BIG DRUM / SMALL WORLD
This immersive, globally themed main-stage program features performances of all new commissions by prominent, internationally recognized jazz composers hailing from countries as diverse as, West Africa (Lionel Loueke), Israel (Omer Avital), Cuba (Yosvany Terry), Puerto Rico (Miguel Zenon), India (Rudresh Mahanthappa) and the United States (Marcus Strickland). Each unique composition is inspired by elements of both the American jazz tradition and the indigenous music of each composer’s respective country of origin.
Big Drum / Small World merges a broad range of musical ideas and celebrates artistic collaboration and stylistic amalgamation. Since its inception, jazz has always been an inclusive, unifying art form that has vividly reflected our collective national character and diverse cultural dynamism. In keeping with this tradition, Big Drum / Small World aspires to illuminate how jazz continues to unite us and exemplify our increasingly interdependent world.
AN EVENING WITH METTA QUINTET
Features the ensemble performing a variety of original compositions and arrangements of jazz standards and selections from the great American songbook.
MILES DAVIS & THE BLUE FLAME INCIDENT*
This exciting program celebrates the groundbreaking achievements of the iconic trumpeter, bandleader and cultural provocateur, Miles Davis. The program traverses Davis' extensive career and features music from some of his most creatively fertile periods of his career, including his controversial divergence into electric music in the late 1960's.
Using both, jazz history and 20th century American history as a backdrop, Miles Davis and the Blue Flame Incident (which alludes to one of Davis' earliest childhood memories) will engage, inform and enlighten audiences about one of the most compelling, infinitely creative and trailblazing artists the world has ever known.
ELLINGTON!*
ELLINGTON! is a highly engaging, interactive live multi-media program that aims to illuminate the rich, vital legacy of the great American composer, pianist and bandleader, Duke Ellington.
One of the most prolific, celebrated musicians in music history, Duke Ellington's canon comprises a timeless, highly personal aural account of both, the human condition and African-American experience of the 20th century.
Through the creative integration of live music, captivating video projections, live narration, JazzReach's ELLINGTON! introduces audiences to a wide variety of Duke's broad array of musical achievements, from hit songs to blues riffs to extended suites and scores for stage and screen.
STOLEN MOMENTS: THE FIRST 100 YEARS OF JAZZ*
Stolen Moments is a thoroughly captivating and informative program that introduces audiences to jazz music's rich history and to the names, faces and music of some of its many masters.
On a broader level, Stolen Moments also highlights the interplay between the jazz movement and the evolution of American culture throughout the 20th Century, emphasizing the ways in which jazz has acted as a unifying force, bridging cultural, ethnic and economic differences; stimulated cultural fusions and new stylistic idioms; exemplified democratic ideals; and influenced other genres of music, both in the U.S. and abroad.
* features live narration and video projections