Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra Announces 26th Season

WASHINGTON, Sept. 7, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra (SJMO), the band-in-residence of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, today announced its 26th season of "Jazz and Democracy" October–June 2017. Led by conductor and artistic director, Charlie Young, the SJMO brings together the museum's extensive jazz collections, rich and current research and original instruments to make America's jazz legacy come alive in concert.

The 2016–2017 season will present a series of five concerts that will use and present the musical compositions, instruments and archives housed in the museum along a theme of "Jazz and Democracy," to showcase how jazz embodies democracy and is an expression of intrinsically American values. Through live music and presentation, the concert series will explore how jazz has influenced American civil rights, politics, identity and culture.

Concerts for the 2016–17 season will be held in the museum's two music venues: the Wallace H. Coulter Performance Plaza in the museum's Innovation Wing featuring unique cabaret-style seating, and the museum's newest performance space, the Hall of Music, on the third floor featuring an intimate concert setting with views of the Washington Monument.

A five-concert season pass for two seats to each concert will be available at a special discounted rate of $320 now until Oct. 8, guaranteeing pass holders the best seats in the house in both venues and two complimentary drinks. Season passes and individual tickets, ranging $25–$40 per concert, are on sale now at the Smithsonian Jazz website: www.smithsonianjazz.org.

A list of the 2016–17 season follows:

Jazz, Blues and Civil Rights
Saturday, Oct. 8; 7:30 p.m.
Wallace H. Coulter Performance Plaza

Jazz and blues emerged out of a climate of struggle and oppression. Parallel in many ways to the modern civil rights movement, jazz and blues musicians had to find a safe means to voice opposition to Jim Crow practices and other restrictive racial prejudices. The answer that many found was in their music, using lyrical expression through rhythm and song, as well as coded language. The SJMO Big Band will explore the musicians, music and language from this important era in American history.

Jazz and Spirituality: From Ellington to Sun Ra and Beyond
Friday, Dec. 9; 7:30 p.m.
Wallace H. Coulter Performance Plaza

Throughout its existence, jazz has been closely entwined with spirituality, divinity and religion. The roots of the music itself are planted firmly in the religions of its creators. The SJMO and a special guest choir for an evening will highlight compositions by musicians inspired by spirituality, divinity or religion, all of whom helped shape the broad landscape of modern jazz history.

Democracy in the Jazz Age
Saturday, Feb. 11, 2017; 7:30 p.m.
Hall of Music

2017 marks the centennial year of the first ever jazz recording by the "Original Dixieland Jass Band" in early 1917. It is largely thanks to changing technology that jazz music has been documented for the majority of its lifetime, providing evidence of the styles, communication and nuance of early jazz. Unlike classical music, jazz was unique in those early years as it relied heavily on the creativity and improvisation of all its performers as well as their ability to listen to each other. The SJMO Ensemble will explore these forms of democratic conversation in music through the Jazz Age.

Women in Jazz: The Influence of Ella Fitzgerald, Mary Lou Williams and Lil Hardin
Friday, March 31, 2017; 7:30 p.m.
Wallace H. Coulter Performance Plaza

April is Jazz Appreciation Month, and as the home of JAM, the SJMO will spend the month celebrating the women of jazz just in time for Ella Fitzgerald's centennial. Oftentimes overlooked, women have been making vital contributions to jazz throughout its history. Beyond the traditional female vocalist, there are also female composers, arrangers, orchestrators and instrumentalists who made an impact. Join the SJMO Big Band for an evening showcase of big-band compositions by women and featuring women who have and continue to leave an indelible print on jazz.

International Influences in Jazz: Rhythm and Traditions
Saturday, June 10, 2017; 7:30 p.m.
Wallace H. Coulter Performance Plaza

The quintessential melting pot, American society and culture have always been greatly impacted and influenced by other cultures from around the world. A perfect embodiment of this relationship, jazz music has and continues to be influenced by the diversity and traditions of international communities. From the fox trot to the complex rhythmic and harmonic structures of modern jazz, the SJMO will explore jazz's compositional forms and stylistic elements and their origins.

"By exploring jazz as a form of pure democratic conversation and freedom of expression, the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra promotes jazz as an American treasure," Young said.

The SJMO was founded in 1990 with an appropriation from the U.S. Congress in recognition of the importance of jazz in American culture and its status as a national treasure. At its largest, the 17-member SJMO Big Band, or as the smaller SJMO Ensemble, concerts feature transcribed works, new arrangements, commissioned works and programs that illuminate the work of jazz masters who contributed to the development of American jazz and defined the music's character.

"Through concerts that use the museum's world-class collections, scholarship and exhibitions, the SJMO is excited to explore the American democratic experience through jazz," said Ken Kimery, the orchestra's executive producer. "Smithsonian Jazz stewards jazz as a bridge between our national identity, our history and ourselves."

The orchestra has performed for audiences at the Smithsonian, Kennedy Center, the White House, U.S. Capitol, the Apollo Theater, the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, the Ravinia Festival, the Monterey Jazz Festival and in Canada, Europe, Egypt, Russia, Ethiopia and Kenya.

Young has performed with the National Symphony Orchestra, the U.S. Navy Band and the Count Basie Orchestra and has shared the concert stage with many icons, including Ella Fitzgerald, Stevie Wonder and Quincy Jones. He is the coordinator of instrumental jazz studies at Howard University and professor of saxophone. Kimery serves as the drummer for the SJMO and director of the museum's Smithsonian Jazz program featuring oral histories, Jazz Appreciation Month and more.

The museum is home to the world's largest museum collection of jazz history—artifacts from Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, Tito Puente and many other creative giants. It established Jazz Appreciation Month in 2001, which is celebrated every April throughout the United States and in more than 30 countries.

The National Museum of American History explores the infinite richness and complexity of American history. For more information, visit http://americanhistory.si.edu. The museum is located on Constitution Avenue, between 12th and 14th streets N.W., and is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (closed Dec. 25). Admission is free. For Smithsonian information, the public may call (202) 633-1000.

SOURCE Smithsonian's National Museum of American History

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http://americanhistory.si.edu