Thursday, March 25th at 7 pm

jazz and justice: a performance and panel on artists and activism

Where do the Black experience and the Jewish experience overlap?

In a passion for Jazz and Justice.

Join Ahavas Sholom, NJPAC, and the Rutgers-Newark Institute for Jazz Studies, on Thursday, March 25th at 7 pm, for the premiere performance of The Jazz and Justice Suite, a new work celebrating the activism and artistry of both communities.

To register to attend this free Zoom performance and discussion click here.

The new piece was written and arranged by Oren Neiman and David Freeman for this event.

It will be performed, in the Ahavas Sholom sanctuary, by SHA’AR, a New York-based group of Jewish jazz musicians (including Neiman and Freeman).

SHA’AR will be joined by saxophonist, and NJPAC’s Director of Jazz Instruction, Mark Gross.

To Read about the Jazz and Justice Suite click here.

Then, take part in a multifaceted Zoom discussion of the role of faith, music, and activism in both the Black and Jewish communities over the decades.

To register to attend this free Zoom performance and discussion click here.

In particular, the conversation will serve as a tribute to the Jazz and People’s Movement, a protest effort founded in 1970 by musician and activist Rahsaan Roland Kirk whose efforts focused, in part, on ensuring that jazz would be performed in mainstream venues.

Speakers will include activists of that era and today’s Black Lives Matter movement, as well as jazz historians. They will talk about how the struggle for social justice, and the role music plays in that effort, has changed over the years, but still blends the hope for change with the sounds of “Black classical music.”

The panel includes Rahsaan Roland Kirk’s widow, Dorthaan Kirk, Newark’s “First Lady of Jazz,” Wayne Winborne, Executive Director of the Institute of Jazz Studies, Rutgers University, Ambrose Akinmusire, Jazz trumpeter and Blue Note recording artist, Melvin Gibbs, bassist, producer, and author, Mark Davis, co-founder of the Jazz and People’s Movement, and Chivona Newsome, co-founder of Black Lives Matter of Greater New York.

To register to attend this free Zoom performance and discussion click here.