Jazz at Lincoln Center

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Five decades ago, gangs, guns and garbage ruled the area of New York now known as Lincoln Center. The battles depicted in "West Side Story" raged for real in this part of the West '60s - only without the fine music and fancy dancing. More than enough of that came later, once the city designated a 17-block region of the West Side, between 62nd and 70th Sts., for an extreme makeover. It’s been 50 years since the city held the groundbreaking ceremony for what has become America's premier cultural complex: Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

Jazz at Lincoln Center is one of 12 institutions housed by a complex. With the world-renowned Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and a vast array of guest artists, Jazz at Lincoln Center advances a unique vision for the continued development of the art of jazz by producing a year-round schedule of performance, education and broadcast events for audiences of all ages. These productions include concerts, national and international tours, residencies, a jazz hall of fame and concert series, weekly national radio programs, television broadcasts, recordings, publications, an annual high school jazz band competition and festival, a band director academy, jazz appreciation curriculum for students, music publishing, children’s concerts and classes, lectures, adult education courses, student and educator workshops and interactive websites.

JLC's Frederick P. Rose Hall consists of three main music performance venues: 1,233 seats. Rose Theater, 483 seats The Allen Room, featuring a 50 by 90-foot window overlooking Central Park and Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola, with 140 seats, an intimate jazz club named after the famous jazz artist Dizzy Gillespie. The hall also contains the Irene Diamond Education Center with rehearsal and recording rooms and the Nesuhi Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame (NEJHF), a multimedia installation featuring an 18-foot video wall, interactive computer kiosks and touch-activated virtual plaques. Visitors can celebrate the lives, artistry and music of the jazz greats so integral to the art form and industry. JLC also launched a website based on the NEJHF.

Under the leadership of Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis, Jazz musician, trumpeter, composer, bandleader, advocate for the arts, and educator, JLC is successful in being a one of the jazz centers of the world. Wynton Marsalis has helped propel jazz to the forefront of American culture. His prominent position in American culture was solidified in April 1997, when he became the first jazz artist to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize in music for his work Blood on the Fields, which was commissioned by Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has served as the world-renowned arts organization’s artistic director as well as music director of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (formerly known as the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra) since its inception. His official title with Jazz at Lincoln Center is artistic director, but that significantly understates his role in its origins and day-to-day operations. He was the driving force behind its inception, and he has a hand in everything from corporate relations to the curriculum for WeBop, a jazz program for preschoolers. “There’s nothing he doesn’t touch,” says Lisa Schiff, chairwoman of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s board of directors. “There’s not a part of our organization he’s not involved in.” His focus on educational outreach of the institution is also significant.

JALC's educational mission encompasses 22 programs and resources that reach upwards of 50,000 people directly and an estimated four million people through curricula, print music and online re¬sources. Beginning at just eight months old, little ones can swing, stomp and shuffle with "WeBop!". Families and school groups delight in the "Jazz for Young People concert series" and "Jazz in the Schools" tours that bring professional ensembles across NYC. Teachers across the country bring these concerts back to their classrooms with the "Jazz for Young People" Curriculum and make connections between jazz and American history with "NEA Jazz in the Schools". JALC also streams their education events online. The educational programs include the Middle School Jazz Academy, a tuition-free instructional program for NYC students. And for the past 13 years, the Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition and Festival has supported high school jazz bands nationwide. There is also a summer "Band Director Academy", customized teacher training workshops and a print music library. At Frederick P. Rose Hall adults can develop their listening skills and delve into jazz history at "Swing University", "Jazz Talk" and the Nesuhi Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame.

For detailed schedule go to : http://jalc.org/concerts/c_calendar09.asp