ATTENTION ALL MEDIA: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
On May 16th, Tribeca Performing Arts Center Begins Its 5th
Annual Lost Jazz Shrines Artist Series Honoring West Village's Revolutionary Café Society So Named by Vogue¹s Clare Boothe Luce
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Historic club helped launch Billie Holiday, Lester Young, Lena Horne
and integrated the city¹s club scene on musician and audience fronts
May 16 Von Freeman & Barry Harris Trio: Legend of the Hawk & Pres
May 30 Joanne Brackeen, Bertha Hope, Francesca Tanksley:
Honoring Mary Lou Williams and more
June 20 Carla Cook & René Marie: Great Divas of Café Society
"All events to take place in Theater 2."
Earlier this century, jazz was the hip hop of its day in that it revolutionized music and America itself. Jazz was quickly embraced by young people of different colors and backgrounds who were excited by the fast-paced, loud swirling sound and sexy songs. New York City became the mecca for jazz, and fans flocked to the city¹s jazz shrines uptown and downtown to hear this new music played live by their heroes. While the music served to unite, however, the clubs¹ segregation policies kept people separate.
Café Society
In 1938 Café Society came onto the scene and changed everything. Barney Josephson, the son of Latvian immigrants and a shoe salesman from New Jersey, was an avid jazz fan and regularly visited Harlem clubs like the Cotton Club to hear Duke Ellington and others. The questionable owners and policies _ segregation and outright discrimination _ of these clubs plagued Josephson enough that he decided to create a place ³where blacks and whites worked together behind the footlights and sat together out front,² an unprecedented idea in those days.
Enamored of the political cabarets he¹d enjoyed while on vacation in Prague and Berlin one summer, Josephson decided to create a ³political cabaret with jazz.² He took out some loans, rented an L-shaped basement space at 2 Sheridan Square in the bohemian center of the city _ Greenwich Village _ and commissioned WPA artists to paint satiric murals on the wall. Josephson¹s friend, publishing icon Clare Booth Luce, was the editor of VOGUE at the time and also was weary of the pretensions of the uptown ³hoity toity.² She offered the name Café Society to spoof the ³ermine-and-pearls fancy houses² and together, they came up with the legendary motto: The wrong place for the right people. Café Society opened in January 1939 by presenting the little-known Billie Holliday. It would thrive (in two locations) for almost 20 years.
Tribeca Performing Arts Center
Tribeca Performing Arts Center (Tribeca) pays tribute to the success and impact of Café Society in its 5th annual Lost Jazz Shrines Series, the only forum in New York City that pays homage to the nightclubs, corner taverns and lofts that were the hottest scenes on the city¹s jazz map below 14th Street before passing into history. The Series provides glimpses of venues that were home to one of America¹s greatest contributions to world culture _ jazz _ and the people who made them come alive. The Series also serves to celebrate the impact of these venues and artists on the jazz scene today.
Tribeca salutes Café Society, because it not only played an important role in providing a performance space for emerging artists of all backgrounds but also challenged the segregation of public places during the Œ40s, helping to effect social change in the city. In both its downtown and uptown locations, Café Society was noted for providing a full evening¹s worth of entertainment including singers, comics, dancers and ³boogie woogie² piano players. Working with his friend, talent impresario John Hammond, Josephson helped launch and/or solidify the careers of: vocalists Billie Holliday; Sarah Vaughan; Lena Horne; Big Joe Turner; Big Bill Broonzy; and pianists Hazel Scott (also vocals); Mildred Bailey; Mary Lou Williams; and instrumentalists Art Tatum; Lester ³Pres² Young; Albert Ammons; Burl Ives; Django Reinhardt; Teddy Wilson; and comics Imogene Coca, Zero Mostel and Carol Channing.
Café Society presented three shows per night. Tribeca will follow that tradition with three separate showcases honoring legacies of Café Society:
May 16 The Saxophone Tradition of the Hawk & Pres
8pm Saxophone legend Von Freeman comes in from Chicago to join with $35.00 Piano great Barry Harris to resurrect the traditions of Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young.
May 30 The Piano Tradition of Mary Lou Williams and others
8pm Three well-regarded female pianists - Joanne Brackeen, Bertha Hope, $35.00 and Francesca Tanksley - come together to honor the trailblazer pianist, Mary Lou Williams.
June 20 The Great Divas of Café Society: An Evening with Billie, Sarah and Lena
8pm Two of the contemporary jazz scene¹s most exciting and diverse $35.00 vocalists, Carla Cook and René Marie, join with the John Toomey Trio to pay homage to three of the greatest.
For almost 20 years, Tribeca Performing Arts Center (TRIBECA) has been a leading presenter of dance, theater, and music in downtown New York City. The season includes educational theatre for schoolchildren, a weekend series for families, a dance series, a unique jazz program, and residencies with some of New York City¹s most exciting emerging artists. Incorporated in 1983, and located on the campus of Borough of Manhattan Community College, TRIBECA has been a major contributor to the cultural vibrancy of lower Manhattan. Located where neighborhoods of families, financial industries and tourism meet.
Performing Arts DowntownŠfor all New York
"All events to take place in Theater 2."
199 Chambers Street, New York, NY 10007. Linda Herring, Executive Director. (212) 220.1459
www.tribecapac.org
LOST JAZZ SHRINES SERIES
The Lost Jazz Shrines concert series provides glimpses of historic clubs that were once home to jazz _ one of America¹s greatest contributions to world culture. Tribeca Performing Arts Center began this series in 1998 to pay homage to jazz venues and artists, which though they have passed into legend, continue to resonate as part of the development of jazz. The series has paid tribute to the following: the 1970s Loft Scene; The Five Spot; The Half Note; Slugs; and now Café Society. For 2003-2004 and 2004-2005, the series will remember the Village Gate. Attached to the jazz series is a humanities program that precedes the concert showcase. The free humanities program may include a panel discussion, a video/film presentation, a photo exhibition or reception with people familiar with the venue being honored.
May 16 The Saxophone Tradition of the Hawk & Pres
8pm Von Freeman is one of the finest tenors in jazz today. In his 80s, he $35.00 continues doing his own thing his own way, playing every Tuesday at a club in his hometown Chicago. Rarely heard live in New York, he opens the Lost Jazz Shrines series in honor of the great tradition of Coleman ³Hawk² Hawkins and Lester ³Pres² Young. Von is joined by the Barry Harris Trio, led by internationally renowned pianist, composer and educator, Harris. Both are recipients of Honorary Doctorates from Northwestern University.
May 30 The Piano Tradition of Mary Lou Williams and others
8pm Three well-regarded female pianists - JoAnne Brackeen, Bertha Hope, $35.00 and Francesca Tanksley - come together to honor the trailblazer pianist,
Mary Lou Williams, probably the most important and influential woman instrumentalist in the history of jazz. Williams solidified this status while at Café Society. Known as ³the Picasso of the piano,² Brackeen is considered a 21st century jazz genius and is consistently ranked as one of the best jazz pianists in the world. A late bloomer, Hope is a remarkably imaginative pianist whose style is unpredictable and always mesmerizing. Born in Italy and now a U.S. citizen, Tanksley is a fresh, exciting player who breaks through traditional expectations with a unique musical vision.
June 20 The Great Divas of Café Society: An Evening with Billie, Sarah and Lena 8pm
Two of the contemporary jazz scene¹s most exciting and diverse
$35.00 vocalists, Carla Cook and René Marie, join with the John Toomey Trio to pay homage to three of the greatest. GRAMMY-nominated Cook has recently opened for BB King and Wayne Shorter and has earned a reputation as one of the most natural, versatile vocalists in jazz. A self-taught jazz vocalist, Marie recently won France's Academie du Jazz honor for Best International Vocal Album, winning over Cassandra Wilson and Joni Mitchell. They'll reprise songs and traditions of Billie Holliday, Sarah Vaughan and Lena Horne, three of the great ladies of jazz.
Free Humanities Component @ 6pm
Prior to each concert, TRIBECA will screen historic film clips of some of Cafe Society's most prominent artists. The footage is taken from the famed Dave Chertok collection, and the evenings will be narrated by his son, Michael.
For more information on our Lost Jazz Shrines series, please go to
www.tribecapac.org
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