Fabu Phillis Carter, the City of Madisonโs first African American Poet Laureate as well as a scholar and educator, and Jane Reynolds, the superb jazz pianist and retired co-host of โStrictly Jazz Soundsโ on WORT-FM, will perform their unique program โ โRemember Me: Mary Lou Williams in Poetry and Musicโ โ on Saturday, May 10th, at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. as part of the 2025 Mary Lou Williams Jazz Festival.
https://www.kennedy-center.org...
Fifteen years ago, in 2010, our community celebrated the 100th birthday of Mary Lou Williams, the legendary jazz pianist, composer, arranger, bandleader and educator who conducted a memorable residency at the UW-Madison in 1976. Under the guidance of artistic co-directors Fabu and Jane, and with assistance from the Mary Lou Williams Foundation and the Institute of Jazz Studies, our local Centennial Committee produced a diverse year-long array of concerts of Mary Lou's music and educational programs that illuminated her contributions to American music and culture, engaging more than 8,000 people in the process. One of the Centennial Celebrationโs highlights was the jazz-and-poetry program about Mary Lou that Fabu and Jane delivered at concert halls, schools, and other venues across Dane County....
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Fabu Phillis Carter, the City of Madisonโs first African American Poet Laureate as well as a scholar and educator, and Jane Reynolds, the superb jazz pianist and retired co-host of โStrictly Jazz Soundsโ on WORT-FM, will perform their unique program โ โRemember Me: Mary Lou Williams in Poetry and Musicโ โ on Saturday, May 10th, at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. as part of the 2025 Mary Lou Williams Jazz Festival.
https://www.kennedy-center.org...
Fifteen years ago, in 2010, our community celebrated the 100th birthday of Mary Lou Williams, the legendary jazz pianist, composer, arranger, bandleader and educator who conducted a memorable residency at the UW-Madison in 1976. Under the guidance of artistic co-directors Fabu and Jane, and with assistance from the Mary Lou Williams Foundation and the Institute of Jazz Studies, our local Centennial Committee produced a diverse year-long array of concerts of Mary Lou's music and educational programs that illuminated her contributions to American music and culture, engaging more than 8,000 people in the process. One of the Centennial Celebrationโs highlights was the jazz-and-poetry program about Mary Lou that Fabu and Jane delivered at concert halls, schools, and other venues across Dane County.
Since then, Fabu has dreamed of presenting her Mary Lou-inspired poetry at the Kennedy Center as part of the annual Mary Lou Williams Jazz Festival hosted by the great jazz vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater. Fortuitously, through an encounter with Ms. Bridgewater when she headlined the 2024 Madison Jazz Fest, the Kennedy Center invited Fabu and Jane to present an updated version of their jazz-and-poetry program at this year's Mary Lou Williams festival. Their performance is scheduled for Saturday, May 10th, at 6:00pm (EDT), on the Centerโs Millennium Stage, just prior to the Festivalโs final headline concerts.
Performing at the Kennedy Center is a rare opportunity for Madison-based artists, and it will be a career-capping milestone for Fabu and Jane. Not only a dream come true for Fabu, this performance will be a chance for Jane to honor her mother, a very fine pianist who gave it up to join in managing the familyโs hotel, where the Kennedys stayed while on the campaign trail in 1960. She will be there in spirit with Jane at the Kennedy Center.
https://www.artistfabu.com/
https://www.communityshares.co...
Our community members wonโt have to travel to D.C., though, to see this milestone performance by Fabu and Jane, as Cafรฉ CODA (1224 Williamson Street) will host a โwatch partyโ for the livestream of their May 10th performance, starting at 5:00pm CDT.
In addition, just prior to the livestream at 3:30pm, Cafรฉ CODA will show the great documentary film, โMary Lou Williams: The Lady Who Swings the Band."
https://itvs.org/films/mary-lo...
Both events will be free and open to the public. Bar service will be available, and attendees are welcome to bring food with them into the club.
Both film and live stream watch party are FREE events! Donations are welcome!
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