still) in Flight
Panelists: Jimmy Heath / Steve Coleman / Jaleel Shaw / Antonio Ciacca
Moderated by: Ashley Kahn
6:30 PM – 8:00 PM
Harlem School of the Arts, (645 Saint Nicholas Avenue at 141st Street)
An all-star panel of musicians and journalists discuss Parker’s enduring legacy, addressing how his music continues to be a required part of any jazz musician’s education, or jazz fan’s journey. Bird’s impact and genius will also be looked at in a contemporary context.
FREE, Reservations Required
RSVP to:CharlieParker20@Summerstage.org, Include date and name of event in subject line.
Wednesday, August 22
Charlie Parker with Strings:
A Conversation with Miguel Atwood-Ferguson and Ashley Kahn
6:30 PM – 8:00 PM
The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music’s Jazz Performance Space
(55 W. 13th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues, Fifth Floor)
Noted multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger and educator Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, who is commissioned for this year’s festival, will present his newly composed versions of the music from the epochal 1949 and ‘50 “Charlie Parker with String” sessions. He will share his take on the original historic recordings, and his singular approach to reviving such a classic, with noted author, music journalist and educator Ashley Kahn.
FREE, Reservations Required
RSVP to:CharlieParker20@Summerstage.org, Include date and name of event in subject line.
Thursday, August 23
Workshop:
WeBop: A Family Jazz party
11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music’s Jazz Performance Space
(55 W. 13th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues, Fifth Floor)
Jazz at Lincoln Center’s WeBop band invites you to jump, jive, wiggle and giggle along with jazz favorites in a fun and interactive concert for families with children ages 8 months – 5 years.
FREE, Reservations Required
RSVP to:CharlieParker20@Summerstage.org, Include date and name of event in subject line.
Thursday, August 23
Theatrical Presentation:
Daniel Carlton Presents “When Smalls Had it All”
6:30 PM – 8:00 PM
The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music’s Jazz Performance Space
(55 W. 13th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues, Fifth Floor)
Actor/writer/storyteller Daniel Carlton presents “When Smalls had it All,” a multi-media theatrical presentation that honors and re-creates the experience of the iconic Smalls Paradise of Harlem as a metaphor for the neighborhood’s history. Under the musical direction of Claudia Hayden.
FREE, Reservations Required
RSVP to:CharlieParker20@Summerstage.org, Include date and name of event in subject line.
Friday, August 24
“Bird with Strings” with Miguel Atwood-Ferguson and Special Guests
Theatrical Presentation: Daniel Carlton Presents “On the Wings of Yardbird”
Produced by Revive Music
7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Marcus Garvey Park, MN
Harlem, Mount Morris Park West at West 122nd Street (Richard Rodgers Amphitheater)
This exceptional night premieres a reimagining of Charlie Parker’s 1950’s record, Charlie Parker with Strings, by world renowned composer, arranger and multi-instrumentalist, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson. Ferguson will perform original pieces and remixed versions of Charlie Parker with Strings with a full ensemble and string section. Bird with Strings re-imagines this seminal album in a modern context by combining the art of sampling, remixing and inventive compositions and arrangements. It is a series of pieces dedicated to a modern approach to the music, life and legacy of Charlie Parker.
During intermission, storyteller and poet Daniel Carlton will recite “On the Wings of Yardbird,” a story of what happens when a returning WWII black soldier comes home to Harlem and experiences Charlie Parker’s music for the first time, hearing his hope, dreams, heartache and pain captured in the jazzman’s solos. Spoken word will be accompanied by live solos from the album, Ornithology as well as other works by Charlie Parker.
This program is curated by Revive Music Group, who specializes in producing genre-bending, creative-concept live music shows with the purpose of educating and inspiring audiences about artistic and authentic forms of music.
Both works are commissioned by City Parks Foundation in celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival.
Saturday, August 25
Roy Haynes / Rene Marie’s ‘Experiment In Truth’ / Derrick Hodge / ERIMAJ
Poets: Edwin Torres / LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs
3:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Marcus Garvey Park , MN
Harlem, Mount Morris Park West at West 122nd Street (Richard Rodgers Amphitheater)
Roy Haynes is the pulse of legendary jazz. For over fifty years, Haynes has influenced and innovated, shaping some of the greatest recordings in jazz while his joyous drumming with the legends of the genre altered the very fabric and direction of jazz improvisation. Haynes’ unrelenting “hard swing” sound has graced a who’s-who list of jazz icons like Louis Armstrong, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and Dizzy Gillespie. His newest project the Fountain of Youth Band, assembles Jaleel Shaw, Martin Bejerano and David Wong with Haynes at the forefront, proving that he is influencing the next generation of jazz artists just as he has those of the past.
Rene Marie, the award winning singer whose style incorporates elements of jazz, soul, blues and gospel has quickly become a heroine to many. Since the release of her recording debut Renaissance, this Colorado based heroine has evolved into one of the greatest and most sensuous vocalists of our time. Rene Marie shows her skill as she sings in three languages on her latest album, Voice of My Beautiful Country, winning a spot on NPR’s Best Jazz Albums of 2011 list. With a passionate, powerful voice, Rene Marie has drawn a legion of fans and music critics who find themselves not only entertained, but encouraged and deeply impacted by her performances.
Bassist Derrick Hodge represents something inventive and refreshing, fronting the wave of a unique generation of renaissance musicians working across all genres without borders. Hodge has spent his youthful career transcending musical trends. He composes and performs throughout various genres of hip-hop, gospel, R&B, funk, singer/songwriter and jazz, performing and/or recording with Grammy nominated and awarded artists such as Maxwell, Common, Kanye West, Sade and more. Hodge also boasts success as a writer in various musical genres ranging from jazz and orchestral chamber music to pop and R&B. His debut recording, Live Today is a melting pot of sound and emotions and a showcase of his widely respected versatility and melodic sensitivity. Produced by Jill Newman Productions
Jamire Williams is a thriving, world renowned musician, producer and composer on the New York City music scene. With an extensive background and education routed in jazz and the performing arts, Williams heads his band, ERIMAJ, a progressive, jazz influenced but genre defying group of musicians. The New York Times has referred to Williams’ drumming as “fluid narrative improvising, as well as beats like fragmented hip-hop,” exemplifying his true talent. Recently voted in Downbeat Magazine’s“Critic’s Poll Rising Star – Drum” category, Williams and ERIMAJ are definitely ones to keep your eye on.
In celebration of the 20th anniversary, we will be presenting 5 spoken word artists / poets between musical sets who will help celebrate the legacy of Charlie Parker and further illuminate jazz in a diverse way. Saturday’s artists include: Edwin Torres and LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs.
Sunday, August 26
Ernestine Anderson Quartet / Gregory Porter / Andy Milne & Dapp Theory/ Sullivan Fortner
Poets: Jon Sands / Sheila Maldonado / Nikhil Melnechuk
3:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Tompkins Square Park, MN
East 7th Street between Avenues A and B
From intimate trio formats to big band, acknowledged vocal virtuoso Ernestine Anderson Quartet does it all with seductive sophistication. Her sultry, sensuous voice is intimate in small club settings and soars with passionate intensity in the festival arena. On stage, she’s charming and vivacious, her joy in the music delighting audiences from around the globe. Anderson has recorded more than 30 albums, performed at all the major jazz festivals, and has received four GRAMMY nominations. A recognized jazz legend, years of singing and living have shaped a vocalist who can make your heart cry one moment and dance the next. Poignant ballads, sassy swing, and down-home blues – Ernestine Anderson is master of them all.
With a voice that can caress or confront, embrace or exhort, Grammy nominee Gregory Porter exhibits an incredible degree of vocal mastery. His distinct style ranges from jazz, funk, R&B, blues and gospel, all soulful while still maintaining the elegance he learned from his earlier influences. Playing on major stages around the globe as well as on famous television shows, The New York Times has said, “Gregory Porter has most of what you would want in a male jazz singer, and maybe a thing or two you didn’t know you wanted.”
Dapp Theory is at the meeting point of lyrical jazz piano, funkified polyrhythmic exploration and spoken word poeticism. Leader, pianist and composer Andy Milne is one of the most important and respected voices in jazz today. His band, Dapp Theory has been on the scene since 1998 helping re-draw and extend the boundaries of jazz. Jazz Times Magazine describes their latest CD, Layers of Chance as “remarkable chemistry . . . so impeccable, it’s practically a musical Unified Field Theory”.
Sullivan Fortner plays jazz piano with bravado and percussive force. While earning his Bachelor of Music degree, this young jazz pianist was a member of the Oberlin Jazz Septet (OJS), the Conservatory’s elite student jazz ensemble. A graduate of the Manhattan School of Music, Sullivan has also recorded with such luminaries as Albert “Tottie” Heath, Benny Powell, Silde Hampton and currently performs with the Roy Hargrove Quintet. This up and coming musician is an act worth watching out for, leading The New York Times to claim, “[Fortner is] unknown around New York, though maybe not for long.”
In celebration of the 20th anniversary, we will be presenting 5 word artists / poets between sets who will help celebrate the legacy of Charlie Parker and further illuminate jazz in a diverse way. Sunday’s artists include: Jon Sands, Sheila Maldonado, and Nikhil Melnechuk.
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