Harlem Stage has announced its Spring 2012 schedule, which includes tributes to jazz giant Cecil Taylor and modern legends A Tribe Called Quest, as well as barrier-busting works in music, dance and film. The season’s lineup glorifies Harlem’s cultural heritage while celebrating its future and highlighting issues of interest from the Black and Latin Diaspora.
Among this season’s featured musicians: veteran jazz/funk drummer Terri Lyne Carrington with an impressive all-star female lineup that includes funk/soul icon Nona Hendryx and gospel/jazz singer Lizz Wright (whose Fellowship album was named DownBeat magazine’s 2011 “Beyond Album of the Year”); and José James, Downbeat’s 2011 “Rising Star Male Vocalist” who has been called “a jazz singer for the hip-hop generation.” Also, Afro-punk queen Tamar-kali and powerhouse pianist Vijay Iyer (Downbeat’s 2011 “Rising Star Jazz Group” winner) return to the Harlem Stage Gatehouse following recent acclaimed and sold-out shows there.
In dance, evolving choreographers Souleymane Badolo and Sheetal Ghandi anchor the annual E-Moves festival of new and rising dancemakers. In film, award-winning filmmaker Byron Hurt previews a sure-to-be-controversial documentary film about the tradition of soul food.
With more than 25 events this spring, Harlem Stage continues a tradition of presenting art that challenges audiences to expand their worldviews and create change – including the acclaimed nightlife series Uptown Nights at Harlem Stage that reimagines the time when Harlem was the destination for music audiences seeking the next big thing, the Harlem Stride series that pushes forward the discipline of jazz, and Harlem Stage on Screen, a season-long film series partnership with Black Documentary Collective (BDC) and Media that Matters/Arts Engine, Inc. (MTM)
Season highlights include (more details below):
· Honey-soaked baritone José James, fresh from a series of sold-out concerts across the city, presents the first live performance of all-new material from his upcoming album No Beginning, No End (Feb.10-11)
· Parties, performances and panels that celebrate the impact, importance and influence of legendary hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest (March 1-3);
· Award-winning filmmaker Byron Hurt’s new Soul Food Junkies, which explores the tradition, and the health effects, of time-honored soul food, presented with BDC (April 11);
· Emerging and evolving dance artists sharing the stage in the 13th season of the acclaimed annual E-Moves dance festival (April 20-28);
· Harlem Stage’s 2012 Harlem Jazz Shrines Festival contribution spotlights jazz visionary Cecil Taylor, including a performance by the legend himself (May 8, 9 and 17);
· Terri Lyne Carrington’s “The Mosaic Project,” nominated for a 2012 “Best Jazz Vocal Album” Grammy Award, is an all-star celebration of women in jazz (May 10); and
· The dynamic range of punk, funk, and soul singer (also composer/arranger) Tamar-Kali is on display for a three-night run with one-of-a-kind sets and guest performers (June 7-9)
Harlem Stage also presents Uptown Open, a monthly open-mic series for and by teens that features young poets, emcees, scholars, and activists sharing their voices, art, and opinions in an after-school safe space. Open to all, the series hits the Gatehouse stage every third Thursday from 5-7pm
“Our new season inspires in so many ways,” says Harlem Stage Executive Director Patricia Cruz. “As our 30th anniversary approaches, I’m thrilled about the caliber of talent we continue to support, and the range of nationalities and cultures they represent - from around the corner to across the globe.”
SEASON SCHEDULE
The full Harlem Stage Spring 2012 season is listed below – organized by date under each discipline. More information is available at www.HarlemStage.org
