LAKECIA BENJAMIN, WOMEN’S JAZZ MONTH AT SCHOMBURG

In a special collaboration, the Harlem Stage (150 Convent Avenue) and Carnegie Hall copresent saxophonist and composer Lakecia Benjamin on March 11 in a free concert. She will appear in celebration of her recently released album “Phoenix” (Whirlwind Recordings), which consists of mostly original compositions. Joining her is an all-star lineup of special guests, including Dianne Reeves, Sonia Sanchez, Angela Davis, Wayne Shorter, and Georgia Anne Muldrow.

This fourth studio album was produced by multi-Grammy Award-winning drummer and composer Terri Lyne Carrington.

On occasion, some artists use big names to hype their albums, but understand that Benjamin has developed a reputation for bringing in renowned artists as collaborative partners, which is usually an intergenerational configuration exchanging concepts and ideas. Both “Phoenix” album guests— political activist and educator Angela Davis and poet and writer Sonia Sanchez—were activists in the Black Power and Black Arts Movements, and infuse the recording with a revolutionary perspective.

“Amerikkan Skin,” features Davis’s thoughtprovoking words and revolutionary hope, with Benjamin’s bluesy midtempo riffing trumpet joining in high-hittin’ call and response with saxophone. Sanchez offers words of peace in this now and future on the tracks “Peace is a Haiku,” which features Sanchez’s intense bullets over guitar melodies. On the track “Blast,” Sanchez continues her poem, which escalates into a fiery tone as Benjamin and the ensemble join in.

The track “Super Nova” features the wisdom and philosophy of the iconic Shorter in a short but definitive interlude. The tune “Basquiat” is a real burner—Benjamin’s dexterity and improvisational technique in conjunction with the ensemble are delightful.

“Phoenix” is thought-provoking and musically stimulating. Benjamin has a Coltranish thing going on that suits her perfectly. It is part of her playing style, but it’s her own sound (a soulful Harlem intensity) that brings it all together.

Benjamin’s concert is both a free and general admission-based event: Admission to the Gatehouse and seating will be on a first-come, first-served basis. The event will begin promptly at 7:30 p.m.

The Harlem Stage is a premiere arts organization whose stage presentations represent revolutionary thought by Black creative visionaries at the intersection of art and social justice. The collective works of such artists since 1983 also represent the legacy of Black America, from its potent cultural history to the peoples’ amplified voices that continue in the streets, denouncing America’s destructive social-structured racism.

The Harlem Stage’s current ongoing series “Black Arts Movement: Examined,” which began in October 1922 and will continue through May 2023 with a dynamic three-day conference. This series features the 1960s and ’70s cultural movement that was rooted in the music, literature, dance, drama and visual arts. It reflects the Harlem Stage mission and the ongoing creativity and definitive statement of today’s artists.

For more info about the free event and a complete schedule for the Black Arts Movement, visit the website harlemstage.org.

The Schomburg Center’s annual Women’s Jazz Festival (WJF) is celebrating 31 years of featuring Black women in jazz with the Women’s Jazz Festival, founded in 1992 by then-Harlem resident and jazz vocalist Melba Joyce. During an interview a few years ago for this publication, Joyce said, “I was looking for a place for women (vocalists) to have a performance platform and the Schomburg liked my idea and gave us a home that continues today.”

This year’s Schomburg Center Festival (515 Malcolm X Blvd.) will present a spirited variety of jazz genres for audiences of mixed tastes, live on March 6, 13, and 20.

The concert series opens with drummer and composer Shirazette Tinnin’s MOODS OF HER. She will be joined by her abled ensemble: vocalist and saxophonist Orange Coffee, bassist Amina Scott, guitarist Alicyn Yaff, pianist Brittany Anjou, trumpeter Lessie Bonner, tenor saxophone Chelsea Baratz, and tap dancer Maurice Chestnut.

These names may not roll off your tongue like household words, but they are all band leaders in their own right— young architects building their own jazz structures. Chestnut is a protégé of Savion Glover and follows predecessors like the Nicholas Brothers and Honi Coles. His tap shoes are a viable jazz instrument (presented by Jazzmobile, Inc. and executive producer Robin Bell-Stevens).

Tinnin is the music director and drummer for Allan Harris’s ensemble. When not leading her own bands (Shirazette and Sonic wallpaper Fusion Band and the Blue Popped Trio), she often plays with Dee Dee Bridgewater’s big band. While performing at a jazz festival in Peru in 2009, she met trumpeter Gabriel Alegría, who invited her to New York to join his Afro Peruvian Sextet. Since that time, she recorded Alegría’s 2013 album, “Ciudad de los Reyes,” and continues to tour with him and his group regularly in the U.S. and Peru.

Tinnin also plays the cajón, a widely used Afro Peruvian percussion instrument. “Playing the cajón has expanded my playing ability and I use these rhythms in my music,” she said—a combustion of jazz, world, and pop music. She says her goal is to have an album that is strictly Peruvian rhythms.

When asked if the patriarchal grip on jazz has loosened for women, Tinnin said, “It’s a vicious cycle in jazz. Because of my gender, some think I can’t do certain things, but that isn’t intelligent thinking. It’s not about being a woman, but a control thing for people who are insecure. Some want to keep things the way they were, but there has been an improvement. My gift was given to me by God, so I will move forward on my path and not be stopped but transcend above.”

On March 13, the Women’s festival continues with the Original Pinettes Brass Band of New Orleans. The all-female brass band leans more toward contemporary brass band music rather than traditional New Orleans Jazz, so be ready for some off-beat second-line swing. The band was founded in 1991 at St. Mary’s Academy, a Catholic girls’ school in New Orleans.

The festival concludes on March 20 with vocalist Lizz Wright. Since signing her first recording contract with Verve Records (the home of Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday) in 2003, Wright has established a personal style that encompasses jazz, gospel, and folk music. The native of Hahira, Georgia, has developed a musical blend that is spiritually motivating.

“The Women’s Jazz Festival celebrates women of the African diaspora and their contributions to jazz and the community,” said Novella Ford, program and exhibitions curator for the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. “We have continued Melba Joyce’s original concept to ensure that women vocalists, musicians, writers, and composers have an artistic platform to showcase their work.”

Once again, Black History Month might be only a month, but should be celebrated every day. Join this journey of the matriarch’s herstory. For tickets, visit the website https:// www.eventbrite.com/e/2023-womens-jazz.