Blue Note Jazz Festival

Schedule:

1:30 pm: The World Famous Harlem Gospel Choirat Blue Note Jazz Club

Harlem Gospel Choir
The world-famous Harlem Gospel Choir is the most renowned gospel choir in America and a preeminent gospel choir worldwide. The Choir presents the finest singers and musicians from Harlem's Black Churches and the New York/Tri-State area. The Harlem Gospel Choir has shared its message of love and inspiration with thousands of people from various nations and cultures. The Harlem Gospel Choir's songs of gospel and inspiration will touch the depths of your soul and lift your spirit to angelic heights, with sounds that are unfettered, joyous, and inspirational.

Deeply rooted in the history of the African-American slave trade, black gospel music can be traced back to the 1700s when African slaves brought their unique African musical heritage to America and combined it with their new faith – Christianity. Out of the hardship and the trials of slavery, this unique musical tradition came to be, and forever changed music as we know it. Blues, Soul, and Rock-and-Roll…they all have origins in black gospel music. Harlem Gospel Choir presents modern gospel classics as performed in the black churches of Harlem today.

Harlem Gospel Choir have performed alongside superstars such as Bono, Diana Ross, The Gorillaz, Andre Rieu, Damon Albarn, Pharrell Williams and most recently with JamieXX, Raury, KBS Korean Traditional Music Orchestra and Lang Lang, Lou Gramm of Foreigner, Dee Snider of Twisted Sister, Sia, Yolanda Adams, The 1975, Ibeyi, Nile Rodgers, Kathy Sledge and at the 2018 Grammy Award Show with Sam Smith. They have performed for three Presidents (President Obama, President Carter and President Nelson Mandela), two Popes (Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI), Ban Ki-Moon, and the UN General Assembly. They have recorded with Keith Richards, The Chieftains, and Trace Adkins among others.

8:00 pm & 10:30 pm: Soulive at Blue Note Jazz Club

Soulive
Soulive has never made any bones about what they do best; it's right there in their name. Since forming in 1999, the trio of guitarist Eric Krasno, drummer Alan Evans and keyboardist Neal Evans has carried the torch for the soul-jazz organ trio - that venerable, funky institution pioneered by the likes of Jimmy Smith, Brother Jack McDuff and Groove Holmes in the late '60s. Rest assured, when the Evans brothers first brought Kraz by their Woodstock studio, there was plenty of old vinyl spread out on the floor.

In their 20 years together, Soulive has followed the muse in the direction of hip-hop, R&B, blues and rock, collaborating with the likes of Chaka Khan, Dave Matthews, Talib Kweli, John Scofield, Derek Trucks, Maceo Parker, Susan Tedeschi, Robert Randolph, Joshua Redman, Kenny Garrett, Fred Wesley, The Roots, Ivan Neville and so many others, even going so far as to record a full album of covers by The Beatles (Rubber Soulive). But, no matter how they push the limits of the organ trio, they always come back to their bread and butter: blistering solos and grooves that don't quit.

8:00 pm: Paula Coleat Sony Hall

Paula Cole
Paula Cole’s eleventh studio album, “Lo” is devastatingly personal and utterly gorgeous. Her first album of original compositions in five years, “Lo”’s eleven songs, written entirely by Cole, navigate her opening to trust again after indelible blows of life. As the first woman to ever be nominated for the Best Producer Grammy in her own right, Paula Cole returns to the helm of recording as sole producer. On “Lo”, her loyal bandmates of many years (musicians that are stars unto themselves) join Cole in the studio. “Lo” was recorded entirely live, featuring full band performances from Jay Bellerose (drums), Chris Bruce (guitars), Ross Gallagher (upright and electric bass, backing vocals) and Rich Hinman (pedal steel, guitars). It was recorded and mixed by nine-time Grammy-award-winning-engineer, Mike Piersante, whose unique sound is the canvas for “Lo.” The autobiographies that are the songs of “Lo”, are the newest Polaroid snapshots of Cole’s life. The focus is her most recent period of years, saying goodbye to her friend and early collaborator, Mark Hutchins, on “The Replacements & Dinosaur Jr.”, reflecting on her childhood’s psychological influence in “Follow The Moon”, her primary relationship, in which she wrestles inner demons in “Green Eyes Crying”, lays down her “Invisible Armor” to find hope, rebirth, acceptance in “Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,” and physical intimacy in “take it take it take it”. Cole faces her identity in the spine-chilling, redemptive “Wildflower”. “Lo” is a window to Paula Cole’s psyche. Continuing her social-justice writing through music, Cole’s “Lo” reveals songs “Calling All Saviors” (a catchy pop gem), and “Letter From A Quarry Miner” (written from a North American quarryman, to his European family during The Great Depression in 1932.) Cole weaves in the words of W. B. Yeats in “Golden Apples of the Sun '' while honoring Ray Bradbury in “Fahrenheit 451”. The song is a poem, touching on the concept of the anthropocene and the frightening prospect of erasing history. With her eleventh studio album, “Lo”, Cole eloquently weaves the personal with the universal, the shy with the provocative. She concludes with the uplifting “Flying Home”, an homage to Max Erhmann’s “Desiderata”. From whispering poetry in a low alto range, to opening her throat in primal scream, Paula Cole’s voice is more commanding than ever, revealing battle scars, deep wisdom, the soulfulness of gospel, the urgency of rock, and the sensitivity of folk. Cole plays piano, Rhodes, acoustic guitar, clarinet and sings her artfully arranged background-vocals. She is a poet with a funky groove. Cole has been a truth-teller, a provocateur, a feminist, a rebel, and a brilliant autobiographical writer who has pushed for personal honesty and social change. An artful weaver of genre, she is difficult to categorize - she is simply Paula Cole. From her debut “Harbinger”, in her androgynous combat boots and sensitive songs, to the everlasting hits of “This Fire”, to her genre-busting “Amen” (a neo-soul-touched tour de force) to a vibrant line of independent recordings on her own 675 Records label, she has released music for over three decades, recorded and performed with greats such as Peter Gabriel, Dolly Parton, Missy Elliot, Meshell N’Degeocello, Melissa Etheridge, Herbie Hancock, Sarah McLachlan, Terri Lyne Carrington, Emmylou Harris, Nona Hendrix, Paul Buchanan of The Blue Nile, to John Paul White and Jason Isbell. She was an instrumental force behind the historic Lilith Fair. Her songs have been covered by artists from Herbie Hancock and Annie Lennox, to Lissie, to HAIM, sampled by hip hop artists, and performed by choirs. Paula Cole has pushed buttons and boundaries, declared truths and followed her own path of iconic vision. Cole will be on tour in 2024 with concerts surrounding the release of “Lo”. Look for upcoming tour dates and announcements across Cole’s social media platforms.

Location:
- Blue Note New York – 131 West 3rd St. New York, NY 10012
- Sony Hall – 235 West 46th St. New York, NY 10036