Jazz at Lincoln Center and the Rockefeller Foundation have announced the full slate of performers that will take part in “A Celebration Of America” in the Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater in Washington, D.C. on the occasion of the Presidential Inauguration and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on this coming Monday, January 19, 2009 at 7 p.m.
Angela Bassett and Courtney B. Vance have been confirmed as hosts. The following artists have been confirmed: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Bela Fleck, Cassandra Wilson, Chorale Le Chateau of New York City conducted by Damien Sneed, Dave Brubeck, Dianne Reeves, Don Vappie, Dr. Michael White, Foxborough (MA) High School Jazz Ensemble, Francesco Cafiso, Freddy Cole, Giovanni Hidalgo, Grace Kelly, Herlin Riley, Jared Grimes, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Jessye Norman, Jonathan Batiste, Lucian Barberin, Marcus Gilmore, Mark O’Connor, Odadaa! with Yacub Addy, Paquito D’Rivera with Diego Urcola, Alex Brown, Oscar Stagnaro, and Mark Walker, Roy Haynes and Shannon Powell.
The evening’s cornerstone will be an interchange between Wynton Marsalis (pictured) and retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. They will share the stage with a select group of celebrated artists whose repertoire selections will support the discussion about the values of civil society and the principles of democracy that jazz embodies.
Tickets are available by invitation only, but the event will be televised on CNN beginning at 7 PM Monday.
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