Jazzmobile Returns for its 45th Year
Jazzmobile, which presents New York’s oldest continuous summer Jazz festival reaching approximately 100,000 annually, will kick off its 2009 summer season with a three-borough concert tour, featuring jazz great Randy Weston, on Sunday, June 21. The performances, are part of the Make Music New York Festival, a free day of outdoor concerts throughout the five boroughs held each year to mark the first day of summer.
The esteemed Harlem institution, which has been bringing its special brand of summer mobile concerts to the parks and streets of New York since 1964, is celebrating its 45th anniversary during Summerfest with headliners like Frank Wess, the Frank Foster Big Band, Wycliffe Gordon, Houston Person, Jimmy Heath, the Arturo O’Farrill Big Band, Eunice Newkirk, Lou Donaldson, Bobby Sanabria, Vanessa Rubin, Jeremy Pelt, the Jazzmobile Allstars with Cecil Bridgewater and The Duke Ellington Legacy Band, featuring Edward Ellington II.
The launch consists of the legendary jazz pianist Randy Weston performing a tribute in honor of the late Ghanaian drummer Kofi Ghanaba with an outdoor concert in partnership with the Jazz Gallery outside their location in SoHo at 3:30 p.m., as well as concerts by the Jose Obando Trio at the Bronx Museum of Art at 3:00 p.m. and saxophonist Lily White in the Flushing Town Hall Gardens at 4:00 p.m. Jazzmobile’s June 21 concerts herald its Summerfest, which begins on July 7 at Carl Schurz Park with a performance by Winard Harper and the Dion Parson 21st Century Band, with special guest appearance by Dr. Billy Taylor. Taylor’s last major concert on the Jazzmobile float was a performance with Duke Ellington. The June 21 performances are also in celebration of “Juneteenth,” (Galveston, Texas: June 19, 1865) the day when word was received that the Civil War had ended and that President Abraham Lincoln delivered his Emancipation Proclamation speech freeing all slaves.
Beginning on July 8 and continuing through August 28, popular Jazzmobile performers will take to the stage each Wednesday and Friday night at 7:00 p.m. at Grant’s Tomb and Marcus Garvey Park respectively. Throughout the week, the group swings into the neighborhoods of New York, bringing with it some of the hottest names in Jazz.
“As the longest-running major Jazz festival in New York City, Jazzmobile is both proud and thankful to the musicians, our board members, the Jazzmobile team, our sponsors and the great citizens of New York, who have invested their time and support over the years,” said Jazzmobile President and CEO Robin Bell-Stevens. “Your dedication has inspired us to hold an 18-month celebration of this important milestone, our 45th Anniversary.”
This summer Jazzmobile will present two festivals, the Harlem International Jazz Festival (HIJF), celebrating international Jazz artists at venues across Harlem, and its annual Summerfest, a Big Apple tradition. Highlights include Great Jazz on the Great Hill, Jazzmobile’s summer concert in Central Park (July 11) and the popular Jazzmobile Jazz Vocal Competition (July 27) at the legendary Alhambra Ballroom, which crowns one singer the “best of the best” of jazz vocalists. During the annual Harlem Week celebration, the group will be featured at several performances during July and August.
JAZZMOBILE SUMMER SCHEDULE FOLLOWS
2009 Jazzmobile Summer Concert Schedule
Schedule In Formation/Schedule Subject to Change
Jazzmobile Jazz Vocal Competition
Mon., July 27 6:30 PM
Finals, Winner Chosen
Alhambra Ballroom of New York
2116 Adam Clayton Powell Blvd.
Manhattan
$10 admission – RSVP required
Harlem International Jazz Festival
Tues., 7 July 7:30 PM
Winard Harper/Dion Parson 21st Century Band with special
guest appearance by Dr. Billy Taylor
Carl Schurz Park
Manhattan
Wed., 8 July 7:00 PM
Houston Person
Grant’s Tomb – 122nd St. & Riverside Dr.
Manhattan
Thurs., 9 July 7:30 PM
Bobby Sanabria & Ascencion – Latin Swing Dance Party
Harlem Stage/The Gatehouse
150 Convent Ave. at West 135th St.
Manhattan
$15 admission
Fri., 10 July 7:00 PM
Winard Harper/Craig Harris
Marcus Garvey Park – 122nd St. & 5th Ave.
Manhattan
Sat., 11 July 2:00 PM
George Gee Big Band /Arturo O’Farrill Big Band/
Akiko Tsuruga
Great Jazz on the Great Hill – 106th St. & CPW
Manhattan
Mon., 13 July 7:00 PM
Buyu Ambrose
Morningside Park – 114th St. Entrance
Manhattan
Tues., 14 July 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Satima Bea Benjamin, T.K. Blue, Luc Delannoy
Jam Session & Panel Discussion—Music & Migration: Paris
Reflections
Temple M
555 W. 141st St. at Broadway
RSVP required: 212-866-3616
Jazzmobile Summerfest
Sat., 11 July 3:00 PM
Danny Mixon
McDonough St. bet. Ralph & Patchen
Brooklyn
Wed., 15 July 7:00 PM
Frank Foster Big Band
Grant’s Tomb – 122nd St. & Riverside Dr.
Manhattan
Thurs., 16 July 7:00 PM
Lou Donaldson
Echo Park – Valentine Ave. bet. Tremont & Burnside
Bronx
Fri., 17 July 7:00 PM
Vanessa Rubin
Marcus Garvey Park – 122nd St. & 5th Ave.
Manhattan
Mon., 20 July 7:00 PM
Vanessa Rubin
Macon St. bet. Ralph & Patchen Aves.
Brooklyn
Tues., 21 July 7:00 PM
Danny Mixon
47th St. bet. 9th & 10th Aves.
Manhattan
Wed., 22 July 7:00 PM
Akiko Tsuruga
Grant’s Tomb – 122nd St. & Riverside Dr.
Manhattan
Thurs., 23 July 7:00 PM
Ghanniyya Green
150-155th St. & Edgecombe Ave.
Manhattan
Fri., 24 July 7:00 PM
Jimmy Owens
Marcus Garvey Park – 122nd St. & 5th Ave.
Manhattan
*Sun., 26 July 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM
“A Great Day in Harlem” Jazz in the Key of Gospel featuring
Eunice Newkirk
Grant’s Tomb
Mon., 27 July 7:00 PM
Antoinette Montague
143-22 109th Ave. – Jamaica
Queens
Tues., 28 July 7:00 PM
Eunice Newkirk
138th St. bet. 7th & Lenox Aves.
Manhattan
Wed., 29 July 7:00 PM
Wycliffe Gordon
Grant’s Tomb – 122nd St. & Riverside Dr.
Manhattan
Thurs., 30 July 7:00 PM
Lily White
Roosevelt Island – Good Shepherd Plaza
Manhattan
Fri., 31 July 7:00 PM
Lonnie Youngblood
129th St. bet. 7th & 8th Aves.
Manhattan
Sat., 1 August 3:00 PM
Annette A. Aguilar & Stringbeans
Bennerson Park – 64th St. & Amsterdam Ave.
Manhattan
Mon., 3 August 7:00 PM
Lou Donaldson
Co-op City – Greenway at Section 5
Bronx
Tues., 4 August 7:00 PM
Houston Person
32nd Precinct National Night Out
135th St. bet. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. & Frederick
Douglass Blvds.
Manhattan
Wed., 5 August 7:00 PM
Benny Powell
Grant’s Tomb – 122nd St. & Riverside Dr.
Manhattan
Thurs., 6 August 7:00 PM
Lonnie Youngblood
111-34 198th St. – Hollis
Queens
Fri., 7 August 7:00 PM
Jeremy Pelt
Marcus Garvey Park – 122nd St. & 5th Ave.
Manhattan
Tues., 11 August 7:00 PM
Arturo O’Farrill
34-56 107th St. – Corona
Queens
Wed., 12 August 7:00 PM
Jimmy Heath
Grant’s Tomb – 122nd St. & Riverside Dr.
Manhattan
Thurs., 13 August 7:00 PM
Arturo O’Farrill
141st St. bet. Willis and Alexander Aves.
Bronx
Fri., 14 August 7:00 PM
Jazzberry Jam
Marcus Garvey Park – 122nd St. & 5th Ave.
Manhattan
Sat., 15 August 3:00 PM
Ray Schinnery
153rd St. bet. Convent & Amsterdam Aves.
Manhattan
*Sun., 16 August 2:30 PM – 3:00 PM
Harlem Day
The Main Stage at 135th St. & Fifth Ave.
Mon., 17 August 7:00 PM
Elise Wood
139th St. bet. 8th and Edgecombe Aves.
Manhattan
Tues., 18 August 7:00 PM
Lou Donaldson
City Hall Plaza
Mt. Vernon
Wed., 19 August 7:00 PM
Winard Harper
Grant’s Tomb – 122nd St. & Riverside Dr.
Manhattan
Thurs., 20 August 7:00 PM
Dave Gibson
Lyman Pl. bet. Freeman & 169th St.
Bronx
Fri., 21 August 7:00 PM
Antoinette Montague
Marcus Garvey Park – 122nd St. & 5th Ave.
Manhattan
*Sat., 22 August
NY Family “Health Walk-a-thon”
St. Nicholas Park
135th St. & St. Nicholas Ave.
Mon., 24 August 7:00 PM
The Duke Ellington Legacy Band, featuring Edward
Ellington II
106th St. bet. Central Park West & Manhattan Ave.
Manhattan
Tues., 25 August 7:00 PM
Cecil Bridgewater & the Jazzmobile All-Stars
122nd St. bet. 7th & Lenox Aves.
Manhattan
Wed., 26 August 7:00 PM
Frank Wess
Grant’s Tomb – 122nd St. & Riverside Dr.
Manhattan
*Wed., 26 August Evening
“The Joints are Jumpin’”
at various Harlem clubs and restaurants
Thurs., 27 August 7:00 PM
Cynthia Holiday
132nd St. bet. 7th & Lenox Aves.
Manhattan
Fri., 28 August 7:00 PM
Ghanniyya Green
Marcus Garvey Park – 122nd St. & 5th Ave.
Manhattan
*Note: As part of Harlem Week 2009
Please note that all performances are weather permitting and subject to change.
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