In this first class, Brianna will look at the early life of Nina Simone, born Eunice Kathleen Waymon.

Members-only open sound check with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis. Go behind the scenes while the orchestra tunes up for Black, Brown & Beige & The Best of Basie.

The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis plays essential big band music by Duke Ellington and Count Basie. For the first part of the evening,the JLCO will swing through a number of classic Basie standards, channeling the unstoppable swing and iconic blues riffs that always brought the house down. The second half of the concert  will be a full performance of Ellington's groundbreaking masterpiece Black, Brown & Beige. Originally composed for his 1943 debut at Carnegie Hall, it was advertised as "Duke Ellington's first symphony," and Ellington described the powerful three-movement suite as a "tonal parallel to the history of the American Negro." 

As a legatee of the big band era, hearing and playing his compositions with a larger sound palette was a challenge and opportunity that Monk embraced in the 1960s, the decade in which he finally achieved the wider recognition he long deserved, in large part due to his relationship with Columbia Records.

Topics covered:
NEW ORLEANS JAZZ: 
The recordings of the: Original Dixieland Jazz Band; New Orleans Rhythm Kings; and others – as well as a review of King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band; and Jelly Roll Morton’s Red Hot Peppers will be explained and analyzed. The birth of the solo will be explored.
JAZZ EXPANDS:
The Great Migration and the entertainment industry brought Jazz to the country and the world. The Great War (World War I) even played a role. 
THE EMBRACING OF THE ORCHESTRA:
Social Dance Craze, Fletcher Henderson & Don Redman, Bill Challis, Early Big Bands
THE GREAT SOLOISTS:
Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet, Bix Beiderbecke

In this second class, Brianna Thomas will look at the early career of Nina Simone, her early gigs and the development of her artistry, with added context around her life and family.

Michael Feinstein continues the Jazz & Popular Song series with a glamorous tribute to an American national treasure: the enchanting Lena Horne (1917–2010). Horne was an iconic singer, dancer, actress, and activist who began her career at age 16 in the Cotton Club choir line, appeared in such musical films as Stormy Weather and Cabin in the Sky, and lit up Broadway stages in the Tony and Grammy Award-winning Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music.

Jazz may have been born in New Orleans, but it quickly moves into cities around the nation and takes root. In its earliest days, one of the most crucial cities for Jazz’s development was Chicago, as masters like King Oliver and Louis Armstrong set up shop in the Windy City and set the world alight with their music. At the same time, Jazz musicians see the rising ballroom dance craze, and get on the bandwagon by form dance orchestras heralding the birth of the big bands! Join us as we explore this crucial turning point in Jazz’s history.

Crosscurrents is an international super-group led by 2017 NEA Jazz Master bassist Dave Holland and the world's foremost tabla virtuoso, Zakir Hussain. Holland is a famously versatile bassist who has led numerous Grammy Award-winning bands and anchored groundbreaking groups led by Miles Davis, Chick Corea, Joe Henderson, and Jack DeJohnette. Hussain is a living master of the 3,000-year-old tabla percussion tradition and "one of the architects of modern world music." (NPR) Crosscurrents' extraordinary lineup also features American saxophonist Chris Potter, called "the most compelling saxophonist of his generation" (Detroit Free Press), plus four of India's most progressive musicians: guitarist Sanjay Divecha, pianist Louiz Banks, drummer Gino Banks, and the worldwide-celebrated vocalist Shankar Mahadevan. 

MasterVoices presents Orphic Moments, an inventive evening that pairs Matthew Aucoin’s new dramatic cantata, The Orphic Moment, with an innovative staging of Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice​. Conducted by Ted Sperling, directed by Zack Winokur, with scenic design by Douglas Fitch, Orphic Moments features countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, soprano Kiera Duffy, soprano Lauren Snouffer, dancer Bobbi Jene Smith, violinist Keir GoGwilt, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and MasterVoices.

Topics covered:
ORCHESTRAL CHANGE:
Fletcher Henderson, Don Redman, Benny Carter, Duke Ellington
GREAT BIG BANDS:
Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Jimmie Lunceford, Chick Webb, Earl Hines
THE RHYTHMIC REVOLUTION OF THE SWING ERA:
The Swing Song Tradition, Lester Young, Jo Jones, Roy Eldridge, Charlie Christian,
Four-Piece Rhythm Sections vs Three-Piece Rhythm Sections; Early BeBop
Purchase this class

In this third class, Brianna Thomas examines the role Nina Simone played in the Civil Rights Movement, exploring Nina’s contributions, examining how much music changed with her involvement, as well as the challenges and setbacks she endured as a result of her activism.

Jazz at Lincoln Center’s annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival is one of the most innovative jazz education events in the world. Each finalist band receives an in-school workshop led by a professional musician before coming to New York to put up their “Dukes” and perform before Wynton Marsalis and a panel of esteemed judges. Join us to witness these talented young musicians perform the music of Duke Ellington and other seminal big band composers. Join us to witness these talented young musicians perform the music of Duke Ellington and other seminal big band composers.

Jazz at Lincoln Center’s annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival is one of the most innovative jazz education events in the world. Each finalist band receives an in-school workshop led by a professional musician before coming to New York to put up their “Dukes” and perform before Wynton Marsalis and a panel of esteemed judges. Join us to witness these talented young musicians perform the music of Duke Ellington and other seminal big band composers. Join us to witness these talented young musicians perform the music of Duke Ellington and other seminal big band composers.

Jazz at Lincoln Center’s annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival is one of the most innovative jazz education events in the world. Each finalist band receives an in-school workshop led by a professional musician before coming to New York to put up their “Dukes” and perform before Wynton Marsalis and a panel of esteemed judges. Join us to witness these talented young musicians perform the music of Duke Ellington and other seminal big band composers. Join us to witness these talented young musicians perform the music of Duke Ellington and other seminal big band composers.

​The “high priest” of bop, Monk’s legacy and influence extends beyond the imprint his compositions have and continue to make as a fount and resource for improvisers globally. We’ll hear great interpretations of Monk tunes and compositions influenced by Monk’s style and legacy.

Topics covered:
BEBOP’S PINNACLE:
The Partnership of Diz & Bird will be reviewed
COLEMAN HAWKINS:
Father Figure and Co-Conspirator in the BeBop Revolution 
THE SWING ERA’S END AND BEBOP’S ROLE:
Did BeBop hasten Jazz’s exit from Pop Music or prop Jazz up for one last Pop hurrah?
OTHER FIGURES:
Bud Powell, J.J. Johnson, Fats Navarro, Dexter Gordon

A master vocalist, pianist, composer, arranger, and bandleader, Nina Simone proved a trailblazer in multiple genres of music. In this class, Brianna will look at the massive range of styles covered in Nina’s music, as well as her unparalleled interpretive skills in song.

The Swing Era heralded Jazz’s place as the pop music of the day, and some of its finest artists—Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Woody Herman, and more—were also its megastars. But what was the music they were creating? How was it different from earlier styles of Jazz? And how did it change throughout the 1930s? In this class, we’ll explore the greatest artists of the day and listen to how they changed the music.

Miriam Makeba and Nina Simone were two of the most uncompromising vocalists and activists of the 20th century. In Singing Protest & Memory, fiery rising star vocalist and composer Somi will channel their irrepressible spirits and iconic music. Somi has been described as "a new high priestess of soul" by the Huffington Post and as "the quintessential artist citizen of the world" by NPR. To help celebrate the relatively unknown but very close sisterhood between Makeba and Simone, Somi has invited British superstar Laura Mvula as a special guest for the evening. 

The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis celebrates one of jazz's great original geniuses: composer, Pulitzer Prize winner, and alto saxophonist Ornette Coleman (1930–2015). One of the all-time best melodists – regardless of musical tradition – this groundbreaking visionary left us with a profound body of work that demands ongoing exploration. With virtuosic big band arrangements of seminal works like "Una Muy Bonita," "Lonely Woman," and "Peace," the Orchestra will foray deep into Coleman's incomparable musical world.

Topics covered:
COOL JAZZ:
Miles Davis, Gerry Mulligan, John Lewis, Chico Hamilton, and more
HARD BOP:
Miles Davis, Art Blakey, Clifford Brown, Max Roach, Horace Silver
MODAL JAZZ:
Miles Davis, Bill Evans, George Russell, Post-1960 Developments
FREE JAZZ:
Ornette Coleman, Albert Ayler, Cecil Taylor, Post-1960s Developments

A lesser-examined period of Nina Simone’s career, the 1970s, will be covered by Brianna Thomas in this class, looking at her continued musical developments and her time and travels abroad.

Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, and more built up a new style called BeBop, bringing a new rhythmic vitality and virtuosity to the music. As the big band wave was just beginning to break, BeBop arrived on the scene as an exciting and controversial new approach to Jazz. Its performance style would radically alter the face of the music, and would fundamentally change the way we play it, hear it, and think about it.