Billy Taylor News

ARBORS RECORDS will celebrate the music of iconic composer Frederick Loewe this fall with two new albums of songs from the legendary musicals of Lerner & Loewe performed by an astonishing array of jazz heavyweights.  Counterpoint Lerner & Loewe features Dick Hyman on piano andKen Peplowski on clarinet and tenor sax.

We are all aware of those great music scores created by gifted composers for the movies but last night at Dizzy's Club, Christine Tamburr, a gifted composer and virtuoso vibraphonist led a world class group of musicians and jazz great Clint Holmes in a performance of his score “The Awakening “ Sounds For Sculpture”. Just as you can't imagine a movie without the underlying music, something tells me I won't be able to enjoy a “silent” Sculpture anymore after the experience of listening to Christian Tambour's breathtaking music inspired by the Sculpture of world renowned Seward Johnson.

Fall gets festive at Flushing Town Hall! The global arts venue will present over 30 programs to entertain audiences of all ages and backgrounds this September through December. From a Diwali dance party to a marionette Nutcracker, there will be something for everyone to celebrate this season, including Flushing Town Hall's first-ever presentation of six NEA Jazz Masters together on stage for a once-in-a-lifetime concert.

Jazzmobile once again partners with Central Park Conservancy to present GREAT JAZZ ON THE GREAT HILL (GJGH), this Saturday, August 10, 4:00 - 7:00 pm on the Great Hill, 106th Street & Central Park West. Don't miss trombonist Wycliffe Gordon, the all-female jazz and blues ensemble Sage, award-winning jazz vocalist Alyson Williams(the GJGH Mistress of Ceremony) and the dynamic Harlem Renaissance Orchestra.

New York Youth Symphony (NYYS), is proud to continue its mission of educating and inspiring young musicians through its Orchestra, Jazz, Chamber Music, Composition, Musical Theater Composition, Apprenticeship Conducting, and First Music commissioning programs. This season includes seven world premieres of new works commissioned through the First Music program, composed for the Orchestra, Jazz, and Chamber Music ensembles. The season also features renowned and up-and-coming soloists including prodigy pianist Harmony Zhu, 2019 Sphinx Competition winner cellist Sterling Elliott, and leading young pianist Michelle Cann in the Carnegie Hall premiere of Florence Price's recently re-discovered Piano Concerto in One Movement with NYYS Orchestra, as well as in-demand drummer Matt Wilson, celebrated saxophonist Steve Wilson, and trombone virtuoso Wycliffe Gordon with NYYS Jazz. The complete NYYS 2019-2020 concert calendar follows at the end of this press release.

From Duke Ellington's rocking rhythms, Thelonious Monk's melodious thunks to Mary Lou Williams' spiritual swing and Michel Camilo's island improvisations, the Newport Jazz Festival has been the premier showcase for pianists for decades. This year's edition features a wide variety of keyboardists, shaping the state of jazz to come.

Jazzmobile Inc. and Harlem Jazz Enterprises have entered into a new partnership to present live music at the iconic Minton's Playhouse jazz club, 206 West 118th Street, in Harlem. This open-ended residency will begin on Independence Day with pianist Nat Adderley, Jr. and will continue every Thursday evening with a world-class jazz band. The Summer lineup will be announced at the opening celebration on July 4.

Celebrating 15 years as the only citywide jazz festival in the Mid-Atlantic region, DC Jazz Festival (DCJF) is proud to announce the addition of acclaimed genre-bending vocalist Cassandra Wilson, perennial poll-winning alto saxophonist Kenny Garrett, and tenor sax titan Joshua Redman to its already stellar lineup celebrating Great Masters of Jazz, Sunday, June 16 in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. The DC JazzFest presented by Events DC takes place throughout the District from June 7-16.

DC Jazz Festival (DCJF), with the only city-wide jazz festival in the mid-Atlantic region, today announced that Nick Cannon will host Great Masters of Jazz, on June 16 in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. Co-presented by the DC Jazz Festival and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, with support from Events DC, Great Masters of Jazz will celebrate the life and work of the legend Quincy Jones; the trailblazing trumpeter-bandleader Roy Hargrove; the highly influential song stylist Nancy Wilson; and DC's own peerless pianist-vocalist Shirley Horn and saxophonist-educator Fred Foss. Featured performers and presenters include the Roy Hargrove Big Band, Patti Austin, Kenny Garrett, Justin Kauflin, Adam Clayton Powell III, Angela Stribling, Paxton Baker, Sharón Clark, Princess Mhoon Dance Project, and very special guests.

Hylton Performing Arts Center announced today its 2019-2020 season of mainstage performances, featuring a diverse lineup of artists and ensembles across genres, as part of Hylton Presents, Hylton Family Series, Matinee Idylls, and the American Roots Series. The Hylton Center also announced the first Hylton Center EXTRA! for the season: the husband and wife duo and banjo icons, B la Fleck and Abigail Washburn, in a special concert event featuring their unique blend of alternative bluegrass. Season subscriptions are on sale to Friends of the Hylton Center at HyltonCenter.org/preview or by phone at 703-993-7700. For the general public, subscriptions go on sale Wednesday, April 24 and single tickets on Thursday, August 1. More details are available at HyltonCenter.org.

A Little Love, the striking debut album from vocalist extraordinaire Quiana Lynell, will be released by Concord Jazz on April 5th, 2019.

Acclaimed multi-genre recording artist Damien Sneed released a new full-length recording titled 'Damien Sneed: We Shall Overcome' on LeChateau Earl Records on January 18th. The inspiring new project is currently available on iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, and all other digital retail outlets everywhere. A celebration of R&B classics, civil rights anthems, beloved spirituals, jazz compositions and more, the album arrives on the heels of the 35th Anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, which was made a federal holiday in 1983.

It's millennials only for the Monterey Jazz Festival's fifth national tour, March 15-April 14, 2019. Featuring some of the most critically-acclaimed, GRAMMY-winning and GRAMMY-nominated jazz artists of their generation, including three winners of the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition, Monterey Jazz Festival on Tour will truly showcase the next generation of jazz legends, including Cecile McLorin Salvant, vocals; Bria Skonberg, trumpet, vocals; Melissa Aldana, tenor saxophone; Christian Sands, piano and musical director; Yasushi Nakamura, bass, and Jamison Ross, drums, vocals.

Back by Popular Demand! Singer Lynn Henderson returns to Don't Tell Mama this fall with A Skitch in Time: My Friendship with Maestro Skitch Henderson, a tribute to her friend, the New York Pops founder who built the Pops from an idea to a beloved international institution.

Bravo Media's Emmy-nominated 'Flipping Out' returns for its eleventh season beginning Tuesday, September 11 at 10pm ET/PT. As a new-ish father, America's favorite house-flipper Jeff Lewis finds himself in uncharted territory and needing to refocus his energies. Now that his family takes priority, his goals are to take on fewer clients and flip properties more efficiently. With the employee revolving door constantly in flux, however, restructuring is easier said than done. As pressures rise and tempers flare, Jeff leans on his partner Gage Edward and executive assistant Jenni Pulos to help him keep it all together. For a sneak peek at the new season, please visit here!

Singer Lynn Henderson returns to Don't Tell Mama this spring with A Skitch in Time: My Friendship with Maestro Skitch Henderson, a tribute to the New York Pops founder who built the Pops from an idea to a beloved international institution. The two Hendersons, who are not related, met and bonded over music at a benefit dinner in Connecticut, where they both lived at the time. Skitch assisted Lynn, who was Chairnan of Deck The Halls benefits for New Milford Hospital, by bringing his New York Pops All Stars to Connecticut. He mentored Lynn as she created a show about his friend, Cole Porter, for a local club with a cast ranging in age from five to eighty five. Later, Lynn and her musicians brought her cabaret shows to Hunt Hill Farm - the cooking school, store and gallery which were the Connecticut home of Skitch and his smart, dazzling wife, Ruth. A Skitch in Time: My Friendship with Maestro Skitch Henderson is directed by Klea Blackhurst, with Musical Direction by Douglas J. Cohen. Bob Sabin will play bass. 

Carnegie Hall today announced that world-renowned jazz vocalist Dianne Reeves and critically-acclaimed trombonist Wycliffe Gordonwill join NYO Jazz as special guest artists for the ensemble's Carnegie Hall debut on July 27, 2018. Following its New York concert, NYO Jazz will embark on its first-ever tour to Europe, which includes performances in The Netherlands, Germany, and Great Britain, July 30 - August 10, 2018. Dianne Reeves will also be featured as a guest artist on NYO Jazz's European tour.

For more than thirty years, Turtle Island Quartet has reinvented the role of the modern string quartet through its Grammy-winning albums and arrangements. This spring, the Quartet honors the impact of legendary saxophonist Charlie Parker with a new album, Bird's Eye View, out February 9, 2018 from Azica. The Quartet will celebrate with a CD release concert at Buck's County Playhouse (70 S. Main Street, New Hope PA 18938) on February 10, 2018 at 8 pm. The genius of Parker's improvisations almost single-handedly catapulted jazz from pop style into art music, indelibly altering the musical landscape of America. Tickets are $35-$45; purchase at www.bcptheater.org or call 215-862-2121.

Known for energized, athletic, and visually stunning ensemble work, Parsons Dance creates and performs contemporary American dance of extraordinary artistry. With work that has proven to be accessible and enriching to diverse audiences around the world, the company has collaborated with iconic artists across all disciplines, including Billy Taylor, Milton Nascimento, Allen Toussaint, William Ivey Long, Donna Karan, Annie Leibovitz, Rita Blitt and Alex Katz. Parsons Dance was founded by artistic director David Parsons and Tony Award-winning lighting designer Howell Binkley. In the July 27, 2007 issue of The New York Times, Jennifer Dunning called David Parsons "one of the great movers of modern dance."