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SAVE THE DATES: HarlemStage 2014 Season Pays Homage to Harlem's Cultural Heritage!

Posted January 17, 2014

Harlem Stage announced today its 2014 spring season, which spotlights innovative young artists guiding their craft in groundbreaking directions and pays homage to Harlem’s cultural heritage with celebrations of iconic artists Mary Lou Williams (in a piece conceived by jazz great Geri Allen and directed by S. Epatha Merkerson) and James Baldwin (with previews of two new commissioned works to kick-off the city-wide “The Year of James Baldwin” celebration). The spring lineup continues Harlem Stage’s enduring mix of socially conscious, diverse and captivating programs by artists of color.

The announcement comes on the heels of Harlem Stage’s receipt today of the William Dawson Award for Programmatic Excellence and Sustained Achievement in Programming from the Association of Performing Arts Presenters, whose annual conference is in New York City. Last year Harlem Stage received $1 million from the Ford Foundation to support new performances by artists of color and provide a capital reserve for the organization.

A March 13-15 tribute to pioneering African-American pianist and composer Mary Lou Williams was conceived and will be performed by pianist/composer Geri Allen, for whom Williams’ work as a player and arranger for the biggest jazz artists of the 20th century has been a lifelong inspiration. Actress/vocalist Carmen Lundy performs spoken word and songs by – and inspired by – Williams. Golden Globe, Emmy, and NAACP Image Award winner S. Epatha Merkerson directs. The performance will be preceded by a concert featuring next-generation jazz pianists and more programs to be announced later.

“The Year of James Baldwin,” was conceived by Harlem Stage as a 14-month, city-wide event from April 2014 to June 2015 and will be presented in partnership with New York Live Arts, Columbia University School for the Arts, and numerous other programming and academic collaborators. It kicks off April 23-27 with New York Live Arts’ “Live Ideas: James Baldwin, This Time!” festival. Two performances commissioned by Harlem Stage, from Carl Hancock Rux and award-winning musician STEW, will be presented at the festival; both will premiere in full productions at Harlem Stage in Spring 2015.

The 2014 spring season also includes the return of acclaimed choreographer and recent MacArthur Foundation “Genius Award” Fellowship winner Kyle Abraham in his debut music event, aimed at bringing diverse hip-hop artists, DJs, and rappers to audiences in a party atmosphere on May 23. Vocal virtuoso Bilal appears up-close and personal in a performance February 21 that starts with a mixer and ends with a DJ-fueled dance party. Both events are part of the “Uptown Nights” series that brings younger audiences to the Harlem Stage Gatehouse.

Harlem Stage’s acclaimed “E-Moves” dance festival offers its 15th installment from April 4-12, with two programs of emerging and evolving dance artists, and offering edgier moves with a new nightly “dance battle” between local house and breakdance artists. The 2014 Harlem Jazz Shrines Festival features three Harlem Stage-produced shows including a free concert by the critically acclaimed jazz ensemble The Vijay Iyer Trio in collaboration with Carnegie Hall’s Neighborhood Concert Series at Aaron Davis Hall on May 9.

A chronological listing of Harlem Stage’s spring 2014 season offerings is below:

bilal

February 19 and 21, 2014

· Visionary vocalist Bilal has never been afraid to take risks, and he brings his genre-defying sound to Harlem Stage for an intimate, one-night performance on February 21. Two nights earlier, on February 19, the Grammy-nominated, Brooklyn-based artist will hold a listening session where he discusses his influences, discography and the evolution of his music. This is part of Uptown Nights, a cabaret-style performance series aimed at younger audiences with a pre-performance mixer and post-performance dance party.

harlem stage honors mary lou williams

March 5 and March 13-15, 2014

Internationally renowned composer and pianist Geri Allen is the driving force behind this two-week celebration of jazz icon Mary Lou Williams. Williams, who was also a composer and pianist, was a seminal music figure who adapted to numerous styles, from stride to swing to bebop. She arranged music for bandleaders such as Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman, and was a friend and mentor to Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie and many others. The tribute includes two performances below; additional programming will be announced later.

· On March 5, four up-and-coming jazz pianists who have been influenced by Williams will honor her. Kris Bowers, the 2011 Thelonious Monk Competition winner, the award winning Gerald Clayton, prolific and eclectic composer Courtney Bryan, and Helen Sung, winner of the Kennedy Center’s Mary Lou Williams Competition, will perform solos and duets that draw inspiration from Williams’ legacy.

· From March 13-15, Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning actress S. Epatha Merkerson directs Geri Allen’s musical tribute to Williams that juxtaposes her words with her music, and with new compositions. As she explores Williams’ musical continuity and influences from Jelly Roll Morton to Cecil Taylor, Allen will be joined by Kenny Davis on bass and Kassa Overall on drums. Special guest vocalist Carmen Lundy bring to life Williams’ words through song and dialogue scripted by celebrated writer Farah Jasmin Griffin (“Harlem Nocturne”).

e-moves 15

April 4- 5, 11 & 12, 2014

· Harlem Stage’s acclaimed dance showcase celebrates its 15th anniversary with two different programs featuring extraordinarily talented choreographers who bring fresh visions to the craft. Stefanie Batten Bland presents her insightful contemporary work and David Fernandez takes ballet into groundbreaking directions. Emerging choreographers include: Christopher Rudd, Rie Fukuzawa, Maria Bauman, Damani Pompey, Rashida Bumbray and Desiree Godsell. Each night will showcase head-to-head battles between local breakdancing and house dancing groups.

the year of james baldwin

April 25 and 26, 2014, and continuing through June 2015

James Baldwin was a novelist, essayist, playwright, poet and cultural critic whose work is as relevant today as when it was created. On the cusp of what would have been his 90th birthday, Harlem Stage conceived “The Year of James Baldwin,” a 14-month celebration of his ongoing cultural influence. Harlem Stage partners with New York Live Arts and Columbia University School of the Arts, in collaboration with The New School/Vera List Center for Art and Politics and other cultural institutions to bring the citywide celebration to life. The year launches April 23-27 with New York Live Arts’ Live Ideas: James Baldwin, This Time! festival, which includes previews of two events commissioned and produced by Harlem Stage:

· Carl Hancock Rux’s “Stranger on Earth”: This theatrical work imagines a chance meeting between Baldwin and singer Dinah Washington at a Harlem jazz club in 1963. Drawing on Baldwin’s words and Washington’s songs, with original dialogue by Rux, the piece is performed by Rux and vocalist Marcelle Davies Lashley. It addresses issues of race, identity, music and the future of a world that both artists struggle to understand. A preview of the work will be performed April 25 as part of “The Year of James Baldwin” opening event at New York Live Arts. (More details available soon.) The full work premieres at Harlem Stage in Spring 2015.

· “STEW on Baldwin: An Intimate Look”: Award-winning composer, musician and actor STEW delivers a dynamic dialogue of songs, poems, sermons and projections that invites audiences into his creative process developing a new work inspired by Baldwin titled “Notes of a Native Song.” The piece uses Baldwin’s work as a filter to view the role of black artists in America, as well as a springboard for questions of black art and what, if anything, a black artist owes to the black community. A preview of the work will be performed April 26 as part of “The Year of James Baldwin” opening event at New York Live Arts. (More details available soon.) The full work premieres at Harlem Stage in Spring 2015.

Harlem Jazz Shrines Festival

May 7-9, 2014

Harlem Stage will produce three concerts during the 2014 Harlem Jazz Shrines Festival, a partnership between Harlem Stage, the Apollo Theater, and Jazzmobile, Inc., in collaboration with Columbia University. Among the highlights is a free concert by Vijay Iyer. (More details about the full Harlem Jazz Shrines Festival will be available soon.)

· In a May 7 Latin music double bill, pianist Aruán Ortiz teams with Don Byron on clarinet, and Henry Grimes on bass for “Music & Architecture,” an instrumental reinterpretation of concepts and motifs inspired by iconic architectural works. Then, Manuel Valera and the New Cuban Express present “Jose Marti en Nueva York.” Through contemporary jazz and Afro-Cuban music, the sextet interweaves post-bop harmony, ancient percussion of the African batá drums, chamber music-like sections, chants, and call-and-response as the musicians offer an interpretation of Versos Sencillos, a collection of poems by Cuban national hero Jose Marti. Features vocalist Sofia Rei. A Q&A segment follows the performance.

· Introducing three completely new brass instruments, Christian aTunde Adjuah Double Quartet’s “Stretch Music” extends the rhythmic, melodic and harmonic conventions of jazz to encompass a multitude of musical forms, languages and cultures on May 8. A Q&A segment follows the performance.

· Voted “Jazz Group of the Year” by Downbeat magazine in 2012, The Vijay Iyer Trio performs complex, rhythmically exciting compositions alongside reinvented classics. In addition to pianist Vijay Iyer, the trio features Stephan Crump on bass and Marcus Gilmore on drums. A reception follows the May 9 show presented at Aaron Davis Hall.

KYLE ABRAHAM’S COUNTERCULTURE

May 23, 2014

· Choreographer, dancer and recipient of the MacArthur Foundation’s “Genius Grant” Fellowship award Kyle Abraham presents Counterculture, a night of social dancing in which the audience grooves to the hot beats of DJ Ed Um. The night includes a prideful celebration of today’s street and club culture, and features the talents of guest rappers and dancer Javier Ninja. This is part of Harlem Stage’s “Uptown Nights” series.

Location, Tickets and Box Office

The Harlem Stage Gatehouse is located at the corner of West 135th Street and Convent Avenue in New York City. It is accessible via MTA bus and subway. Program and ticket sales information is available online at www.harlemstage.org. The Harlem Stage Box Office is available by phone at 212-281-9240, x 19 or 20, and in person (call for hours).