Jazz at Lincoln Center’s annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival is one of the most innovative jazz education events in the world. Each year, high school musicians from across North America travel to New York City to spend three days immersed in workshops, jam sessions, rehearsals, and performances. The Competition & Festival is the culmination of the yearlong Essentially Ellington program, during which participating bands are invited to submit a recording and 15 finalists are selected through a rigorous screening process.

The Juilliard School has been a destination for world-class music education since its founding, and these incredible young musicians will exemplify that legacy at Dizzy’s. The Juilliard Jazz Orchestra features some of the world’s most talented emerging jazz artists, many of whom are already professional musicians, and they are taught by some of today’s most active, innovative, and respected jazz musicians.

With pianist Nate Sparks.

With pianist Nate Sparks.

The Terraza Big Band is an 18-piece big band that plays an ever-expanding repertoire of jazz and Latin jazz. Normally based in Queens, the band is venturing into the heart of the city tonight to celebrate the release of its debut album, One Day Wonder.

Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell, and more built up a new style called BeBop, bringing a new rhythmic vitality and virtuosity to the music.

One of the world’s premier jazz pianists, Bill Charlap has performed and recorded with modern masters ranging from Phil Woods and Wynton Marsalis to Tony Bennett and Barbra Streisand. Since 1997 he has led the Grammy Award-nominated Bill Charlap Trio with bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington, long recognized as a leading group in jazz. Veterans of all the top jazz venues, including, this trio is exemplary for its jaw-dropping level of chemistry and on-the-fly interactivity, made possible by both technical chops and hard-earned experience.

Comedy vs Cancer is a one-night-only comedy variety show benefiting blood cancer research at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. This star-studded event will feature performances by Tina Fey, Jon Glaser, Nick Kroll, Jason Mantzoukas, Seth Meyers, John Mulaney and Jaboukie Young-White to take the stage in the fight against blood cancers. These heavy hitters will put on a show to remember. So don’t miss this very special night of humor and hope that will help Memorial Sloan Kettering outwit cancer. Together we’ll make a meaningful impact on the lives of patients and their families.

With vibraphone Simon Moullier, bassist Luca Alemanno, and drummer Jongkuk Kim.

With effortless charm, a swinging band, and a roster of special guest vocalists, Michael Feinsteinand the Tedd Firth Big Band set a glamorous scene in The Appel Room. Tonight’s performance focuses on quintessential crooners Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, and Bobby Darin, whose velvety voices and sentimental serenades made them superstars on stage and on screen. Relive classics like “When I Fall In Love” and “It Had To Be You,” and enjoy incredible true stories about these legends.

Alexander, the author of The Jazz of Physics, and Ogbunu—both professors at Brown University—on the creative origins of life and the universe.

Joey DeFrancesco—arguably the greatest jazz organist alive—joins the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra for the first time. The expansive Hammond organ is rarely paired with a big band, but it adds a soulful new dimension when the musicians are up to the challenge. DeFrancesco and the JLCO will explore and expand upon two prime examples: Duke Ellington’s New Orleans Suite and Oliver Nelson’s unique take on Peter & The Wolf.

Founded in 1993 by John C. McNeur, The Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of New York is committed to fostering a community of talented young musicians from Long Island and providing them with an opportunity to rehearse and perform choral and orchestral masterworks with recognized leaders in music education and performance. 

Founded in 1993 by John C. McNeur, The Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of New York is committed to fostering a community of talented young musicians from Long Island and providing them with an opportunity to rehearse and perform choral and orchestral masterworks with recognized leaders in music education and performance.   

The Berklee Global Jazz Institute (BGJI) is a program designed to foster creativity and musicianship through interconnected teaching and thinking, with the inimitable Danilo Pérez as its artistic director. The current edition of the band will perform tonight with special guest saxophonist Melissa Aldana, a renowned bandleader and fierce soloist who’s in constant demand among today’s top musicians.

As the 1940s gave way to the 1950s, Jazz developed many new offshoot styles. Join us as we explore these many styles, and the innovators who created them.

With trombonist Sam Chess.

In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the astronomical observations confirming Albert Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity, Light Falls traces the breakthrough moments, agonizing frustrations and final emergence into the light as one of history’s most intrepid minds took on the universe. And won.

A selection of some of the greatest improvisations in jazz lore, chosen by the course curator and host—and course participants.