Jammin' with the Jazz Family

[Lois Gilbert]

New York, NY (March 10, 2004) A cool afternoon of inspiring jazz will set the stage for Jazz at Lincoln Center's (JALC) inaugural Jammin' With Jazz family benefit, hosted by WABC news anchor Bill Ritter, at Blue Smoke/Jazz Standard. JALC, the not-for-profit arts organization devoted to jazz education, performance and broadcast, will hold the family event on Sunday, April 18, 2004 from 3:00 – 6:00 pm. Proceeds will benefit the hundreds of educational events JALC produces each year. Tickets for Jammin' With Jazz are available by calling (212) 258-9961.


Jammin' With Jazz is the ideal family event for parents and their children (recommended for ages 8-13) to enjoy Blue Smoke's specialty southern-style menu while listening to some of the greatest jazz musicians on the scene. In the upstairs restaurant, families will enjoy a buffet reception and performance by the JALC Essentially Ellington All-Star Sextet. These stellar musicians in their teens and 20s are all outstanding soloists from JALC's prestigious high school band competition. Downstairs at Jazz Standard, Bill Charlap Trio and vocalist Allan Harris will perform. "Charlap elevates the quality level of the night whenever he appears, adding welcome dashes of life and vitality. The beauty he creates is unforgettable." — New York Post.

Ticket Levels:
$75 Friend one child benefit ticket (13 years and younger)
$200 Donor one adult benefit ticket
$500 Sustainer four child and/or adult benefit tickets
$1,000 Benefactor five benefit tickets and five weekend passes to JALC's Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival on May 22-24.
$2,500 Underwriter underwrite a JALC activity or artist, five tickets for the benefit and 10 weekend passes to JALC's Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival on May 22-24.

Tickets for Jammin' With Jazz are available by calling (212) 258-9961.

Bill Charlap was born in New York on October 15, 1966. He started playing classical and jazz piano at the age of three and graduated at the city's famed New York High School of Performing Arts. In his early years he studied privately with Jack Reilly and with Eleanor Hancock. As a professional, he has worked with Gerry Mulligan, Red Mitchell, Benny Carter, Rufus Reid, Jay Leonhart, Marvin Stamm, Louie Bellson and backed up singers Helen Merrill, Sheila Jordan, Barbara Lea, Carol Sloane and Tony Bennett. Mr. Charlap joined the Phil Woods Quintet in 1995 and has recorded several CDs as a leader, including Along With Me (Chiaroscuro), Souvenir , Distant Star and All Through The Night (Criss Cross Jazz). In 1997, Charlap began working with the group that has since become his own history-making trio, featuring Peter Washington on bass and drummer Kenny Washington. Charlap has appeared on over 50 CDs as a sideman as well as recording under his own name.

Essentially Ellington All-Star Sextet includes members that have participated in JALC's prestigious Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival and hail from Florida to Illinois. Each was chosen after winning EE Outstanding Soloist Awards. This remarkable group of young talent features twin brothers Roland Barber (trombone) and Rahsaan Barber (saxophone), both EE '98 from Nashville, TN; Aaron Diehl (piano) EE '02, recent recipient of the Martin E. Segal Award at Lincoln Center and from Columbus OH; Ivan Taylor (bass) EE '02 from Harvey, IL (bass), Obed Calvaire (drums), EE '00 from Miami, FL and Jennifer Sanon (vocals), EE '03 from Miami, FL. Each member of the Essentially Ellington All-Star Sextet is currently studying in New York City with the exception of Ms. Sanon who is a senior in high school in Florida.

Jazz at Lincoln Center is a not-for-profit arts organization dedicated to jazz. With the world-renowned Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, and a comprehensive 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, weekly national radio and television programs, recordings, publications, an annual high school jazz band competition and festival, a band director academy, a jazz appreciation curriculum for children, advanced training through the Juilliard Institute for Jazz Studies, music publishing, children's concerts, lectures, adult education courses, film programs, and student and educator workshops. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis and President & CEO Hughlyn F. Fierce, Jazz at Lincoln Center will produce hundreds of events during its 2003-04 season. Currently, Jazz at Lincoln Center is building its new home – Frederick P. Rose Hall – the first-ever performance, education, and broadcast facility devoted to jazz, slated to open in fall 2004.



This event is sponsored by MTV Networks.