UCSB Arts & Lectures will present Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 4 at The Granada Theatre in Santa Barbara. The event is part of the 2021-22 Creating Hope programming initiative.
International jazz ambassador, nine-time Grammy winner and Pulitzer Prize recipient Wynton Marsalis returns with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO), comprising 15 of the nation’s finest soloists, ensemble players and arrangers.
The orchestra performs a wide-ranging repertoire from original compositions to rare historic pieces and masterworks by jazz greats including Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, and Dizzy Gillespie. The JLCO has been the Jazz at Lincoln Center resident orchestra since 1988, performing and leading educational events in New York, across the U.S. and worldwide.
Alongside symphony orchestras, ballet troupes, local students and an expanding roster of guest artists, the JLCO has toured some 300 cities across six continents. Guest conductors have included Benny Carter, John Lewis, Jimmy Heath, Chico O’Farrill, Ray Santos, Paquito D’Rivera, Jon Faddis, Robert Sadin, David Berger, Gerald Wilson and Loren Schoenberg.
The JLCO has been voted best Big Band in the annual DownBeat Readers’ Poll from 2013–2016.
In 2015, Jazz at Lincoln Center announced the launch of Blue Engine Records, a new platform to make its archive of recorded concerts available to jazz audiences everywhere. The first release from Blue Engine Records, “Live in Cuba,” was recorded on a historic 2010 trip to Havana by the JLCO and was released in October 2015.
“Big Band Holidays” was released in December 2015, “The Abyssinian Mass” came out in March 2016, “The Music of John Lewis” was released in March 2017, and the JLCO’s “Handful of Keys” came out 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.
As part of Arts & Lectures Arts Adventures, Jazz at Lincoln Center with Wynton Marsalis will perform a virtual assembly for Santa Barbara County students from its Jazz for Young People program titled What Does Jazz Mean? at 9:30 a.m. Friday, Feb. 4. The presentation will be live-streamed from The Granada Theatre.
In light of the current surge of COVID-19 cases, A&L’s Arts Adventures are currently being presented virtually.
A&L launched the Arts Adventures program in 2016-17, transporting 1,500 school children from local and neighboring districts to Santa Barbara’s Granada Theatre to witness live performances from visiting artists and speakers. The programs are presented at no cost to participating schools.
The inaugural event was with astronaut Captain Scott Kelly, who inspired students from grades four-six with stories and photos from life on the International Space Station. Previous Arts Adventures have featured National Geographic wildlife photographer Joel Sartore, dance companies Pilobolus and Dance Theatre of Harlem, and Grammy-winning musicians La Santa Cecilia.
See A&L’s full 2022 lineup here. Learn more about the Creating Hope initiative at https://artsandlectures.ucsb.edu/CreatingHope.aspx.
Tickets for Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis are $46 -$131, general public; free for UCSB students with a current student ID. For tickets and more information, call UCSB Arts & Lectures, 805-893-3535 or visit www.ArtsAndLectures.UCSB.edu.
Lead sponsor: Jody & John Arnhold; Event Sponsor: Audrey & Timothy O. Fisher. UCSB Arts & Lectures acknowledges its Community Partners the Natalie Orfalea Foundation & Lou Buglioli for their support of the 2021-22 season.