***For Immediate Release: Thursday, May 14, 2020***
San Jose Jazz Selected as one of Eight Nonprofit Beneficiaries of Cisco Systems “Live From Home” Live Stream Series
Special All Star Jazz Night Benefit Concert Online Tuesday, May 19, 2020, 4:30–5:30pm (Pacific)
featuring
Eric Garland Julian Lage & Margaret Glaspy Ambrose Akinmusire and Christian McBride
San Jose, Calif. – San Jose Jazz is proud to announce that it has been selected by Cisco Systems as one of eight nonprofit performing arts organizations nationwide to be a beneficiary and participant in its “Live From Home” benefit series of live streamed performances by some of the world’s top artists.
The “Jazz Night II” edition on Tuesday, May 19, 2020 at 4:30pm (Pacific) is dedicated to SJZ, and features five of the most exciting artists in jazz today: Eric Garland, Julian Lage & Margaret Glaspy, Ambrose Akinmusire and Christian McBride. Each artist will perform a 12-minute set from their shelter-in-place location, with the aid of Cisco Webex hardware. The event will be hosted by veteran KPFA/KCSM Radio 91 personality Greg Bridges, and a representative from San Jose Jazz will be on hand to talk about the organization and its programs.
Cisco’s "Live From Home” is a series of weekly live streams that directly supports artists in need and provides relief to nonprofit organizations across the United States. When AppDynamics and Cisco teams saw shows and events being canceled or postponed and art nonprofits struggling, they quickly banded together to create a virtual concert series featuring performances from celebrated artists from across the country. The series aims to support artists and charities by bringing live entertainment directly into your home.
Each event is dedicated to a different nonprofit. Selected nonprofits also include SFJAZZ, SF Opera, Blue Bear School of Music, Raleigh Little Theatre and Gray Area Foundation for the Arts. All donations made during the events via Cisco’s Bright Funds interface will go directly into a pool that will be evenly split across all eight of the nonprofits at the conclusion of the concert series. Any donations made by Cisco or AppDynamics employees will be matched by Cisco.
About the Artists
Eric Harland Multi Grammy-nominated drummer Eric Harland is one of the great drummers of his generation. He leads his own group, Voyager, and is a member of the Charles Lloyd Quartet, Dave Holland’s Prism, James Farm with Joshua Redman and the Taylor Eigsti Trio. Eric has worked with McCoy Tyner, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Aaron Goldberg, Julian Lage, Chris Potter and Terence Blanchard, and was a member of the SFJAZZ Collective from 2005 to 2012. As a bandleader, he has three albums to his credit. His latest is 2018’s 13th Floor.
Julian Lage & Margaret Glaspy Though only 31, the New York-based guitarist Julian Lage boasts a long, prolific résumé as sideman and duo partner with some of jazz’s biggest names. A frequent guest on NPR’s Live From Here, his latest album as a bandleader is Love Hurts, which sees the Grammy-nominated guitarist exploring the American song catalog from a truly unique vantage point.
Julian performs on May 19 with singer/songwriter Margaret Glaspy, whose plaintive voice has been described as “both lilting and childlike, like some sort of cross between Joanna Newsom and Madeleine Peyroux.” (Fretboard Journal) Margaret’s latest album, 2020’s Devotion, builds on the warm ‘70s folk-rock of her 2016 debut Emotions + Math, incorporating vocoder, drum loops and processed vocals into an effortless mix of indie-pop.
Ambrose Akinmusire During his 15-year career, Ambrose Akinmusire has paradoxically situated himself in both the center and the periphery of jazz, most recently emerging in classical and hip-hop circles. Born and raised in Oakland, the trumpeter burst on the scene when he won the 2007 Thelonius Monk Jazz Competition, and became an star when his first album for Blue Note Records, When the Heart Comes Glistening, won universal rave reviews. He remains one of jazz’s most iconoclastic players, with his fifth album for Blue Note due out on June 5, 2020.
Christian McBride Six-time Grammy Award-winning jazz bassist and composer Christian McBride can be likened to a force of nature. Powered by a relentless energy and a boundless love of swing, his career is now blazing into its third decade, and the Philadelphia native has become one of the most requested, recorded and respected figures in the music world today. Christian has performed and recorded with everyone from Freddie Hubbard, Herbie Hancock and Wynton Marsalis to pop, hip-hop, soul and classical musicians like Sting, The Roots, Queen Latifah, Renee Fleming and James Brown. He currently hosts and produces NPR’s Jazz Night in America, a weekly radio show and multimedia collaboration between WBGO, NPR and Jazz at Lincoln Center, showcasing outstanding live jazz from across the country.
For additional information regarding San Jose Jazz, please visit: sanjosejazz.org
About San Jose Jazz Founded in 1986, San Jose Jazz is a public benefit corporation celebrating jazz as a dynamic, evolving art form and is producer of the annual San Jose Jazz Summer Fest and Winter Fest. With its singular music programming and innovative educational offerings, San Jose Jazz preserves the jazz tradition while actively supporting the next generation of performers within the genre and beyond. For more information, please visit sanjosejazz.org.
CISCO “LIVE FROM HOME” JAZZ NIGHT II BENEFIT DEDICATED TO SAN JOSE JAZZ Tuesday, May 19, 4:30–5:30pm
Watch Link: https://video.cisco.com/
Donation Link: https://www.brightfunds.org/funds/live-from-home-performance-series
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Media Contact: Massimo Chisessi, San Jose Jazz Marketing Director, 415-637-2121, [email protected]