Jazz at Lincoln Center Opens Doors with Wynton Marsalis, Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra with Arturo O'Farrill, Tony Bennett, Cassandra Wilson, Bill Cosby, Dianne Reeves, Abbey Lincoln, Savion Glover, Branford Marsalis, Ellis Marsalis, Jr., Delfeayo Marsalis and Jason Marsalis
Jazz reaches a new high note today as Jazz at Lincoln Center welcomes the world to its new home, Frederick P. Rose Hall -- the first performance, education and broadcast facility devoted to jazz -- and begins a three-week grand opening celebration. Kicked off by a New Orleans-style parade led by Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis, the grand opening will showcase Frederick P. Rose Hall's three performance spaces with an extraordinary variety of concerts and programs, as well as events introducing the organization's many educational programs.
"The opening of our 'House of Swing' ushers in a new era of jazz," said Mr. Marsalis. "As artists, we've continued to evolve, but our performing spaces haven't. So we've built a house that really swings with the way jazz works, the way jazz feels, and most of all, the way jazz sounds. The sophisticated sound of the Rose Theater, the communal embrace of The Allen Room, the down-home groove of Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola - each space invites the audience to become one with the music. Now everyone can truly experience the 'democracy' that is jazz."
At 10 a.m. on October 18, Mr. Marsalis will take the celebration to the streets of Manhattan, leading a traditional New Orleans second line parade down Broadway from Lincoln Center's Josie Robertson Plaza to the Jazz at Lincoln Center marquee located on Broadway at 60th Street. At 11 a.m., Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, accompanied by Department of Cultural Affairs Commissioner Kate Levin, will join Mr. Marsalis in Frederick P. Rose Hall for an official dedication ceremony, which will include a fanfare entitled "The Gift," written by renowned trombonist Locksley Wellington "Slide" Hampton as a gift to Jazz at Lincoln Center, as well as a ribbon cutting. Other elected officials expected are U.S. Representative Jerrold Nadler, Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields, and NYC Councilwoman Gale Brewer.
Following the dedication, Jazz at Lincoln Center will celebrate the opening of the Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame and the Irene Diamond Education Center, which will offer a Jazz 101 adult class, an Essentially Ellington high school band clinic, a Jazz in the Schools performance, a professional development workshop featuring the Jazz for Young People(SM) Curriculum for educators and a demonstration of the new WeBop! class for two- to five-year- olds. The Jazz 101 adult class, "Jazz and the Concert Hall," will be broadcast live from the Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame on WKCR 89.9 FM.
The evening's grand opening performances, themed "One Family of Jazz" and hosted by Jazz at Lincoln Center Board member and CBS News correspondent Ed Bradley, will feature the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra and special guests, including Branford Marsalis, Tony Bennett, Abbey Lincoln, Ellis Marsalis, Jr., Delfeayo Marsalis, Jason Marsalis, Paquito D'Rivera and many others. The invitation-only concerts will be televised nationally from Frederick P. Rose Hall's three performance spaces from 8-9 p.m. on Live From Lincoln Center on PBS and until 10 p.m. on WNET. From 8-11 p.m., the evening's performances will be distributed worldwide by National Public Radio, broadcast locally on WBGO 88.3 FM and available on the web.
"With the opening of our new home, jazz has become an integral part of our city's musical landscape-and an international cultural centerpiece," said Jazz at Lincoln Center Executive Director Derek E. Gordon. "From New York to Tokyo, we want everyone to come enjoy and celebrate jazz in all its varieties and forms. By inviting artists and audiences from all over the world into our new home, and by taking jazz into the homes of millions of people through television and radio broadcasts, Jazz at Lincoln Center will enrich people's lives with music, education, excitement, friendship -- and a very good time."
"We want to thank everyone -- our extraordinary and generous board of directors, architects, staff and consultants and construction workers - who worked so tirelessly to make this dream a reality," said Jazz at Lincoln Center Chairman of the Board Lisa Schiff. "We are deeply grateful to our many supporters from all over the world, especially to our capital campaign lead donors, including Allen & Company, the City of New York - in particular Mayor Michael Bloomberg and New York City Council Speaker Gifford Miller - The Coca- Cola Company, The Irene Diamond Fund and the Frederick P. and Sandra P. Rose Foundation, for giving us the opportunity to create this unique performance facility. In addition, Jazz at Lincoln Center salutes the 23 individual, corporate, foundation and government donors, who each gave $1 million-plus to Jazz at Lincoln Center's capital campaign."
Jazz at Lincoln Center's $1 million-plus donors include: the late R. Theodore Ammon; The Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation; HRH Prince Bandar Bin Sultan Abdul Aziz Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; Bloomberg; Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields; Janice and Robert Burns; The JPMorgan Chase Foundation; Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Foundation; Doris Duke Charitable Foundation; Mica and Ahmet Ertegun; The Ford Foundation; Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation; Harman International; The Leon Hess Family; Robert L. Johnson; The Kresge Foundation; Thomas H. Lee and Anne Tenenbaum; Edward J. Noble Foundation; Peter Norton; The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation; The State of New York; United States Congress; and Agnes Varis. Designed by world-renowned architect Rafael Vinoly, Frederick P. Rose Hall marks the return of jazz to the area where it was first heard in New York City-at Reisenweber's on 8th Avenue and West 58th Street. In 1917, the Original Dixieland Jazz Band from New Orleans performed at this multi-faceted venue.
Grand Opening Festival (October 18 to November 7, 2004)
From adult education classes to human rights speeches set to newly- commissioned music by guest artists, the three-week grand opening festival offers events for everyone. The programming will continue Jazz at Lincoln Center's spirit of artistic collaboration, with a range of guest artists joining the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra during the grand opening festival. Bank of America is the proud presenting sponsor of Jazz at Lincoln Center's grand opening festival and inaugural season in Frederick P. Rose Hall.
"Frederick P. Rose Hall affords us new opportunities to further our mission of collaboration and integration with all the arts through the spirit of jazz," said Mr. Marsalis. "The breadth of our performances reflects both tradition and innovation and celebrates the complete integration of ideas, generations and feelings."
Celebrated musicians and special guests throughout the festival will include Bill Cosby, Glenn Close, Morgan Freeman, Rev. Dr. Calvin O. Butts III, Keith David, Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, the New York City Ballet, Garth Fagan Dance, Savion Glover, Joe Chambers and his Percussion Ensemble, STREB, Cassandra Wilson, Dianne Reeves, Freddy Cole, Taj Mahal, Randy Weston, Corey Harris, Abdou M'Boup, Mamadou Diabate, Ricky Skaggs with Wycliffe Gordon, Mark O'Connor's Hot Swing Trio, the Holmes Brothers with Marie Knight, the Joey DeFrancesco Trio with special guest Houston Person, Rashied Ali, Sonny Fortune, Reggie Workman, Oscar Brown, Jr., Billy Childs, Yusef Komunyakaa, Sonia Sanchez, John Sinclair, Amiri Baraka, Gil Scott-Heron and Cyro Baptista's Beat The Donkey Special Edition with headliner Hermeto Pascoal.
