Photography by James George©                                             

Jazz Ain’t Dead® 20ll Spring Season
Live Jazz Music and Dance Entertainment ReLoaded!

With Special Guests:

Mo Beasley
(Actor/Writer/Poet)

Maurice Chestnut
(Tap Dancer) 

& Free Wine Bar! 

 
@Joyce SoHo
155 Mercer Street, NYC

Thursday – Sunday, March 24 -27

Performances are presented by Jazz Ain’t Dead® in association with Joyce SoHo.

Complete Online Program Schedule:
www.JazzAintDead.com/JoyceSoho.aspx

Tickets on Sale Now!  Click Here for Tickets. 

New York - Jazz Ain't Dead®, a young urban Jazz music and dance collective known for taking classical jazz standards and re-imagining them into house, acid jazz, funk, and soul music will be performing their 2011 Spring season with two hot programs of exhilarating live music, singers, and dancers, at Joyce SoHo, 155 Mercer Street, in six shows, Thursday through Sunday, March 24 - 27.

For the Joyce SoHo season 2011, Jazz Ain't Dead® will perform new music and classics revived as well as selections from their tribute concert, Jazz Ain’t Dead Celebrating the Legacy of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess.  Jazz Ain’t Dead takes the score of Gershwin’s hit opera, Porgy and Bess and re-imagines the music into young urban jazz inspired by house, funk, acid jazz, and soul.  Danced music includes Summertime as jazzy burlesque with original spoken word by special guest, Mo Beasley, Ain’t Necessary Soul as acid house, My Man’s Gone Now as a sexy acid jazz lounge, A Woman is a Sometime Thing performed as an old time juke joint boogie down funk, I Got Plenty of Nuttin’ as a rip roaring "dancing horn players" feature, Bess, You is My Woman Now as urban jazz, I Loves You Porgy as a spoken word and blues number, and our signature favorite, Summertime House JAD Style, a New Orleans inspired music and dance jam session to the driving rhythm of house.

The JAD Lounge will feature funky new arrangements of classics like Whatever Lola Wants and My Funny Valentine, along with Nu-Jazz and/or contemporary jazz renditions of music by Esperanza Spalding, Teena Marie, Michael Jackson, Led Zeppelin and hot spoken word by the UrbanErotika headmaster himself, Mo Beasley.  Both productions feature live music, dancers, singers, and a live DJ.

Tickets are $22 for adults and $15 for students and seniors.  Tickets can be purchased online at joyce.org, via phone at 212-242-0800 or in person at The Joyce Theater at 175 Eighth Avenue at 19^th Street Mon-Sun, 12 noon – 6pm.  A free wine bar will be open to patrons with tickets.

Tickets on Sale Now!  Click Here for Tickets. 

Jazz Ain’t Dead® is produced by Candice Michelle Franklin for DIP & Associates and co-produced by Nyck Henry for Rhythm Lounge Entertainment with live musical direction by Lafayette Harris, choreography by Candice Michelle Franklin, and principal music arrangements by Chris Rob.

For more information about Jazz Ain’t Dead shows, JAD dancers, JAD musicians, and the entire JAD company, please visit the website at www.JazzAintDead.com or call 212-426-1305.  To see a video sample of our new show, Jazz Ain't Dead Celebrating the Legacy of Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, please click this YouTube link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_uX3RqhUfQ

Please note:  Joyce SoHo’s onsite box office is only open one half-hour prior to performance time to sell tickets exclusively for that performance.  On days when there are performances, The Joyce’s box office is open through curtain time, but advance sales stop one hour prior to curtain time (including matinee curtains.)  The Joyce’s box office is closed on major holidays.

For Complete Online Program Schedule:
www.JazzAintDead.com/JoyceSoho.aspx

Jazz Ain't Dead®
Produced by Candice Michelle Franklin and Nyck Henry, Jazz Ain't Dead is a young urban jazz music and dance collective that performs house, funk, and soul songs with an urban jazz sensibility.  Featuring live dancers, singers, musicians, and live DJ, Jazz Ain't Dead's signature sound is taking popular classical jazz standards and reigniting them into house, acid jazz, funk, and soul.  Jazz Ain’t Dead® has performed at the Apollo, the Iridium Jazz Club, the Bowery Poetry Club, DNA, Jordan’s Lounge, Sage Theater, The Player’s Club, Rush Arts Gallery, Therapy Bar, Happy Endings, and other live music clubs as well as numerous private events and galas.  Jazz Ain’t Dead® also partners with UrbanErotika, lending musicians and dancers for their monthly “UrbanErotika Juke Joint” series, performing choreographed features with poets and live music as well as organic/non-choreographed, completely improvised jam sessions for both dancer and musician.  In addition, Jazz Ain’t Dead® shares it’s love of dance with the community by teaching the art of Jazz dance to elementary school-aged children through Ready, Set, Learn, LLC, a summer day camp and after school program providing free to low- cost activities to children living in the Bronx Housing projects of New York City.  In the future, Jazz Ain’t Dead® hopes to extend our commitment to the Ready, Set, Learn programs by providing music lessons as well.  Jazz Ain’t Dead’s principle music arrangements are composed by Chris Rob, musical arranger for John Legend and Kanye West among others.  Additional music arrangements are by jazz pianist, Lenny Underwood (Whitney Houston, Madonna, Common, Faith Evans), Donald Hayes (Beyonce, Usher, Chaka Kahn, Stevie Wonder), and Marcus Bell/Bellringer Productions (Def Jam, Interscope, Warner Brothers, MCA, Sony, Virgin Records, Arista), with Mansa Gory (Horn Arrangements for JAD), and Jo Pham (Engineering). Choreographer for Jazz Ain’t Dead® is Candice Michelle Franklin (SHAKTI, BLACK TAXI, BRASCO, MACY GRAY).  Musical Director for Jazz Ain’t Dead® is Lafayette Harris (Bring in da Noise, Bring in da Funk, Color Purple).

About the Artists/Production Team:

Candice Michelle Franklin (Conceiver, Producer, Artistic Production Director, Choreographer)
Candice Michelle Franklin is a professional dancer, choreographer, and producer who has been seen in numerous Film, TV shows, music videos, industrials, and, of course, on the live stage performing in plays and dance companies.  She owns Dance Industrial Professionals, Inc./The Pro DANZ Group in which she oversees the dance and creative direction of several performance groups, industrials, and stage shows. Her choreography has been seen at DNA, Sage Theater, Joyce SoHo, Harry du Jour Playhouse, The Player’s Club, Chernuchin Theater (ATA), Cherry Lane Theater, Toronto International Dance Festival, Tribeca Performing Arts Center, 14 Street Y, Theater of the Riverside Church, Peridance, Highline Ballroom, Liberty National Golf, and various casinos including Borgata, Tropicana, Mohegan Sun, Turning Stone, Trump, and Caesars. Recently this past year, she can be seen in the films Step Up 3D and A New York Thing, the music video “One Day” for Matisyahu (Sony/Epic BMG Records), the television show, Law & Order Criminal Intent (featured scene with Jeff Goldbloom), the commercial, DJ Hero (Activision), with Jay-Z, and as stand-in for Zoe Kravitz (Yelling to the Sky) and Janet Jackson (Tyler Perry’s For Colored Girls). She is also a principal star on the reality show, M.A.D.E. NY performing as “Jazz, the Choreographer,” which is shooting throughout this Spring and will air in the Fall 2011.   Currently, she works as the producer and choreographer for Jazz Ain't Dead®, and as choreographer for CEG Productions LLC, and a number of independent recording artists as well as the internationally celebrated Bollywood Hip hop artist, SHAKTI (as choreographer and live stage show Creative Director), the rapper, BRASCO, rock bands Buffalo Stance and Black Taxi, and Grammy award winning recording artist, Macy Gray.  Miss Franklin is a member of SAG and is professionally represented by DDO Artists New York City.

Nyck Henry (Co-producer/Music Supervisor)
NYCK Henry, a native New Yorker, has been in the music industry for more than 25 years.   Born in Harlem Hospital, Mr. Henry started studying classical piano as a young boy and by the tender age of 7 years old, performed at New York's prestigious Carnegie Hall.  Later, he moved to the West coast to study at Santa Monica College.   While in LA, he discovered his love for being a DJ and took the LA club scene by storm.  In 1982, he landed his first studio session with Lamont Dozier, a music writer for Motown.  He then joined, KACE Radio in Los Angeles, was voted the Number One DJ in LA and was later credited as being THE FIRST person to ever do remixes on the radio.  In 1996, he opened his own production company called Rhythm Lounge Entertainment for theatrical and club events fusing music, dance, and the arts.  Since then, his company has worked with such notables as Stevie Wonder, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and Chaka Kahn and has produced theatrical productions performed at Theater for the New City, the Producer's Club, Theatre of the Riverside Church, and the Tribeca Performing Arts Center in addition to international club venues in London, Paris, the Virgin Islands, and Cyprus, Greece.

Lafayette Harris (Jazz Piano, Live Music Director)
Known as the “go to” pianist by other musicians and band leaders, Mr. Harris has performed with the Duke Ellington Legacy Orchestra, toured for seven years with Max Roach, and has worked with Al Grey, John Gordon, Slide Hampton, Curtis Fuller, Roswell Rudd, Chico Freeman, and Cindy Blackman, Allan Harris and many others. Lafayette’s two most recent albums are “IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT,” a contemporary funk/fusion project, which was released in 2006 and most recently “TRIO TALK,” a jazz trio outing featuring Winard Harper and Dwayne Dolphin. His breakthrough gig was as a conductor and keyboardist for the smash hit, Bring In 'Da Noise, Bring In 'Da Funk. Harris has since been involved with more Broadway shows including The Full Monty, Ride Down Mt. Morgan, Kat And The Kings, and The Color Purple. Mr. Harris currently tours Europe and the U.S. with four time Grammy nominee-Ernestine Anderson.

Chris Rob (Keys, Principal Music Arranger)
Hailing from Chicago, Illinois, classically trained pianist/multi-instrumentalist, Chris Rob, has worked in the music industry with the best in popular music.  He served as musical director, keyboardist, and back-up vocalist for R & B singer John Legend on his Grammy-Award winning "Get Lifted Tour", and can be seen highlighted throughout the John Legend: Live at The House of Blues DVD.  Chris Rob and his seven-piece backing band, Vicious Keys, were tapped to perform with Stevie Wonder for President Barack Obama’s inauguration festivities.  Chris Rob has also worked closely in the studio with hip-hop heavyweights Lauryn Hill and Kanye West, as well as producers Swiss Beatz, DJ Spinna (Stevie Wonder), Devo Springsteen (Britney Spears), Emile, and soul vocalist, Leon Ware, the legendary co-writer for Marvin Gaye as well as in stage direction for classic hip hop artists Pete Rock, CL Smooth, and Black Moon.  His most recent efforts include Kanye West’s “Can’t Tell Me Nothin,” Legend's single “Stereo,” The Polyrhythm Addict's “Ugly World,” DJ Spinna's remix of the late James Brown's forthcoming release “Gutbucket,” and a dance single, “Found Myself” with co-writer and producer DJ Ian Friday.   His stage credits as a backing musician and opening act include:  Stevie Wonder, Prince & the New Power Generation, Elton John, Snoop Dogg, John Mayer, Ashford & Simpson, Jill Scott, The Black Eyed Peas, Alicia Keys, Anthony Hamilton, Cee-lo, Barry Manilow, Roberta Flack, Common, The Polyrhythm Addicts, and Michelle N'degeocello.  Chris Rob has also appeared on the VH1 Hip Hop Honors, Last Comic Standing Season Finale,  2006 Grammy Awards, Oprah, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and The Ellen Degeneres Show.  

Donald Hayes (Music Arranger)
Over the past 15 years Donald Hayes has become one of the most sought-after musicians and arrangers with credits extending to almost every genre of music.  Hayes has played or recorded with artists including; Earth, Wind & Fire, Stevie Wonder, Beyonce, Usher, Maya, Brandy, Philip Bailey, Justin Timberlake, Jessica Simpson, James Brown, Jamie Foxx, Black Eye Peas, Dave Hollister, Tank, Chaka Kahn, Wayman Tisdale, Andre Crouch, Deborah Cox, and Queen Latifah.  He is also the first call saxophonist for most gospel artist including Yolanda Adams, Kirk Franklin, Fred Hammond, John P. Kee and the late Rev. James Moore.  Moreover, Hayes has scored two feature films as well as arranged for Detrick Haddon, West Angeles COGIC Mass Choir, BeBe Winans, and Beverly Crawford.  Mr. Hayes has been nominated for both a Stellar Award and a Dove Award.  He was also nominated this year for a Stellar Award for his arrangement of Beverly Crawford's "He's Done Enough" in the category of “Song of the Year.”  Hayes’ repertoire of mastered instruments includes the woodwind family, piano, bass and drums.

Mo Beasley (Writer/Poet, Special Guest Performer)
Mo Beasley aka The HeadMaster  is a poet/actor, author, and educator.  Dubbed as The Head Coach of Erotika, he founded  New York City’s longest running erotic performance series, UrbanErotika. This award-winning poet has been featured at the legendary Nuyorican Poets Café, The Blue Note, Bowery Poetry Club, Joe’s Pub, erotic reading series:  Rachel Kramer Bussel’s In the Flesh and Abiola Abrams’s Kiss & Tell Live.   Mo made his debut as a playwright with his critically acclaimed play "No Good Nigga Bluez” (which premiered at the NY International Fringe Festival in 2003 to sold out audiences).  The book version of the play, released by Scripted Linguistics (2004), is Beasley’s first published work.  His second is “Be a Father to Your Child” (Soft Skull Press, 2008), a groundbreaking anthology on fatherhood and hip-hop.  Mo’s one-man show, You A Man Now? premiered at Passage Theatre’s Solo Flights Festival (2009) in Trenton, NJ.   Mo’s work has not escaped the attention of the media. He has been interviewed by Rev. Al Sharpton, hip hop legend Chuck D, and has been quoted, profiled, or featured in New York Newsday, Amsterdam News, rolling out UrbanStyle Weekly, NRG, KISS FM (NYC), XM Satellite Radio, New York 1 News and several other local and national media.  In 2006, The New York Daily News selected Mo as one of "50 Unsung New York Heroes."   When not at the mic, Beasley teaches poetry & spoken word, theatre, and sexuality education courses/workshops to youth and adults throughout New York City.  His current and past clients include Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), Children’s Aid Society, Medgar Evers College, NYC Department of Education, Berkeley College, Planned Parenthood, and more. 

The creation of Joyce SoHo was made possible by the magnanimous support of the LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust.  Joyce SoHo is supported by private funds from the Alphawood Foundation, Bloomberg, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, First Republic Bank, Fund for the City of New York, The Harkness Foundation for Dance, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The New York Community Trust, Open Society Foundations, The Jerome Robbins Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation and The Shubert Foundation; and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council; the New York State Council on the Arts, celebrating 50 years of building strong, creative communities in New York State’s 62 counties; and the National Endowment for the Arts. Special support for Joyce SoHo has been provided by the Foundation for Contemporary Arts.