The JLCO with Wynton Marsalis Honors The 80th Anniversary of Benny Goodman
Jazz at Lincoln Center continues to honor the iconic artists, albums, movements, and events that left distinctive indelible marks in jazz history throughout the organization’s 30th anniversary season. Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis will pay tribute to Benny Goodman’s legendary 1938 debut at Carnegie Hall, one of the first major public performances featuring a racially-integrated group and considered a milestone in the acceptance of jazz as America’s classical music. For three nights only in Rose Theater, January 11-13, the Orchestra will be led by Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra reedman Victor Goines serving as music director and performer, along with featured clarinetists Anat Cohen, Janelle Reichman, Ken Peplowski, and Jazz at Lincoln Center’s own Ted Nash. This program will consist entirely of pieces played during that historic event composed by artists including Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, George Gershwin, Fats Waller, Louis Prima, and more.
Benny Goodman: King of Swing was selected as one of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s landmark 30th anniversary performances due to Goodman played a significant role in jazz history, both musically and socially. The virtuoso clarinetist and visionary bandleader’s efforts and innovations helped reshape the big band sound in the 1930s and he fought for racial equality by integrating his bands decades before other public institutions took that step. In the country’s most hallowed classical music concert hall, the 1938 Carnegie Hall concert was about much more than entertainment ; it was, in many ways, a “debut” of jazz itself, an unprecedented presentation of authentic jazz and racial integration on a stage of unparalleled prestige. True to form, the “King of Swing” celebrated the music on his own terms, introducing the public to real jazz elements and extensive improvisation during an era fixated on dance music — and by the end of the evening, the response was ecstatic.
Benny Goodman: King of Swing will take place in Rose Theater at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Frederick P. Rose Hall, located at Broadway at 60th Street, New York, New York. For additional information and to purchase tickets, visit jazz.org
In addition, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Swing University will offer a six-week course on The Life and Legacy of Benny Goodman, led by Loren Schoenberg – master musician and teacher, as well as longtime associate and friend to Goodman. The course begins January 31 and will be held in the Irene Diamond Education Center, located in Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center. For more information and to register, go to academy.jazz.org/swing-university.
Jazz at Lincoln Center’s 2017–18 season celebrates the organization’s 30th anniversary. Since the first downbeat of its summer concert series in 1987, Jazz at Lincoln Center has been a vital part of the global cultural landscape. Jazz at Lincoln Center was established as an independent non-profit organization in 1996; opened Frederick P. Rose Hall, the “House of Swing”, in 2004, making it the world’s first venue designed specifically for jazz; and launched Blue Engine Records in 2014 to share its vast archive of recordings. Over the past three decades, Jazz at Lincoln Center has become an important advocate for jazz, culture, and arts education globally, reaching an audience of nearly 2 million people of all ages and experiences through concerts, webcasting, musical instruction, and distribution of music scores—the vast majority of which is free of charge. To date, Jazz at Lincoln Center has produced more than 1,200 original concerts in the New York City area, with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra having performed in over 446 cities in 41 countries on five continents.
This milestone season reflects on 30 years of celebrating the universal language of music and the influence of jazz in the present day. Throughout the 2017–18 season, Jazz at Lincoln Center will bring together a wide array of events, projects, virtuoso musicians, composers, and educators to illustrate the collaborative nature of the art form. Jazz at Lincoln Center’s 2017–18 season features performances by renowned artists including Joey Alexander, Chick Corea, Paquito D’Rivera, Eliane Elias, Ellis Marsalis, Dick Hyman, Marilyn Maye, Steve Miller, and Dianne Reeves; as well as Jazz at Lincoln Center debuts by the Harlem Quartet and vocalist and songwriter Somi. The milestone season will conclude with a grand finale world premiere by Wynton Marsalis, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Managing and Artistic Director.
Box Office Hours:
Monday–Saturday: 10am–6pm (or 30 minutes past curtain)
Sunday: 12pm–6pm (or 30 minutes past curtain)
Live webcast on wyntonmarsalis.org/live