Jazz Sessions at The Greene Space....

In partnership with CareFusion Jazz Festival New York And Make Music New York

Featuring BOBBY McFERRIN, JASON MORAN, ESPERANZA SPALDING, ANAT COHEN, GEORGE WEIN and LEO GENOVESE, Monday, June 21st.

(June 3, 2010, New York, NY) –The Greene Space teams up with CareFusion Jazz Festival New York and Make Music New York to present a day-long celebration of music, conversation and innovation. Jazz Sessions at The Greene Space will kick off with an open house for the Jazz Gallery’s Second Line Jazz Parade in Hudson Square.

Following the open house, Soundcheck returns for a live broadcast from The Greene Space, WNYC’s intimate, street-level performance studio. Host John Schaefer will welcome guests Bobby McFerrin and Jason Moran & The Bandwagon in a jazz-focused episode of the daily musical salon that blends performance and conversation. That evening, WQXR host Elliott Forrest will host Jazz Talks: Rising Stars, a night of music and intimate dialogue, featuring artists Esperanza Spalding and Anat Cohen with additional performances by George Wein and Leo Genovese.

SCHEDULE
Open House for the SECOND LINE JAZZ PARADE
10am
The Greene Space will serve as the first stop in the Jazz Gallery’s Second Line Jazz Parade with an open house, offering jazz fans hot coffee and sweet treats.
Soundcheck with BOBBY McFERRIN and JASON MORAN & THE BANDWAGON

2pm
Ten-time Grammy Award-winner BOBBY McFERRIN and JASON MORAN and his trio THE BANDWAGON join host JOHN SCHAEFER in a special edition of Soundcheck for Jazz Sessions at The Greene Space. Both McFerrin and Moran will perform live, with McFerrin closing the show with an a cappella solo.

Bobby McFerrin’s exploration of the human voice has taken him to the world’s major stages, to #1 on Billboard’s pop chart with 1988’s “Don’t Worry Be Happy,” and even to “Sesame Street.” On his latest album, “VOCAbuLarieS,” the jazz legend creates a virtual choir using recording technology – and riffs on languages ranging from Sanskrit to Japanese. Composer and pianist Jason Moran is known for pushing the boundaries of jazz with fresh musical ideas and collaborations with dancers and visual artists. He’ll share with John and the audience the inspiration for his new album, “Ten,” a reflection on history, with pieces that explore Jimi Hendrix’s guitar feedback, a quilting community in rural Alabama, and Robert F. Kennedy’s 1966 visit to South Africa.
Jazz Talks: Rising Stars with ESPERANZA SPALDING and ANAT COHEN

7pm
WQXR Host ELLIOTT FORREST will sit down with musicians ESPERANZA SPALDING and ANAT COHEN to discuss how the artists’ personal styles have shaped a new generation of jazz, a century after the genre was born. Following the conversation, Spalding and Cohen will be joined by industry impresario GEORGE WEIN and celebrated pianist LEO GENOVESE for a unique performance blending different approaches to jazz.

Within months of first touching the acoustic double bass at age 15, Esperanza Spalding was hailed as a prodigy on the instrument. Since then, she has emerged as a fine jazz bassist whose style distinctively blends blues, funk, hip hop, pop fusion, and Brazilian and Afro-Cuban sounds to create what the New Yorker calls “jazz for the iPod age.” Now 25 years old, Spalding has played for President Obama three times, including a requested performance at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, Norway. She’ll chat with Elliott and discuss her emergence in the historically male-dominated jazz industry.

Anat Cohen is an Israeli jazz clarinetist, saxophonist and bandleader described as “the real deal,” by the New York Times. In 2007, she won the Up and Coming Artist and Clarinetist of the Year Awards from the Jazz Journalists Association. She has also developed a notable work of research about Brazilian music, with special attention to the popular music instrumental style, Choro. Elliott will talk to Cohen about her multi-faceted music career, which includes roles as bandleader, composer and performer.

What: Jazz Sessions at The Greene Space
When: Monday, June 21st at 2pm – Soundcheck with Bobby McFerrin, Jason Moran
Monday, June 21st at 7pm – Jazz Talks: Rising Stars with Esperanza Spalding and Anat Cohen, in partnership with CareFusion Jazz Festival New York
Where: The Jerome L. Greene Performance Space - 44 Charlton Street (at Varick Street), New York, NY 10014
Tickets: $10 each; available at www.wnyc.org/thegreenespace - Jazz Talks ticket includes complimentary glass of wine,
Live Video Webcast: www.wnyc.org/thegreenespace

by Rosalin Luetum (rluetum@wnyc.org)