Jazz at Lincoln Center’s “Rooted in The Blues” Festival (Virtual)

SHEMEKIA COPELAND, JERRON PAXTON, AND DAMIEN SNEEDAMONG HEADLINERS OFJAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER’SVIRTUAL “ROOTED IN THE BLUES” FESTIVALVirtual live concerts at Dizzy’s Club and online education programs honor the blues January 14—28, 2021Virtual tickets and more information available on jazz.org

New York, NY (January 12, 2021) Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Virtual “Rooted in The Blues” Festival will feature blues, jazz, and gospel musicians including Shemekia Copeland, Jerron Paxton, and Damien Sneed honoring the blues—the foundation of American music—live from Dizzy’s Club.

From January 14—28, these virtual live performances at Dizzy’s Club and A Closer Listen online discussions will offer a soulful investigation of the form, feeling, and function of the blues and its integral role in jazz.

More information and tickets to Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Virtual “Rooted in The Blues” Festival events are available on jazz.org.

The Swing University course, “Bessie Smith and Blues Queens of the 1920s,” taught by Camille Thurman, will take place in March. Registration is open via jazz.org/swingu.

Live From Dizzy’s Concerts:

Live From Dizzy’s: Shemekia Copeland: Uncivil War Debut Concert
Thursday, January 14, 2021 at 7:30p.m. EST*
Tonight marks the debut live performance of songs from three-time Grammy nominee Shemekia Copeland’s new album Uncivil War. The album, recorded in Nashville with award-winning producer and musician Will Kimbrough at the helm, features songs that address gun violence, civil rights, lost friends, and love.

Live From Dizzy’s: Blues and Black Folk Music with Jerron Paxton
Thursday, January 21, 2021 at 7:30pm EST*
Jerron Paxton transforms traditional jazz, blues, folk, and country into the here and now. His sound is influenced by the likes of Fats Waller and “Blind” Lemon Jefferson. According to The Wall Street Journal, Paxton is “virtually the only music-maker of his generation—playing guitar, banjo, piano and violin, among other implements—to fully assimilate the blues idiom of the 1920s and ‘30s.” Tonight, in addition to singing and playing banjo, guitar, and piano, Paxton will mesmerize audiences with his humor and storytelling.

Live From Dizzy’s: Damien Sneed & Friends: An Evening of Blues and Gospel
Thursday, January 28, 2021, at 7:30pm EST*
Damien Sneed is a pianist, vocalist, organist, composer, conductor, arranger, producer, and arts educator whose work spans multiple genres. He has worked with jazz, classical, gospel, pop, and R&B legends including the late Aretha Franklin, Jessye Norman, Wynton Marsalis, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, Marvin Sapp, Richard Smallwood, and J-Nai Bridges. Tonight’s program explores the intersections between blues and gospel.

*To accommodate viewers around the world, Live From Dizzy’s sets will be re-broadcast at the following times on the same evening or following day depending on region:

In the West Coast U.S.; Midwest U.S.; Canada:
Same evening at 7:30p.m. PST / 10:30p.m. EST

In Japan; Asia:
Following day at 8:30p.m. JST / 7:30a.m. EST

In Africa; Europe:
Following day at 7:30p.m. CEST / 1:30p.m. EST

Education Events:

A Closer Listen: What Is a 12-Bar Blues?
Tuesday, January 12, 2021 at 12:00pm EST
Jazz at Lincoln Center Education Faculty Yunie Mojica and Seton Hawkins discuss the 12-bar blues form, and work with you on hearing the form in music, and identifying it in performances.

A Closer Listen: The 12-Bar Blues in Jazz
Thursday, January 14 2021 at 12:00pm EST
Building upon the “What Is a 12-Bar Blues” session on January 12, Jazz at Lincoln Center Education Faculty Yunie Mojica and Seton Hawkins will explore iconic appearances of the 12-bar blues in jazz recordings.

Swing University: Bessie Smith and Blues Queens of the 1920s
Taught by Camille Thurman
March 4, 11, and 18, 2021
With the recording of “Crazy Blues” by Mamie Smith, America entered a blues craze in the 1920s. We see in this decade an explosion of Blues recordings and the “Blues Queens”—singers like Ma Rainey, Ethel Waters, or Mamie Smith. We’ll look at their music, ultimately settling on the Empress of the Blues: Bessie Smith.

With the recording of “Crazy Blues” by Mamie Smith, America entered a blues craze in the 1920s. We see in this decade an explosion of Blues recordings and the “Blues Queens”—singers like Ma Rainey, Ethel Waters, or Mamie Smith. We’ll look at their music, ultimately settling on the Empress of the Blues: Bessie Smith.
A schedule of livestream performances, family and education programs, and more can be found on jazz.org.

Since March, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s performance, education, and advocacy resources have been shared for free with the organization’s growing global community of over two million people to share in turn with their friends, family, fans, supporters, companies, and constituencies. Although The House of Swing may be dark temporarily, we at Jazz at Lincoln Center are providing resources for cultural nourishment and comfort in these uncertain times.

Your gift makes a difference. Please support Jazz at Lincoln Center in this challenging time as we continue to entertain, enrich, and expand a global community for jazz through our online learning and social media platforms. To make a contribution, click here.

The mission of Jazz at Lincoln Center is to entertain, enrich, and expand a global community for jazz through performance, education, and advocacy. We believe jazz is a metaphor for Democracy.Because jazz is improvisational, it celebrates personal freedom and encourages individual expression.Because jazz is swinging, it dedicates that freedom to finding and maintaining common ground with others. Because jazz is rooted in the blues, it inspires us to face adversity with persistent optimism.

Rooted in The Blues Programs made possible by Jody and John Arnhold.

Generous support for Jazz at Lincoln Center’s webcasting is provided by
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
and Louise and Leonard Riggio.

Jazz at Lincoln Center proudly acknowledges its major corporate partners:
Bloomberg Philanthropies, SiriusXM, Con Edison, Entergy,
Steinway & Sons, and The Coca-Cola Company.