The New York-based nonprofit Jazz Power Initiative is gearing up for its 15th anniversary celebration this summer, but first the education, performance, and training organization will recognize NEA Jazz Master Kenny Barron on May 29 with a concert.
Barron, who is this year’s Jazz Journalists Association Award winner for Pianist of the Year, will be honored with performances by saxophonist/vocalist Camille Thurman, a Jazz Power Initiative teaching artist; bassist/vocalist Endea Owens; and the JPI ZAH! Youth Ensemble. The concert will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music, located at 450 W 37th St., New York, NY. Tax-deductible tickets cost $150. To purchase tickets, click here.
On June 23, the organization will toast 15 years of service with a public birthday party at the National Jazz Museum in Harlem, located at 58 W. 129th St. Suggested donation $5 to $10. For more information, visit www.jazzmuseuminharlem.org. And on July 17 and 18, the JPI will hold its annual free (for artists and educators) Jazz Power Institute at Lehman College in the Bronx.
Launched in 2004, the Jazz Power Initiative has served over 2,200 young people, hundreds of senior citizens in the U.S. and abroad, and more than 700 educators and business executives.
Musician and educator Eli Yamin co-founded the Jazz Power Initiative to foster self-expression, leadership, collaboration, and diversity through jazz. Based in the upper-Manhattan neighborhood of Inwood, the organization annually conducts programs in Washington Heights, Harlem, Inwood, and the Bronx for over 300 middle and high school students on scholarships, and works with approximately 25 teachers and up to 50 seniors each year.
Jazz Power Initiative teaching artists include board members Rondi Charleston, a vocalist/record label CEO; choreographer/dancer Shireen Dickson; and guitarist/educator Tom Dempsey for improvisation. Other artists involved include Grammy Award-winning jazz vocalist Catherine Russell, Newark star Antoinette Montague, and Thurman as mentioned.
For more information, visit www.jazzpower.org.