UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — In the 10th webisode of the free virtual discussion series “Meeting the Moment,” trombonist and bandleader Delfeayo Marsalis will drop some jazz knowledge on host Michael Mwenso.
The prerecorded discussion will be available to watch beginning at noon Monday, Dec. 6, and will stream on demand until noon Friday, Dec. 10. The event is free, but registration is required. Visit “Meeting the Moment with Michael Mwenso” for more information.
A grant from the University Park Student Fee Board helps make the program free of charge.
“Meeting the Moment” is part of the Center for the Performing Arts Fierce Urgency Festival, the center’s commitment to celebrating Black artists and sharing their stories, with a theme this season of “Hope-Resist-Heal.”
Marsalis was born into the iconic New Orleans jazz family, and he founded Uptown Jazz Orchestra to celebrate and enhance the traditional jazz repertoire. He said he was inspired by his brother, Mboya, who is autistic, to form the offshoot Uptown Jazz Orchestra Theatre, a nonprofit group that empowers youth via educational programming.
While he is celebrated for his technical excellence and loyalty to the genre, Marsalis also is known for producing albums for jazz royalty including Branford and Wynton Marsalis and Harry Connick Jr.
“My primary style is to capture the acoustic sound so that when you’re listening, you feel like we’re in your living room, not a studio,” he said.
Marsalis and his Uptown Jazz Orchestra appeared in a live virtual event in 2020 as part of the Center for the Performing Arts “Up Close and Virtual” series to celebrate the release of “Jazz Party.”
As curator and events programmer at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Mwenso has shared the stage with Cécile McLorin Salvant, Jon Batiste, Aaron Diehl, Sullivan Fortner and Jamison Ross. He also leads the jazz-funk ensemble Mwenso and The Shakes. Mwenso will bring his band back to Eisenhower for a live performance on March 23.
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