2024/25 Symphony Center Presents Jazz Brochure

SYMPHONY CENTER PRESENTS

Vibrant and intimate evenings with the biggest names in jazz.

At Symphony Center, it’s not just a concert.

It’s a glimpse into the past, present and future of jazz.

The 2024/25 Season of Symphony Center Presents Jazz celebrates an enduring spirit of musical innovation and explores the genre’s influences throughout its history — from the early days of ragtime and the Great American Songbook to funk and Afro-Latin rhythms. Featuring a lineup of extraordinary musicians, composers and creators spanning three generations, each concert pays homage to jazz’s illustrious past while illuminating its evolution across the globe.

“ARE YOU READY FOR SOME GOOD MUSICAL CONVERSATION?”

DEE DEE BRIDGEWATER

SUBSCRIPTION SERIES OVERVIEW

JAZZ A

Save 30%

The only way to guarantee the best seats and the best prices for all eight concerts!

JAZZ A1

NOV 22

JAN 24

APR 4

MAY 9

Save 20%

Jason Moran and the Harlem Hellfighters

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis

Hiromi’s Sonicwonder

Brandee Younger Trio

Eliane Elias

Edmar Castañeda: Family

JAZZ A2

OCT 25

FEB 21

MAR 21

JUNE 13

Save 20%

Charles Lloyd Quartet

Legacy of Wayne Shorter featuring Pérez, Patitucci, Blade & Turner

Cécile McLorin Salvant

Bill Charlap Trio with special guests

Dee Dee Bridgewater & Nicholas Payton

Oscar Peterson’s Africa Suite

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Choose a curated series that best fits your musical tastes.

Visit cso.org/subscribe to purchase your series online.

Add the concerts to your calendar and get ready to delight in the surprise of Friday night jazz at Symphony Center.

“Music of total transport and delight” jazzwise

Experience an evening highlighting two of jazz’s pioneering saxophonists and composers. Bringing his lifetime of genre-blending and experimentation to the stage, Charles Lloyd’s performances “perfectly represent the idea that the best jazz needs to be experienced live” (The New York Times). Danilo Pérez, John Patitucci and Brian Blade, the three remaining members of Wayne Shorter’s legendary quartet, are joined by special guest Mark Turner to honor Shorter’s pivotal contributions to jazz through their interpretations of his compositions.

“The most provocative thinker in current jazz” rolling stone

Jason Moran, “a startlingly gifted pianist with a relentless thirst for experimentation” (Los Angeles Times), shares his multimedia tribute to James Reese Europe. As a bandleader, composer, organizer for Black musicians and World War I hero, Europe helped lay the groundwork for jazz in the early 20th century. Moran uses his distinct interpretational and compositional voice to connect Europe’s signature syncopated sound to the jazz legends who followed and the music of today.

Jason Moran piano

Tarus Mateen bass Nasheet Waits drums

“The greatest large jazz ensemble working today ” chicago tribune

Led by Wynton Marsalis — “truly a living legend as a trumpeter, composer, educator, producer, artistic director and arts advocate” (NPR) — the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra returns to Symphony Center.

By drawing on the genre’s history and performing the vast catalogs of artists like Count Basie, Duke Ellington and Dizzy Gillespie, the ensemble works to ensure jazz lives long into the future.

“Without a doubt, her generation’s most accomplished jazz vocalist”

angela y. davis

Revealing the connections between vaudeville, blues, jazz, baroque and traditional folk music, singer and composer Cécile McLorin Salvant bridges the gap between our musical past and contemporary world. Featuring imaginative interpretations of standards and original works, “her live shows are absolutely electric, full of drama, invention and commitment to the music” (BBC Radio 3).

Pianist Bill Charlap and his trio — known for its masterful interpretations of the Great American Songbook in styles ranging from rollicking stride piano to bebop virtuosity and harmonically opulent modernism — are joined by Dee Dee Bridgewater and Nicholas Payton. Bridgewater puts her unique spin on those standards and takes leaps of faith in reimagining jazz classics, while trumpet player and multi-instrumentalist Payton honors the tradition of what he terms “postmodern New Orleans music.”

“Well-crafted songs and a fierce commitment to authentic performance” the new yorker

Bill Charlap piano

Dee Dee Bridgewater vocals

Nicholas Payton trumpet

“A maximal sound that brings crowds to their feet” the guardian

With her new quartet, Japanese pianist and composer Hiromi taps into her funky side, exploring the avant-garde worlds of video game soundtracks and pioneering jazz-fusion albums like Herbie Hancock’s Head Hunters. It is “a showcase of Hiromi’s virtuosic dexterity across two keyboards and a grand piano — it’s a celebration of pure musical joy” (NPR). Harpist Brandee Younger and her trio open the program, paying homage to jazz harp pioneers Dorothy Ashby and Alice Coltrane.

“Her vibrancy is a force unto itself” downbeat

Grammy-winning pianist, singer and Brazilian superstar Eliane Elias “sings like an angel, plays like the devil and is renowned for the sumptuous sparkling eloquence she brings to jazz” (Icon Magazine). She seamlessly intertwines straight-ahead jazz and Afro-Latin rhythms like samba and bossa nova. Colombian-born jazz harpist Edmar Castañeda performs original compositions and interpretations of traditional Colombian songs from his album Family — nominated for a Latin Grammy in the Best Latin Jazz Album category.

HONORING THE LEGACIES OF OSCAR PETERSON AND NELSON MANDELA

John Clayton conductor

Benny Green piano

Christian McBride bass

Lewis Nash drums

Russell Malone guitar

Chicago Jazz Orchestra

In a rare live performance, Oscar Peterson’s Africa Suite is presented by an all-star ensemble including his protégé Benny Green and led by legendary composer and arranger John Clayton. The suite, inspired in part by Nelson Mandela and the intense struggle for human rights in apartheid South Africa, accentuates Peterson’s “technically brilliant and melodically inventive” (All About Jazz) style and reverence for social justice activism.

 Flexible, free ticket exchanges

You can exchange your tickets into any other concert at any time.

 15% savings on additional concert tickets

Subscriber savings extend to any concert at Symphony Center!

 Exclusive parking rates at nearby garages

 Invitations to special events

 DownBeat subscription

Subscribers to any SCP Jazz series will receive a FREE one-year subscription to DownBeat. Get in-depth coverage of the international jazz scene from Chicago’s own DownBeat!

 50% off at Jazz Showcase

Get 50% off at Jazz Showcase on SCP Jazz concert nights when you show your ticket stub or subscriber ID at the door.

 and so much more!

Visit cso.org/rewards to learn more about your subscriber rewards.

DINE AT SYMPHONY CENTER

Located at 65 E. Adams St., Symphony Center’s restaurant, Forte, offers seamless preconcert dining as well as a bar menu. Featuring Mediterranean-influenced cuisine, classic cocktails, global wines, draft beer, locally roasted coffee and gelato, Forte is the perfect on-site spot to enjoy a meal, beverage or snack before a performance.

In addition, The Richard & Helen Thomas Club, located on the ninth floor of Symphony Center, offers a seasonal prix fixe menu on select dates, bringing ticket holders a delightful dining experience with a spectacular view of Lake Michigan.

Make your concert experience even smoother by preordering your drinks at one of the various bars scattered throughout Symphony Center. This ensures a hassle-free intermission, allowing you to enjoy your choice of drink without the inconvenience of waiting in line.

From the calm ambiance of its lobby bars to the delectable offerings of Mediterranean sit-down dining, the Symphony Center experience is tailored to be a feast for the senses.

View menus and operating hours or make a reservation at cso.org/dining

CURATED SERIES PRICES

To lock in the best prices of the season and the best subscriber perks, order a curated series today.

Can’t find a curated series that works for you or want the ability to mix and match concerts across different series? Create Your Own!

Save 15% by choosing any three or more concerts that work best for your schedule, taste and budget. Visit cso.org/cyo to get started.

All

30, 2024, and are subject to change based on demand after that date. 2U-Upper Balcony and 2G-Gallery are partial view. Seating is subject to availability at the time of sale. Terrace subscription seats may be relocated if a concert involves a screen. Box Level CYO and add-on savings are 5%; savings are applied to standard prices at the time of order, which can increase based on demand. All artists, programs, dates and times are subject to change.

JAN 25 Additional program!

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis

The always-swinging Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra delivers a 21stcentury take on the classic big-band sound. Led by trumpeter Wynton Marsalis — one of the most famous jazz musicians alive — this “virtuoso ensemble fluent in multiple jazz languages” (Chicago Tribune) performs everything from rare historic compositions to newly commissioned works.

FEB 28

Pink Martini featuring China Forbes: 30th Anniversary Tour

Celebrating 30 years, Pink Martini has taken audiences around the world, sashaying between French café music, Brazilian sambas, Cuban rumbas and a dash of jazz. Featuring the multilingual vocals of China Forbes, the ensemble from Portland, Oregon, presents a mixture of recent songs and vintage favorites.

MAY 31

An American Suite

Chicago Symphony Orchestra

James Gaffigan CONDUCTOR

Janai Brugger SOPRANO

DVOŘÁK American Suite

BERNSTEIN Three Dance Episodes from On the Town

GERSHWIN Summertime from Porgy and Bess

GERSHWIN My Man’s Gone Now from Porgy and Bess

GERSHWIN An American in Paris

BERNSTEIN Overture to Candide

Dvořák’s radiant salute to the New World kicks off an American road trip with James Gaffigan at the wheel. Take in poignant selections from Gershwin’s landmark opera — sung by Janai Brugger — and the composer’s urbane and nostalgic love letter to Paris. A pair of symphonic showstoppers by Bernstein transports audiences to “New York, New York” and beyond.