Central Park will host an unusual jazz concert in November as the fall foliage reaches its peak: 30 ensembles have been asked to play a collection of standards at different locations around the park, creating a sprawling concert with a communal set list, organizers said.
The “Jazz & Colors” event is the brainchild of Peter Shapiro, the film producer and local concert promoter behind the Brooklyn Bowl and the Capitol Theaterin Port Chester. It is being produced in partnership with the Central Park Conservancy, and Mr. Shapiro’s company, Dayglo Ventures, is underwriting the production costs.
Mr. Shapiro said he hopes the event on Nov. 10, which is free and open to the public, will suffuse the park with jazz without temporary stages, fences, barriers, portable toilets and other trappings of large concerts. The project was inspired, he said, by “The Gates,” the public art installation by Christo and Jeanne-Claude in February 2005 that involved 7,500 cloth-covered portals on the park’s pathways.
“The goal is almost an audio version of ‘The Gates,’” he said. “Jazz is the kind of music you can float around to. You can experience Central Park with a score.”
The lineup has yet to be announced, but will feature big bands and small combos, emerging artists and established players, across a broad range of jazz styles, organizers said. They will set up and play at 30 well-known landmarks, among them the Naumburg Bandshell, the Delacorte Theater, the Harlem Meer, Duke Ellington Circle, the East Meadow and the Glade Arch. Other groups of musicians will play at the park’s major entrances and next to several playgrounds.
Doug Blonsky, the president and chief executive of the Central Park Conservancy, said the concerts should lure people into parts of the park they may not have visited before. “This is a nice way to have people explore the park without inundating them with music,” he said. “It’s all going to be low-key, small performances, and small set-ups.”
The organizers said they intend to separate the bands enough that a pedestrian strolling through the park will not be able to hear two combos at once, but will pass from one band’s sphere of sound into another.
Brice Rosenbloom, a producer known for founding the Winter Jazzfest, is booking the acts for the Central Park event. He said the musicians are being asked to perform about 18 standards, all touching on autumn or the city as a theme. The set will include “Autumn in New York,” “Take the A Train,” “Nature Boy,” and John Coltrane’s composition “Central Park West.”
The groups will play two sets, starting at noon and going to 4 p.m, with student soloists providing music between sets. As is to be expected in jazz, the interpretations of the songs will be all over the map, Mr. Rosenbloom said. “The majority of the groups will play the tunes in a recognizable fashion,” he said. “Some will be a little more challenging. I have told every group we encourage them to put their own spin on the tunes.”
From:
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/10/jazz-colors-to-fill-central-park-with-standards/
http://jazzandcolors.com/centralpark/
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