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The concert is an innovative presentation of jazz, gospel, fusion and soul that gives honor to the jazz vocalists who were the architects in building African-American music, American music generally, national identity and international representation.
These women, called "the grandmothers," hold this position genealogically, generationally, historically, culturally and artistically.
Jazz vocalist Maya Cunningham created this tribute to the vocalists of yesteryear by putting together an exciting montage of live music interwoven with documentary film footage. She will be backed by a full 12-piece band of New York City’s most exciting and colorful musicians, along with three soulful Southern belle background vocalists from Cunningham’s native Washington, D.C.
Instrumentalists include Motema Recording artist Jaimeo Brown on drums, with proclaimed pianist Joel Weiskopf and pianist/producer Noble Jolley as musical director.
As a visual accompaniment, an exhibition of quilts and other artwork that commemorate the beauty, life stories and lessons learned from “grandmothers” like Sarah Vaughan, Maya Angelou, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, Shirley Caesar, Dinah Washington and others.
The Grandmother Project is a production of Themba Arts and Culture, an imprint of Little Lights Arts. The concert is made possible, in part, by an Arts Alive grant from ArtsWestchester to Little Lights Arts.
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