March is Women’s History Month which is a month to celebrate the remarkable women in history who have used the utmost limits of their naturally remarkable power to showcase their extraordinary talents.
On March 10, 2018 from 2PM to 3:30PM at the Roosevelt Public Library located at 27 W Fulton Avenue in Roosevelt, NY, I am excited to bring to you, “And Then There Were the Ladies of Jazz” which is a jazz show dedicated to some of the greatest women of jazz to ever share their talents with the world. This show will celebrate the lives of the first lady of song, Ella Fitzgerald, the pathos and tone of Billie Holiday, the operatic voice of the Divine One, Sarah Vaughan and the amazingly talented, Carmen McRae with music hosted by Stephanie Jeannot and her Jazz Quartet with special guest performances by JAzz E Matt, Dalthannette Munlin and Stacey Haughton, just to name a few.
These phenomenal women of jazz were newsmakers of their day. They tokenized the genre of vocal jazz with their memorable voices that just simply melted into the masses. They had global influence with their contributions to the culture.
For me, every time I listen to them strike a note, their voices generate happiness and heal my heart in scission, every time I listen to them sing. They embody the actual skill of what jazz singing is all about.
And while the tremendous struggle for equality was being fought, they were making progress by forcing a shift of mindset and helping to change legal, unjust and immoral Jim Crow establishments; many of which integrated so that these women would be allowed to showcase their talents at these establishments, becoming ambassadors of acceptance of people of color as human beings and creating a sense of belonging in places where blacks originally were not before.
Each, in their own way, showcased virtuosic musicianship and impacted the future with their influence that seemed to resonate in the hearts and spirits of multitudes of people across cultures. With this is mind, "And Then There Were the Ladies of Jazz" will feature meaningful moments in celebration of these women who transformed the world with their technical prowess. This show will focus on the profiles of these remarkable innovators who showed their strengths to the world not only as people of color but as women.
