NEW YORK, NY, May 10, 2023 — The Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation (LAEF) and WBGO’s Kids Jazz Concert Series present the multi-Grammy nominated Bobby Sanabria MULTIVERSE Big Band, featuring Janis Siegel, Antoinette Montague and Jennifer Jade Ledesna, in a Latin jazz tribute to Louis Armstrong in association with Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture at Hostos Community College, 450 Grand Concourse at 149th Street in the Bronx, on Sunday, June 4, 1:00-2:00 pm. The concert is free and open to the public. Adults must be accompanied by at least one child. Advance reservations are required via EventBrite Click here.

“We’re elated to share WBGO’s most important community engagement initiative with LAEF,” said Steven Williams, President/CEO, WBGO. “This is an eagerly anticipated opportunity to connect with young people, many of whom will be hearing Jazz for the first time. And, of course, any discovery and discussion of Jazz with children or their parents must include Louis Armstrong.” 

“The Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation is carrying on the mandate of Louis and Lucille Armstrong to support music education, especially for kids,” said Jackie Harris, Executive Director, LAEF. “This collaboration is significant because WBGO, LAEF and the Bronx Music Heritage Center are in the business of preserving Jazz. We sincerely thank Hostos for opening their doors for this special concert. It is important that youngsters of all ages have access to Jazz music performances in and outside of their neighborhoods.”

Hailed as one of the most influential and popular musicians in modern music, trumpeter Louis Armstrong (1901-71) rose out of poverty in New Orleans, and became, in the words of music and cultural critic Albert Murray, “the Prometheus of jazz,” as the genre’s first major soloist and vocalist, who invented scat-singing. Growing up in the Crescent City, Armstrong heard music from the Caribbean — especially Cuba — and was greatly influenced by the exceptional Cuban trumpeter Manuel Perez of the Onward Brass Band. In 1930, Armstrong’s recording of the Cuban standard  "El Manisero (The Peanut Vendor)” sold a million copies and was a precursor to the birth of modern Latin jazz in the 1940’s by bebop pioneer Dizzy Gillespie, arranger/ trumpeter Mario Bauza and percussionist Chano Pozo.

The Bobby Sanabria MULTIVERSE Big Band will rhythmically retrace the African footprints of Latin jazz, from The Big Apple to the Big Easy, back to Armstrong, who lived much of his adult years in Queens, New York. On that dancing afternoon in the Bronx, they will gather together, as Armstrong would say “in the cause of happiness.”

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ABOUT THE PRESENTERS:

 

The Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation, Inc. (LAEF) was founded and funded by Louis and Lucille Armstrong in 1969 to give back to the world “some of the goodness he received.” The mission of the organization is to preserve and promote the cultural legacy of Louis Armstrong by fostering programs, lectures, and other educational events to assist those interested, gifted and talented in the field of music, primarily jazz. Today the Foundation is a major source of funding for programs to expose and educate adults and children in the history of American jazz and has provided solid financial support to institutions across the nation. https://louisarmstrongfoundation.org

WBGO is a non-profit, publicly funded arts and cultural institution, dedicated to the curation, presentation, and preservation of music created out of the African American experience. We are committed to providing our community with independently produced music programming and journalism for the purpose of public enrichment, entertainment, and insight. The WBGO Kids Jazz Concert Series brings world-renowned jazz musicians to concert halls and venues throughout New York and New Jersey. These concerts give young listeners the chance to discover the enjoyment of jazz, improvisation, and musical collaboration. https://www.wbgo.org

About Hostos Community College/Center for the Arts & Culture

Hostos Community College has been an educational agent for change, transforming and improving the quality of life, intellectual growth and socioeconomic mobility in the South Bronx and neighboring communities since 1968. The college is part of CUNY, the nation’s leading urban public university serving more than 480,000 students at 24 colleges. The Hostos Center for the Arts & Culture consists of an art gallery, a 367-seat Repertory Theater, and a 900-seat Main Theater. It is easily accessible from Queens and New Jersey and is just 15 minutes by subway from midtown Manhattan. https://www.hostos.cuny.edu/ www.hostoscenter.org

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LAEF Contact: Carolyn McClair PR, (212) 721-3341 info@CarolynMcClairPR.com

WBGO Contact: Brandy Wood (973) 624-8880 bwood@wbgo.org