WBGO Events

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  Celebrate Brooklyn! Old School Funk & Hip-Hop Dance Party

  Zapp/D-Nice
  Thursday, May 23 at 7pm | Brooklyn Bridge Park

  Bridging the gap between Prince and Dr. Dre, Zapp's bass-heavy beats and infectious talk box melodies will take you back to a time when funk ruled and hip-hop was just starting to explode on the scene. Discovered by members of Parliament Funkadelic in 1979, the group produced such massive hits as “More Bounce to the Ounce” and “Computer Love” and has been sampled by artists from 2Pac to Jay-Z. So hop in your lowrider and prepare for the funk, as we celebrate the legacy of Zapp. FREE

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  WBGO Jazz Series at 54 Below

  Benny Goodman and Other Joys
  with Ken Peplowski, Bucky Pizzarelli, Jay Leonhart, Ehud Asherie, and Willie Jones III
  Tuesday, May 28 at 7pm & 9pm  | 54 Below

  A quick return by popular demand of the thrilling Benny Goodman tribute concert these jazz masters performed at 54 Below earlier this month. Don't miss this exhibition of virtuoso musicianship honoring the music of Benny Goodman.  A terrific introduction for those who haven't yet experienced the wonders of the 54 Below/WBGO Jazz Series and a not to be missed event for jazz fans.

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  WBGO Jazz Series at 54 Below

  Bucky Pizzarelli & The Great Guitars with Warren Vance, Gene Bertoncini and Ed Laub
  Tuesday, June 11 at 7pm & 9pm  | 54 Below

  For more than seven decades, the legendary Bucky Pizzarelli has had a stellar career. “The complete jazz musician”, he was a fixture in jazz and the studios since the early ‘50s. His career spans over 60 years from the Vaughn Monroe Orchestra, to the Johnny Carson Tonight Show. Hundreds of jazz concerts worldwide, including White House performances . The list of big bands and vocalists with whom Bucky has performed and recorded reads like a veritable Who’s Who of Jazz. One of the era’s most solid rhythm players, Pizzarelli was in high demand, playing and touring with Benny Goodman, Zoot Sims, Bud Freeman, and Stephane Grappelli, and, later, recording with George Van Eps, Carl Kress and George Barnes. His superior mastery of the seven-string guitar is unparalleled. On Tuesday evening, witness Mr. Pizzarelli lead this increbible quartet with Warren Vance, Gene Bertoncini and Ed Laub.

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  Pairings at Porter House

  Swinging with the Big Band
  Thursday, June 13 at 7pm dinner, 9pm performance | Porter House New York
  During the 1930s, when times were tough, big bands criss-crossed the U.S. by road and rail, their tunes ballyhooed via radio. Their stars were household names. Their beat—which was swing—was the default groove for dancers. Band singers like Frank Sinatra, Billy Eckstine, Ivie Anderson, Dan Grissom, and Dick Powell inflamed hearts around the globe. Their music was the soundtrack of the age, and it will be celebrated over two nights as Michael Feinstein and Wynton Marsalis highlight the history and the music of one of the most exciting and crucial crossover movements in the mix of jazz and American popular song.
  Call 973.624.8880 ext 283 or email events@wbgo.org to purchase this special package offering.
  Cost per person: WBGO Members: $210, Non-Members: $240 - all inclusive, three course meal and choice seating at Jazz at Lincoln Center's Allen Room .
   

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  WBGO Jazz Series at 54 Below

  Paquito D'Rivera & The Classics
  Tuesday, June 18 at 7pm & 9pm  | 54 Below
  Paquito D'Rivera defies categorization.  The winner of eleven GRAMMY Awards, he is celebrated both for his artistry in Latin jazz and his achievements as a classical composer. His numerous recordings include more than 30 solo albums.  In 1988, he was a founding member of the United Nation Orchestra, a 15-piece ensemble organized by Dizzy Gillespie to showcase the fusion of Latin and Caribbean influences with jazz.  In his passion to bring Latin repertoire to greater prominence, Mr. D'Rivera has successfully created, championed and promoted all types of classical compositions, including his three chamber compositions recorded live in concert with distinguished cellist Yo-Yo Ma in September 2003.  The chamber work “Merengue,” from that live concert at Zankel Hall, was released by Sony Records and garnered Paquito his 7th GRAMMY as Best Instrumental Composition 2004. Come and enjoy a night you'll never forget.

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  Monday Nights with WBGO

  Spiritrio w/ Dimitri Kolensnic, Brandon Lewis and Anthony Wonsey
  Monday, June 24 at 7pm & 9pm  | Dizzy's Club Coca Cola
  WBGO is proud to partner with Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola on Monday Nights with WBGO.  The Monday Nights with WBGO series features up and coming new talent and groups from some of the area's greatest college jazz programs, as well as some legendary musicians. Each performance is hosted by WBGO announcer Rhonda Hamilton and includes a Q&A session with musicians. Live webcast and artist interview with WBGO host Rhonda Hamilton will begin at 7:15pm EST on jalc.org/live.

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  WBGO Jazz Series at 54 Below

  Cécile McLorin Salvant
  Tuesday, June 25 at 7pm & 9pm  | 54 Below

  French-American jazz vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant is the hottest young jazz singer of our time. Celebrating her highly anticipated debut release, WomanChild (Mack Avenue, May 2013), the 2010 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Vocals Competition Winner has the critics beaming! Ben Ratliff writes in The New York Times “she sings clearly, with her full pitch range, from a pronounced low end to full and distinct high notes—her face conveys meaning, representing sorrow or serenity like a silent-movie actor.” In the aftermath of her Monk Competition triumph, the jazz world eagerly awaited the winner’s first US recording. Cécile answers that call with songs spanning three centuries of American music. See this jazz sensation as she headlines two special performances at 54 Below with her label mate pianist Aaron Diehl, Paul Sikivie on bass and Rodney Green on drums.

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  FREE Lunch Time Concert

  The Django Reinhardt NY Festival's "Young Lions of Gypsy Jazz"
  Wednesday, June 26 at 12:00pm  | Gateway 2, Newark, NJ
  WBGO & Gateway 2 partner to celebrate the summer with a FREE Lunch Time concert that appeals to all ages.  When the world’s greatest jazz violinist Stephane Grappelli teamed with the brilliant gypsy guitarist Django Reinhardt to form the Quintet of the Hot Club of France, they created a style of music in the 30’s and 40’s that took Europe by storm and is as alive today as it was in it’s heyday. This romantic, melodic, virtuosic, happy, hot swinging music with incredible fingering known as “Le Hot Jazz” is celebrated and carried forward by The Django Reinhardt NY Festival. Performings artists are Samson Schmitt/lead guitar, Ludovic Beier/accordian and accordina, Pierre Blanchard/violin, DouDou Cuillerier/rhythm guitar and Brian Torff/bass. You don't want to miss this!

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  WBGO Jazz Series at 54 Below

  Diane Schuur
  Tuesday, July 2 at 7pm & 9pm  | 54 Below
   
  Grammy® Award-winning vocalist and pianist Diane Schuur inspires rave reviews across the globe as the new first lady of jazz. Known to personify the composer's intentions of the Great American Songbook, Schuur swings with heartfelt intensity. She is as eclectic as she is brilliant. A longtime disciple of Dinah Washington and other legendary jazz singers of the ‘40s and ‘50s, Schuur has built a stellar career by embracing not only the jazz of her parents’ generation, but also the pop music of her own youth during the late 1950s and ‘60s. In a recording career that spans nearly three decades – and includes two Grammy Awards and three Grammy nominations – Schuur’s music has explored nearly every corner of the 20th century American musical landscape.

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WBGO Festival Calendar