Jazzmobile: Sarah Vaughan Centennial
Celebrating the 100th birthday of legendary jazz singer Sarah Vaughan with acclaimed vocalist Charenée Wade and her Septet.
“Sarah Vaughan was the first vocalist that attracted me to Jazz at an early age. Her warm and rich tone was mesmerizing, her storytelling, improvisation, playful expressiveness, and her “swanging” soulfulness set a new standard for artists all around the world. She is the epitome of a great jazz musician and all generations of artists should listen and can learn from her recordings and expansive body of work. They called her Sassy, but she is truly the Divine One.”
-Charenee Wade
Known for expert vocal improvisational ability and her seriously swinging groove, Brooklyn native Charenée Wade evokes a classic jazz sound akin to Betty Carter and Sarah Vaughan, two of her musical touchstones. With her Motéma debut, Offering: The Music of Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson, she pays tribute to another inspiration, the socially conscious poet and musician Gil Scott-Heron, and confirms that she too plans to use her artist platform thoughtfully. The first full-length album tribute to Scott-Heron and his musical collaborator Brian Jackson by a woman artist, Offering is arresting in just how timely Scott-Heron’s messages are today and how perfectly Wade delivers them through her savvy arrangements and intimate jazz interpretations. While she has earned many accolades – first runner-up in New York’s Jazzmobile Vocal competition; a participant in Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead program; a feature on NPR’s Song Travels; a starring role in the off-Broadway show Café Society and in Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Salute to Betty Carter – she may surprise people with this authentic tour de force. Wade gives ample evidence on this remarkable debut as to why she is one of the most exciting, distinctive and bold young musical talents on the rise today. Wade has performed with Bobby Sanabria, Aaron Diehl, Oran Etkin, Robert Glasper and MacArthur Fellow and choreographer Kyle Abraham, among others, and at venues and festivals worldwide including Montreux and Spoleto. A singer, composer, arranger and educator, Wade teaches at Juillard Jazz, is also a professor at the Aaron Copland School at Queens College; in 2017 Wade received the Jazz At Lincoln Center Millennial Swing Award, and was just recently appointed to Peabody Institute.
Jazzmobile's mission is to present, preserve, promote and propagate America's classical music, Jazz. Founded in 1964 by National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master, pianist, Dr. Billy Taylor and philanthropist and arts administrator, Ms. Daphne Anstein, Jazzmobile is the first U.S. not-for-profit arts and cultural organization created just for Jazz. Since the beginning, Jazzmobile has been bringing high quality Jazz performances and education programs to area residents, tourists and other visitors, reaching over 4,000,000 people living or visiting New York City. Their national programs have brought them to other cities in the US; and the 'Super Jazz Band' had us touring cities in Europe and Japan. Whether on the street, in a park or at a major concert hall here or abroad, Jazzmobile works in partnership with like-minded organizations to present high quality Jazz performances that enrich the culture and imbue new life into the surrounding area.
Bryant Park Picnic Performances presented by Bank of America is a free outdoor festival that welcomes all New Yorkers to experience the city’s vibrant arts and culture. The series provides a platform for extraordinary artists and serves as a vital outdoor venue for a wide array of New York’s cultural institutions.
Bring your own picnic or purchase food and drinks from tents on the east side of the lawn. Attendees can enjoy cuisine from the five boroughs with a rotating line-up of artisanal vendors curated by Hester Street Fair.
Stout NYC also offers giant pretzels, gourmet popcorn and other light bites as well as a selection of beer, wine, and non-alcoholic beverages for purchase.
Bryant Park lends out hundreds of free blankets on a first-come, first-served basis, or bring your own cotton or fleece blanket. To protect the lawn, please do not sit on waterproof materials such as plastic tarps, yoga mats, or inflatable chairs.
Take a seat in one of the pre-set chairs on the lawn or grab a chair from the gravel. You can use a chair anywhere in the park except for the center lawn "blanket zone".
Find jugglers, hula hoops, giant Jenga, and more fun on the east side of the lawn at select events.
We love dogs, but dog urine can leave the lawn with bald spots. Dogs are welcome on the gravel and bluestone, but please do not bring dogs on the lawn.
Performances are cancelled when it is unsafe to be outdoors. In some cases, the lawn may be too wet to open but the performance may continue. Follow @bryantparknyc on Twitter and Instagram for day-of event updates. You can also check the lawn status on the bryantpark.org homepage.
