Jazz at Lincoln Center announced its 2024-25 concert season Tuesday, which includes performances celebrating the 20th anniversary of the center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall, a tribute to civil rights activist Bayard Rustin and concerts of Grammy Award-winning artists.
The season will run from Sept. 19, 2024, through June 14, 2025, and begins with Hot Jazz at Swing, where music director Loren Schoenberg guides the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra through revitalized arrangements of 1920s and ’30s tunes.
On October 18-19, Bryan Carter, a drummer and composer, will lead the Jazz at the Pride Orchestra in honoring Rustin’s life and legacy.
Other nods to the past will focus on jazz history. Led by Wynton Marsalis, the artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, the center’s orchestra will perform 10 concerts that will each pay tribute to a decade of jazz history, from the 1920s to the present.
Performances in February will honor the early years of jazz and its many inspirations by including cuts from blues, gospel, country and bluegrass, as well as from recordings by Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and others yet. In Nov. 8-9, a pair of concerts will focus on jazz pioneers Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell, Tadd Dameron and others.
From Jan. 16-18, the Cool School & Hard Bop concert will explore midcentury jazz, featuring works from Miles Davis, Art Blakey, Max Roach and others. And on May 29-31, saxophonist Ted Nash will lead the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra in performances of new arrangements of music associated with the 1970s.
The season will also include more modern performances, including concerts that will feature music from Joanne Brackeen, Charlie Haden, Terence Blanchard and others.
Some concerts will also spotlight specific musicians. In Nov. 15-16, Joshua Redman returns to the Rose Theater in collaboration with Gabrielle Cavassa, a rising star from New Orleans. Later in the season, on Feb. 14-15, Dianne Reeves will perform in a Valentine’s Day celebration filled with songs about romance and heartbreak. Pianist and composer Monty Alexander will celebrate his 80th birthday with a performance on Jan. 24-25, while Anat Cohen and her brothers will celebrate her 50th birthday with performances of early swing, post-bop and Brazilian choro on March 14-15.
The final performances of the season, June 13-14, will feature music directed by Marsalis and showcase works by veteran band members Chris Crenshaw, Vincent Gardner and others.
