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CELEBRATE THE SEASON with NYC vocalist Lizzie Thomas and her swinging jazz band. Get into the spirit as Lizzie reimagines the holiday & Christmas classics you know and love. She dazzles!

Lizzie Thomas is an inventive jazz singer with a beautiful voice and a swinging style who loves to perform fresh and heartfelt versions of standards from the Great American Songbook. On her five recordings and in her popular and entertaining live performances, she introduces audiences to classic songs that are still timeless and relevant today.

Lizzie Thomas - vocals

John Di Martino- piano

Yoshi Waki- bass

Carmen Intorre JR -drums

Antoinne Drye - trumpet

DUO Encounters, which will be released by Dot Time in March 2023, teams Lizzie Thomas with a dozen major instrumentalists on one duet apiece. Rather than sing a conventional set in front of an accompanying pianist or guitarist, the interpretations are adventurous, filled with close interplay between the artists, and contain plenty of variety in instrumentation, mood, and tempos. Lizzie shares the spotlight with pianists Helio Alves, John Di Martino, and Rossanno Sportiello, guitarists Russell Malone, Ron Affif, and Guilherme Monteiro, bassists Ron Carter (“Willow Weep For Me”), Noriko Ueda, and Dezron Douglas (a version of “Have You Met Miss Jones” that includes the rarely heard verse), percussionist Café (“Nature Boy”), tenor-saxophonist Wayne Escoffery (“Lush Life”), and cellist Mairi Dorman-Phaneuf (a haunting version of “’Round Midnight”). The result is a memorable set of superbly sung and often-surprising music, Lizzie Thomas’ most rewarding recording to date.

As usual, she digs deep into the lyrics and uplifts each song, but these performances also convey a sense of happiness and joy at finally having the opportunity to interact with other musicians after the worst days of the pandemic.

When asked what qualities a song needs to have for her to want to perform it, Lizzie shares, “I'm a lover of melody and lyrics. I love uncovering tunes that are unknown, but also reimagining standards with a great arrangement. Within my live show, surprising my audience with folk and nontraditional jazz selections is a must, and I have a special love for Brazilian music. I enjoy educating my audience about the songs, the stories, and the composers. If I have someone come up after my set and say they were inspired to daydream and think of new ideas, I know I did a great job. My favorite comment is, ‘I was transformed- as if I was in another space and time.’”

Jazz bassist or archivist? Listen to our exclusive interview with Or Bareket about his new Enja Records release, /AYIN/, with WBGO's Emily Springer.

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She turns her attention to her voice in an interview and studio performance with Marian McPartland on Piano Jazz.

Jazz pianist Judy Carmichael, whom critics have called “astounding, flawless and captivating” (New York Times), is one of the leading interpreters of classic jazz piano. Ms. Carmichael has written two books on stride piano and numerous articles on the subject of jazz.

Revive Big Band is big. Not just in size—20+ members—but in scope, using jazz to connect the throughlines between hip-hop and its predecessors. The band is led by trumpeter and composer Igmar Thomas, who moonlights as Ms. Lauryn Hill’s music director and once served as Nas’ bandleader. Their performance will feature French soul-rap-R&B singer Thaïs Lona. They’re joined by the singer, flutist, beat-maker, producer, and recent 2022 SummerStage Anywhere alum Melanie Charles, whose latest LP Y’all Don’t (Really) Care About Black Women features a reimagining of Marlena Shaw’s 1969 working class anthem “Woman Of The Ghetto” and supported by Erika the DJ.

There will also be a side stage performance by J. Hoard.

The Residency of Thaïs Lona with The Revive Big Band at SummerStage 2022 has been made possible through Jazz & New Music, a program of Villa Albertine and FACE Foundation, in partnership with the French Embassy in the United States with support from the French Ministry of Culture, Institut français, SACEM (Société des auteurs, compositeurs et éditeurs de musique) and the CNM (Centre National de la Musique).

Four-time World Series champion and legendary New York Yankees centerfielder Bernie Williams joins some all-stars of a different kind: his talented band, The Bernie Williams Collective. Featuring Williams on guitar, the band includes music director Don Harris on trumpet, Joel Rosenblatt on drums, Dave Anderson on bass, Chris Clark on piano/keyboards and Erik Piza on percussion. While best known as a 5-time All Star for the Yankees, Williams has been playing and studying music since his childhood, reaching #3 on Billboard's Contemporary Jazz charts with his tropical-tinged debut album The Journey Within. Since then he's worked with Bruce Springsteen, Jon Secada, Dave Koz and more on albums and performances and as a crusader for arts education through the National Association of Music Merchants Foundation's SupportMusic Coalition and the Turnaround Arts program, working locally with students in Bridgeport public schools. IN 2016, Williams received his bachelor of music degree in Jazz Performance from the Manhattan School of Music and he was awarded an honorary degree from the State University of New York, recognizing his achievements as both a Yankee and a top-flight musician.

Critically acclaimed composer, pianist, and educator Adegoke Steve Colson, will be a main attraction at this year’s HSA A-Train Arts Festival to be held on June 8-11th. Ade, as he prefers to be called, will premiere a new composition that he has titled “Suite Harlem,” on the last day of the festival (June 11). This ode to the historic community of Harlem is arranged in six parts (Searching Harlem, Harlem Streets, Our Beautiful Children, The True Bridge, Resilience, and A Gift, A Legacy), and pays tribute to Harlem’s rich cultural past, present and future, while honoring the Harlem School of the Arts, a nationally recognized arts institution, its student body, creative staff, and its founder the legendary Dorothy Maynor’s vision.This is the culmination of Ade’s partnership with HSA, which began with Mr. Colson being one of a select group of artists recipients of South Arts prestigious Jazz Road Creative Residencies, a 4-year national jazz initiative funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation with additional support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

The National Arts Club, in partnership with the National Jazz Museum in Harlem, is joining New York Public Library's citywide dance party! Baba Don Eaton Babatunde and his band JAAMBO will inspire you to move and groove, as they perform from the front stoop of our historic landmark building on Gramercy Park.

Baba Don Eaton Babatunde, a percussionist very much in demand, has performed with major American dance companies such as Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Limon Dance Company and the Dance Theatre of Harlem in some of the world’s greatest performing arts venues.

His recording career is as equally varied as it is vast in jazz idioms, rhythm and blues, and most African derived music. He is the founder of JAAMBO, an Afro Caribbean ensemble and the founder of Percussion Arts Projects LLC. He is a featured member of the esteemed Last Poets. He has long been acknowledged as one of New York City’s master teachers of African Drumming and the rhythms of the Diaspora in the Americas.

Please note: This performance takes place outdoors.

Mark Sheldon is an Indianapolis based freelance photographer, specializing in music and life-style photography. Mark is a regular contributor to DownBeat magazine and Living Blues magazine and his work has been featured in dozens of publications including The NY Times, The Wall Street Journal, Jazz Times, The Seattle Times, Newsweek, Rolling Stone, Time Out Chicago, Time Out New York, Keyboard magazine, Double Bassist/ Strad magazine (London), Guitar Player, Indianapolis Monthly and others.