Summer 2016: Jazz in the Garden

Below is the schedule for Jazz in the Garden for Summer 2016. It runs Thursday afternoons in July from 12:15-1:45pm. Rain or Shine. Free for members, $5 for non-members.

2016 Jazz in the Garden Schedule

July 7: Lenny White, Drummer
Tom Guarna-guitar/Ben Williams-Bass

One of the founding fathers of the musical genre, “fusion”, White earned a world-wide reputation as the drummer in the mid-’70s Grammy winning super group Return to Forever. He was still a teenager in 1967 when Jackie McLean asked him to join his band. Within a year, White played on two of the most important “fusion” records ever made, Miles Davis’ “Bitches Brew” and Freddie Hubbard’s “Red Clay.” Throughout the 1990s White excelled as a composer and producer, recorded a number of solo records that effectively brings all the genres together that he considers a musical blend of Jazz, Rock and Urban Pop.  In May of 2010, White released his 13th album entitled “ANOMALY”, in conjunction with the Absrtact Logix label. In 2010 he also co-produced Stanley Clarke’s latest album along with a documented version of the Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke and Lenny White tour of 2009 entitled “Forever”. He won Grammy’s for both projects and also a Latin Grammy for “Forever,” now making him a 4 time Grammy winner. Joining Lenny White will be Tom Guarna-guitar and Ben Williams-Bass.

July 14: Brandee Younger, Harpist

Proven to defy genres and labels, this young Harpist plays in a style reminiscent of Dorothy Ashby and Alice Coltrane, yet has developed a beautiful, fresh sound all her own.  A New York native, Younger has made her mark as a unique artist having worked with jazz royalty including Ravi Coltrane, Jack Dejohnette, Reggie Workman, Charlie Haden, Bill Lee and Butch Morris, as well as Grammy winning Hip Hop/ R&B producers and artists such as Ms. Lauryn Hill, Common, Ryan Leslie, John Legend and Ski Beatz. Younger will be performing selections from her latest release, “Wax & Wane” (Revive Music Group) as well as Alice Cotrane music and songs from the American Songbook.

July 21: Charenée Wade, Vocalist

A native of Brooklyn, Wade, is a notable singer, composer, arranger and educator who received her degree from the Manhattan School of Music, was First Runner-Up in the 2010 Thelonious Monk International Vocal Competition. Other accolades include Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead Program where she performed her original music at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC; being one of the talented four chosen for the Dianne Reeves Young Artist Workshop at Carnegie Hall; 1st Runner-Up in the Jazzmobile Vocal Competition; and being selected for the JAS Academy Summer Sessions, 2007-09, directed by Christian McBride. Her, highly acclaimed, latest release, “Offering”: The music of Gil-Scott Heron and Brian Jackson (Motéma), pays tribute to one of her inspirations, the socially conscious poet and musician Gil Scott-Heron.

July 28: Mino Cinelu –Reunion Drum Trio
Mayra Casales-vocal/Madeleine Yayodele Nelson-drummer

Master percussionist/ composer/ singer/ producer/ multi-instrumentalist, as a teenager, toured and recorded with musical giants Miles Davis, Weather Report, Herbie Hancock, Stevie Wonder, and Lou Reed, to just name a few. Cinelu’s multi-instrument collaborations and facility with wide range of styles established him as a formidable talent. In the 1990’s Cinelu began his solo career with the release of his self-titled CD. His World Jazz Ensemble showcases his maturity as a musician and his boundless passion for new sounds. Cinelu spent his formative years living and working in Newark, NJ, after moving to the States from England, via France. The Reunion Drum Trio will feature Mayra Casales-vocal and Madeleine Yayodele Nelson-drums.

August 4: Woody Shaw Legacy Ensemble
Produced by Woody Louis Armstrong Shaw, III

Regarded as one of the great band leaders and innovators of his generation, Woody Shaw, Jr. (1944-1989) was an infant when his parents moved to Newark, NJ. Considered one of “Newarks own”, the legendary trumpeter attended the famed Arts High in Newark, which was attended by many great jazz artists, such as Wayne Shorter, Sarah Vaughan, and organist Larry Young. Woody began working professionally at age 14 and sat in with countless musicians as a teenager, including Kenny Dorham, Hank Mobley, Lou Donaldson and others in Newark. Along with playing in the local youth bands, this gave him a solid basis in the jazz and African American musical tradition. [I don’t yet have the list of musicians who will be performing]

Special Events

August 12: Jam Session with Craig Handy & 2nd Line Smith
Friday Evening: 6:30 to 9:00 pm (door opens at 6:00 pm)

The Crescent City brass band tradition meets the electrifying, bluesy, soulful music of famed organist, Jimmy Smith, in the group that saxophonist, Craig Handy has successfully blended. The foot-stomping rhythms of the 2nd line tradition, birthed in New Orleans with the funky sounds of Smith’s B3 Hammond organ is electryfing. Handy began his career performing with jazz masters that included Art Blakey, Roy Haynes, Abdullah Ibrahim, Betty Carter and the Mingus Dynasty Band. Known for his technical mastery, prodigious post-bop talent, as well as his versatility. The Oakland, California native who remains a first call musician can also be seen in the 1996 film, Kansas City, playing the role of Coleman Hawkins.

Jam Session to follow performance. Musicians are encouraged to bring instruments.

September 16: An evening of Jazz with Ron Carter
FEE:  $25 members; $35 non-members 
Call 973.596.6613 or purchase tickets online at newarkmuseum.org             

Jazz House Kids ensemble to open the evening

Carter is among the most original, prolific, and influential bassists in jazz. With more than 2,000 albums to his credit, he has recorded with many of music's greats: Tommy Flanagan, Gil Evans, Lena Horne, Bill Evans, B.B. King, the Kronos Quartet, Dexter Gordon, Wes Montgomery, and Bobby Timmons. In the early 1960s he performed throughout the United States in concert halls and nightclubs with Jaki Byard and Eric Dolphy.  He later toured Europe with Cannonball Adderley. From 1963 to 1968, he was a member of the classic and acclaimed Miles Davis Quintet. In 1993 Ron Carter earned a Grammy award for Best Jazz Instrumental Group, the Miles Davis Tribute Band and another Grammy in 1998 for Call 'Sheet Blues', an instrumental composition from the film 'Round Midnight.

Most recently he was honored by the French Minister of Culture with France's premier cultural award--the medallion and title of Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters, given to those who have distinguished themselves in the domain of artistic or literary creation and for their contribution to the spread of arts and letters in France and the world.