The National Black Arts Festival (NBAF) announces its 26th season, running June through September and featuring a profusion of artistic offerings in a variety of disciplines including music, dance, theatre, film and visual art. As part of the festival’s new Strategic Vision, several innovative programs will be inaugurated including the Spotlight Series, a lineup of events going deep into one of the five NBAF disciplines; 2014 is the year of music at NBAF. A new annual event, NBAF Global will showcase one dimension of the African Diaspora, and the landmark Legends Celebration will take a fresh new direction honoring five luminaries via performance tributes. Additionally, NBAF seeks to serve the community through educational initiatives like the Youth Empowerment Series (YES!); NBAF NEXT featuring emerging artists and those working in social justice and a sequence of free master classes for pre-professional students.
Tickets to most NBAF events will be on sale beginning Friday, May 23 at 12 p.m. (Wynton Marsalis tickets are currently on sale.)
THE INAUGURAL SPOTLIGHT SERIES
This year, Wynton Marsalis serves as NBAF’s inaugural Spotlight Series Curator, personally tapping a mentor, a peer, and a protégé to join the summer’s program.
The Legend: Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis – “Modern Life, Modern Music,” Friday, July 25, 8 p.m. at Symphony Hall
Tickets from $45
This spectacular evening, curated specifically for NBAF by Marsalis, features original compositions by members of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. Marsalis describes the inspiration for the concert thus: “The DNA research is in. We are all descendants of Africa. Let’s celebrate the scientific death of tribalism. Modern life affords us the opportunity to choose our tribe by interest instead of genetics. Today, families are formed across the superficial lines of race and nationality. They are more flexible and numerous. The divisive conventions which force us into competing clans who wish to claim superiority over ‘others’ are giving way to an emphasis on culture and its shared mythic symbols that unify us at the deepest levels of our collective consciousness. Duke Ellington said THE people are my people. Jazz knew that any person is related to all people, long before DNA told us it was so.”
The Mentor: The Heath Brothers Quartet with Jeremy Pelt, Saturday, August 23, 8 p.m. at Rialto Center for the Arts
Tickets from $25
NEA Jazz Master Jimmy Heath and rising star Jeremy Pelt (trumpet) offer an evening of classics from the American Songbook as well as signature compositions by Heath himself. Marsalis states, “NEA Jazz Master Jimmy Heath, brilliant instrumentalist, magnificent composer and arranger, is vital at 87 years old – when he walks into a room, jazz history is made.”
The Protégé: The Jason Marsalis Quartet, Thursday, September 11, 8 p.m. at Rialto Center for the Arts
Tickets from $15
The Jason Marsalis Quartet features Marsalis on vibraphones, Will Goble on bass, David Potter on drums and Austin Johnson on piano. Performing hits from his most recent album, “my younger brother Jason, with perfect pitch and unerring rhythmic sophistication, is a master of the vibes,” explains Wynton Marsalis.
The Peer: The Marcus Roberts Trio Celebrates Monk and Trane, Thursday, September 18, 7:30 p.m., Center Stage Theater
Tickets from $15
The Marcus Roberts Trio, founded in 1995, is known around the world for its virtuosic style – a style that is strongly rhythmic, melodic, and filled with dynamic contrast. According to Marsalis, “Marcus is like a movement. Years from now, people will look back on all the students and piano players that he influenced and it will become known as the School of Marcus Roberts…He is a genius.”
For more information, visit: www.nbaf.org
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