The Troy Savings Bank Music Hall will welcome two incredible jazz legends in February – Joshua Redman will perform on February 7, while Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis will fill the historic venue on February 17.
Joshua Redman – February 7
From its inception, the Blue Note label has stood for “The Finest In Jazz.” The same can be said for Joshua Redman. Over the past three decades, the saxophonist, composer, and bandleader has consistently demonstrated how to honor the music’s verities while expanding its reach in contemporary settings. He found the perfect partner in young vocalist Gabrielle Cavassa.
“I had maybe heard Gabrielle’s name from her time in the Bay Area,” Redman notes, “but I wasn’t at all familiar with her music. One night in the Fall of 2021, my manager texted me in the middle of Gabrielle’s performance at a party in New Orleans. ‘You’ve got to hear this young lady,’ she said. ‘This is not a concert, it’s a casual event, and she is just riveting.’ Once I heard Gabrielle, I realized that she has an expressive quality and an intimacy and a vulnerability in her sound that is singularly captivating.” Having found a collaborator, Redman embarked on what proved to be a unique process.
“Most of my previous recordings grew out of bands that had played and toured together consistently, and eventually developed a vibe and chemistry and repertoire to the point where we felt like we had to record. But in this case, while I had worked with each of the other instrumentalists many times before in a wide variety of settings, we hadn’t yet played all at the same time in the same group; and Gabrielle and I had literally never made a note of music together.” The resulting program is “not really about the pandemic itself,” Redman stresses, “but the uniquely isolating conditions of that time certainly played a role in the music’s creation. What began as a formal concept allowing two unacquainted artists to organize their ideas – something that could be discarded if necessary over time – had gained a deeper significance. “This was an album whose meaning revealed itself in the making.” where are we will leave listeners seeking to define where they, and we, are — inspired by the latest example of Joshua Redman at his finest.
Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis – February 17
The world’s premier big band, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis consists of 15 permanent members performing live in New York City and around the world. In 1988 the Orchestra was formed as an outgrowth of its concert series, Classical Jazz, with David Berger conducting. When Wynton Marsalis became artistic director in 1991, he emphasized the history of jazz, particularly Duke Ellington. The first album was Portraits by Ellington (1992), and seven years later the Ellington centennial was honored with the album Live in Swing City: Swingin’ with the Duke (1999). Under the leadership of Marsalis, the band performs at its home The House of Swing , tours throughout the U.S. and abroad, visits schools, appears on television, and performs with symphony orchestras. The Orchestra backed Wynton Marsalis on his album Blood on the Fields , which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1997.
Since 2015, the Orchestra’s albums have been issued on its own label, Blue Engine Records. The first release from Blue Engine Records, Live in Cuba, was recorded on a historic 2010 trip to Havana by the JLCO and released in October 2015. The label issued Big Band Holidays in December 2015, The Abyssinian Mass in March 2016, The Music of John Lewis in March 2017, and the JLCO’s Handful of Keys in September 2017. Blue Engine’s United We Swing: Best of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Galas features the Wynton Marsalis Septet and an array of special guests, with all proceeds going toward Jazz at Lincoln Center’s education initiatives. Blue Engine’s most recent album releases (2023) include Wynton Marsalis Plays Louis Armstrong’s Hot Fives and Sevens and The Jungle, a recording of Marsalis’ fourth symphony featuring the JLCO and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.
Tickets are on sale at 10am Wednesday, December 6th to Music Hall Members. Anyone can become a member and gain access to the pre-sale. Single tickets go on sale to the general public Friday, December 8th, at 10am via phone, (518) 273-0038, in person, or online at www.troymusichall.org. More information on the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall and upcoming programs is available on the website at www.troymusichall.org.
Pre-sale tickets for Troy Savings Bank Music Hall Members are available Wednesday at 10am. Single tickets will go on-sale at 10am to the public this Friday December 8.
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