Big Band Holiday Concert Stops in Wickenburg
The world-renowned Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra brings its “Big Band Holidays” concert to the Del E. Webb Center for the Performing Arts in Wickenburg on Monday, Dec. 9 at 7:30 p.m. As part of a limited 9-city U.S. tour, this performance offers fresh, swinging arrangements of Christmas classics and features vocals from aspiring ingénue Ekep Nkwelle and Arizona native Robbie Lee.
Based in New York City, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO) is comprised of 15 of the finest jazz soloists and ensemble players today. It has been the resident orchestra at Lincoln Center’s Fredrick P. Rose Hall since 1988 and is featured in all of the venue’s programming. This remarkably versatile orchestra performs and leads educational events in New York, across the U.S. and around the globe.
Through the financial underwriting of the Schweitzer Family Foundation, the ensemble will be offering a free student performance for invited, local fourth through eighth grade students on Tuesday, Dec. 10. The orchestra will present holiday favorites alongside arrangements of jazz standards by Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Goodman, and many others.
The guest vocalists for this year’s “Big Band Holidays” tour are Ekep Nkwelle and Robbie Lee. Ekep Nkwelle, a 24-year-old Cameroonian-American jazz vocalist, has carved her musical path from the vibrant streets of Washington, DC, to the heart of New York City’s jazz scene. Her journey through the esteemed Duke Ellington School of the Arts, Howard University, and The Juilliard School has been extraordinary. With personal ties to the Wickenburg community, Tucson-born Robbie Lee is a pianist, vocalist, composer and educator whose spectacular ability to blend his equal talents makes him one of the most exciting, contemporary emerging artists.
The evening will feature soulful renditions of holiday classics, playful improvisation and entertaining storytelling. Enjoyed by audiences of all ages, this uplifting performance creates lasting memories that will make JLCO a part of your family’s holiday tradition for years to come.
Tickets for Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra’s “Big Band Holidays” start at $45 for adults and $5 for youth ages 18 and younger. Tickets are available online at webbcenter.org/ or by calling the Webb Center Box Office at 928.684.6624. To learn more about the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, visit jazz.org
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