Celebrate our Regions Vibrant Jazz Heritage
April is Jazz Appreciation Month at The Durham Museum
As a Smithsonian Institution Affiliate, The Durham Museum is honored to participate in the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History’s Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM). This April, The Durham Museum will host special performances
and films to celebrate the local jazz scene and give visitors a better understanding of the extraordinary heritage and history of jazz.
The mission of JAM is to draw greater public attention to jazz and its importance to American cultural heritage. JAM is intended to stimulate the current jazz scene and encourage people of all ages to participate in jazz—to study the music, attend concerts, listen to jazz on radio and recordings, read books about jazz and support institutional jazz programs.
Jazz Appreciation Month is sponsored by Mutual of Omaha and Fraser Stryker PC LLO. With additional support provided by the Omaha Musicians’ Association and the Music Performance Trust Fund.
Performances
Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra at The Holland Performing Arts Center’s 1200 Club
Monday, April 12 at The Holland Performing Arts Center
6:15PM Lecture; 7PM Performance
Enjoy the state-of-the-art acoustics of the Holland Performing Arts Center at cabaret-style performance by the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra (SJM0). The evening will start with a special lecture by David N. Baker, the orchestra’s artistic and music art director, followed by a beautiful big band jazz performance in the 1200 Club.
Composed of seven musicians drawn from across the United States, the SJMO plays authentic and compelling performances of the music of Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Dizzy Gillespi, and many other masters. The SMJO was founding in 1990 with an appropriation from the US Congress in recognition of the importance of jazz in American culture and its status as a national treasure. SJMO travels nationally and internationally and has its own radio series heard on more than 88 public radio stations.
Tickets are $20 per person and may be purchased www.ticketomaha.com or by calling 345-0606. Durham Museum members will receive a 25% discount by purchasing over the phone or in person at the Ticket Omaha Box Office located at 13 and Douglas Street.
Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra at The Durham Museum
Tuesday, April 13 in the Stanley and Dorothy Truhlsen Lecture Hall
5-6PM Reception; 6-6:30PM Lecture; 6:30-8PM Concert; 8-9PM Meet The Musicians
The Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra will be back for another special performance in The Durham’s Stanley and Dorothy Truhlsen Lecture Hall. As the orchestra-in-residence at the National Museum of American History, the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra will perform big band jazz as its composers and arrangers intended it to be played.
Due to limited seating, reservations are required. Museum admission applies and is free for members. Contact Andrea Boschult at (402)444-5071 or aboschult@durhammuseum.org.
Jazz JAM at The Durham Weekend
The weekend of April 24-25 is jam-packed with special performances! On Saturday, special programming explores “Jazz through the Eras” and Sunday’s programming celebrates the “Legends of Omaha Jazz.” Special films will also run this weekend, please see Mutual of Omaha Film Series listing.
Saturday, April 24
Street Railroad Company Jazz Band
Early Jazz/Dixieland
11AM in the Stanley and Dorothy Truhlsen Lecture Hall
The Street Railway Company Jazz Band has played as a group since 1985 and includes 7 pieces (cornet, trombone, clarinet, piano, drums, tuba and banjo). Specializing in traditional New Orleans Dixieland Jazz, the band has traveled to Europe to perform in Poland, the Czech Republic and Spain, including live radio performances in Prague and Valencia. The band plays from memory and by improvisation.
Sing, Sing, Swing Orchestra
Swing
1PM in the Stanley and Dorothy Truhlsen Lecture Hall
The Sing, Sing, Swing Orchestra led by pianist, composer, Robert Glaser performs both traditional and contemporary Big Band selections featuring the music of Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Poncho Sanchez among others. Vocalist Tyler Hughes is featured singing well-known hits of Fred Astaire, Frank Sinatra, and Michael Buble.
Steve Thornburg Quartet
BeBop
3PM in the Stanley and Dorothy Truhlsen Lecture Hall
The Steve Thornburg Quartet plays jazz, soul and pop instrumentals with passion and superb musicianship. STQ’s style is saxophone driven in the tradition of legendary alto players Arthur Blythe, Johnny Hodges and Sonny Fortune. The Steve Thornburg Quartet has been playing steadily since 1984. The STQ has appeared as a back-up group for Grammy nominated jazz singer Karrin Allyson.
Matt Wallace
Modern Jazz
5PM in the Stanley and Dorothy Truhlsen Lecture Hall
An Omaha native, Matt Wallace has played with some of the finest jazz artists of our day. His career is highlighted with a decade long stint on tour with the great Maynard Ferguson band. Matt's band can be heard at various venues and private parties in the area as well as Matt himself being a special addition to many area bands such as Mike Gurciullo's Las Vegas Lab Band and the Latin Jazz band, Los Motunos.
Sunday, April 25
The Gulizia Brothers Band featuring Joe Genovesi
2PM in the Stanley and Dorothy Truhlsen Lecture Hall
Joe Genovesi is a true Omaha Jazz Legend. From the “Cats of Rhythm” in his early days to Harry Connick’s Jr.’s 1998 concert, Joe Genovesi has performed with many great entertainers including Stevie Wonder, Jack Jones, Karen Carpenter, Tom Jones, Debbie Reynolds, The Temptations, Jack Benny, Red Skelton, Jimmy Durante and Bob Hope. The list goes on. During this special performance at The Durham Museum, Joe Genovesi will perform with the Gulizia Brothers Band.
Cost of museum admission applies for Jazz JAM at The Durham and members are FREE for all performances.
Tours
Omaha Jazz Tour on Ollie the Trolley
Saturday, April 10; Saturday, April 17; and Saturday, April 24 at 10:30AM
Take a special tour of Omaha’s jazz scene on Ollie the Trolley. Discover our region’s important contributions to the development of jazz and learn about the current local jazz scene. This 90 minute tour will depart from the Stanley and Dorothy Truhlsen Lecture Hall entrance located on the lower level of the museum. Tour costs are $10 for members and $15 for non-members.
Call (402)444-5027 for email education@durhammuseum.org for reservations.
Films
See historic jazz performances and learn about several of jazz’s greatest performers at a special film series in the Mutual of Omaha Theater.
“Last of the Blue Devils” – Tuesday, April 6 at 11AM and 6PM
“Celebrating Bird: The Triumph of Charlie Parker” – Thursday, April 8 at 12PM and 2PM
“A Great Day in Harlem” – Saturday, April 10 at 2PM
“The Smithsonian Masterworks Jazz Orchestra: Live at MCG” – Sunday, April 11 at 2PM
“The Smithsonian Masterworks Jazz Orchestra: Live at MCG” – Tuesday, April 13 at 2PM
“Last of the Blue Devils” – Thursday, April 15 at 12PM and 2PM
“Wynton Marsalis: Blues and Swing” – Saturday, April 17 at 2PM
“Last of the Blue Devils” – Sunday, April 18 at 2PM
“Celebrating Bird: The Triumph of Charlie Parker” – Tuesday, April 20 at 11AM and 6PM
“A Great Day in Harlem” – Thursday, April 22 at 12PM and 2PM
“Celebrating Bird: The Triumph of Charlie Parker” – Saturday, April 24 at 2PM
“A Great Day in Harlem” – Sunday, April 25 at 3PM
“Wynton Marsalis: Blues and Swing” – Tuesday, April 27 at 11AM and 6PM
“Last of the Blue Devils” – Thursday, April 29 at 12PM and 2PM
Film Descriptions:
The Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra: Live at MCG
The Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra Live, led by Artistic and Musical Director Dr. David Baker, set out to explore, present, promote and perpetuate the historical legacy of jazz. The orchestra in-residence at the National Museum of American History celebrated "Jazz Appreciation Month" at Manchester Craftsmen's Guild in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, giving five performances that were consolidated into this exclusive DVD. Special features include song introductions by internationally famous composer, conductor, performer, author and educator, Dr. David Baker.
MCG Jazz's (Manchester Craftsman's Guild) mission is to preserve, present and promote jazz. Since 1987, MCG Jazz has promoted the artistry of this great American art form through its multiple Grammy-award winning record label and its world-renowned concert series. Now Alfred Publishing and MCG Jazz are proud to bring the MCG Jazz experience to a wider audience through this innovative series of performance and master class DVDs.
“Celebrating Bird: The Triumph of Charlie Parker” (58 minutes)
This 1987 film represents the first substantial documentary devoted to virtuoso saxophonist and bebop icon Charlie Parker, whose wildly inventive style and hip charisma made him a legend well before his untimely death at 34. Parker's huge, ultimately self-destructive appetites and sad demise long ago confirmed him as a poster boy for the doomed romanticism associated with the jazz life, and arguably apotheosized in a number of the bop era's most brilliant players, but while the film doesn't ignore Parker's life as a long-term heroin addict, the portrait hews more closely to exploring his creative genesis.
Through film clips, stills, and interviews with family members, musical peers, and writers, we follow Parker from his native Kansas City, Kansas, through his apprenticeship with band leaders Jay McShann and Bennie Moten, and on to New York.
“Last of the Blue Devils” (90 minutes)
Kansas City in the 1930s was a wild, wide-open place. Under political boss Tom Pendergast, the booze flowed freely, prostitution and gambling flourished, and the Depression pretty much passed the city by, making it an ideal spawning ground for some great music. Pianist-bandleader Count Basie, saxophone immortals Lester Young and Charlie Parker, and blues belters Big Joe Turner and Jimmy Rushing were all working there, along with a host of lesser- known but equally formidable musicians, and they all played the blues, Kansas City style.
Director Bruce Ricker's 90-minute The Last of the Blue Devils chronicles the 1979 reunion of many of these legendary players, combining interviews, vintage film footage, photos, and some inimitably swinging performances by Basie, Turner, pianist Jay McShann, and many others to create an intimate, good- natured portrait of what one old-timer calls the "cool, relaxed sound" of the city.
“Wynton Marsalis: Blues and Swing” (79 minutes)
In this full-length program, Wynton is featured in an intimate concert performance with his quartet, recorded at the Westwood Playhouse in Los Angeles. Wynton Marsalis approaches the art of jazz, both as a performer and a teacher, in the tradition of the great musicians who preceded him. He plays a vital role as the link between the past and the future. His artistry pays homage to the masters who have influenced him. These elements are woven into a unique look at this extraordinary young artist, already acknowledged by his peers and by the public as a true master.
“Great Day in Harlem” (60 minutes)
And what a day it was: nearly 60 jazz musicians, gathered on a Harlem street one morning in 1958 for what photographer Art Kane rightly, if immodestly, calls "the greatest picture of that era of musicians ever taken" (incredibly, it was also Kane's first professional shoot). Like Ken Burns's Jazz, this 60-minute documentary, an Oscar nominee in 1995, is a mixed-media affair: still photographs and 8 millimeter color footage (shot by bassist Milt Hinton and his wife) of the day itself are combined with interviews, background music, and performance clips of some of the players involved (from legends like Lester Young, Count Basie, Charles Mingus, and Thelonious Monk to lesser-knowns like Maxine Sullivan, Red Allen, and Vic Dickenson) to tell the story. There are anecdotes about 35-cent dinners, all-night jams, and film loaded upside down; about pianist Horace Silver's vegetarian diet and trumpeter Roy Eldridge's high notes; about old friends reuniting and what Hinton calls "just sheer happiness." Looking at the photo years later, Dizzy Gillespie sums it up simply: "There's a whole lotta people I like on there!"