Every year, March is designated Women’s History Month by presidential proclamation. The month is set aside to honor women’s contributions in American history. Three distinctive styles from different generations bring their own stylistic vocals to Dizzy’s and Rose Hall that build on the legendary styles of Alberta Hunter, Adelaide Hall, Big Maybelle, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, and Dakota Staton.
The singer, composer, and playwright Somi returns to Dizzy’s on March 6-8 for her second installment of “The Mother Africa Salon,” continuing her season-long look at how African sound, story, and tradition flow through jazz. Her three-night musical journey will feature her unique storytelling of original music that is a blend of her African heritage and bright rhythms that capture her experiences as a Harlem resident and touring the world. She calls her sound “new African jazz.” Her able musicians will include pianist/keyboardist Toru Dodo, bassist Ben Williams, and drummer Harvel Nakundi.
Somi’s “The Mother Africa Salon” debuted in September and will turn the page of its last chapter this June, finishing a meaningful setting where her effortless musicianship connects the ancestral sounds of Africa to American culture.
Somi’s final performance on International Women’s Day is a meaningful setting for a non-conformist song-stylist who follows the tradition of her innovative ancestors such as Abbey Lincoln, Miriam Makeba, and Nina Simone. For reservations, visit jazz.org.
Georgia Heers is the latest young jazz vocalist to keep your ears peeled for, and following her rising stardom wherever it takes you. She appears on March 10 at Dizzy’s for one night only, two shows at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. She will be joined by her young, inventive band with pianist William Hill III, bassist Russell Hall, and drummer Jimmy Macbride.
At such an early stage in her career, she is effortlessly taking well-traveled standards down her own path of improvised harmonies with twists and turns, creating her own musical stamp. She’s developing a vibrant scat that will grow stronger and hipper as time swings by. For reservations, visit jazz.org.
March 12-14, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s African journey continues with “African Routes: Danilo Pérez & Godwin Louis” with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. Joined by Grammy Award–winning vocalist Catherine Russell, spoken word artist Yvette Modestin, and master percussionist Weedie Braimah.
Be ready for an evening of Transatlantic music from Afro-Caribbean, Latin, and West African traditions rooted in Pérez’s Panamanian heritage and Louis’s Haitian roots and travels, weaving sound, story, and movement into a living exchange of culture and memory.
Two new commissions will get their debut: Grammy Award-winning Panamanian pianist Danilo Pérez’s “The Panáfrica Suite: Echoes from the Isthmus,” and saxophonist Godwin Louis’ “African Roots, Diasporic Routes: Benin, Kongo, and the Music of the Americas.” For tickets, visit jazz.org.
The Savoy Ballroom was the pride of Harlem, where death defyin,’ acrobatic flyin’ lindy-hoppers ruled, where the famous Savoy lindy-hopper Frank Manning earned his dance reputation that allowed him to tour the world. It was the great ballroom where drummer Chick Webb and his orchestra, featuring Ella Fitzgerald, were the hippest big band on the scene.
The Savoy Ballroom, “the home of happy feet,” celebrates its centennial with events running from March 12–14 (the doors originally opened on March 12, 1926). On March 14, Savoy 100 Harlem swings out at 12 noon at the Harlem Hospital (506 Lenox Avenue and 135th Street). The day includes film clips, a special guest panel, and mini dance lessons. Later in the afternoon, stay for Ladies Night with vocalist Antoinette Montague Experience, screening of “Queen of Swing,” and much much more!
For a complete schedule, call 347-709-7022. For more info, visit eventbrite.com, blacklindyhoppersfund.org, theharlemswingdancesociety.org, and jmih.org.
As we segue from Black History Month into Women’s History Month, it should be recognized that both month-long celebrations started out as an annual one-week event. Black History Week was created in 1926 by historian, author, and journalist Carter G. Woodson and the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History.
Woodson insisted that the teaching of Black History was essential to ensure the physical and intellectual survival of Blacks within broader society. His basic concept is now being challenged by the current administration, making every effort to erase, demolish, or dismiss this critical Black History by any means they see fit.
A half-century elapsed before President Gerald Ford took the responsibility to recognize Black History Month in 1976, during the celebration of the United States Bicentennial.
Women’s History Month began as a local celebration in Santa Rosa, California. The Education Task Force of Sonoma County (California) Commission on the Status of Women planned and executed a “Women’s History Week” celebration in 1978. The organizers selected the week of March 8 to correspond with International Women’s Day.
President Jimmy Carter issued the first proclamation declaring the week of March 8 as National Women’s History Week in 1980, urging Americans to honor women like Sojourner Truth, Susan B. Anthony, and Harriet Tubman. In 1987, the U.S. Congress officially designated March as Women’s History Month.