Jazz at Lincoln Center brings 50 years of music to Indiana University with 'Songs We Love'

Only one thing has caused embarrassment lately for famous trumpeter and bandleader Riley Mulkerhar: parallel parking in Brooklyn, New York. "It never goes well," he said. Hopefully he won't have the same problem while he's in Bloomington.

He's the musical director and trumpeter for Jazz at Lincoln Center's "Songs We Love," which comes to the Indiana University Auditorium Feb. 20.

What's in the 'Songs We Love' show

The audience will hear singing and playing from 50 years of music. Early jazz and blues from the1920s will lead up to the early 1950s. Greats, including Ma Rainey, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland, will be represented by singers and this world-renowned orchestra of rising stars, lead by Mulkerhar.

Praise for the bandleader

The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and NPR Music may not have mentioned Mulkerhar's parking, but they have lauded his musical work. No wonder that in 2020 he won a Lincoln Center’s Emerging Artist Award for being “an original bandleader, composer, arranger, educator, community activist and advocate for jazz and the arts.”

"Indiana University has one of the strongest music programs in the country," Mulkerhar said, "so it's an honor to get to share our music with the students and the community at large."

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Making music with major music stars hasn't impaired Mulherkar's personality. "My style is to get out of the way as much as possible. To let the singers have all the space they need to be comfortable, and to give the instrumentalists the freedom to get off the page and improvise with each other."

Wynton Marsalis, Anna Deavere Smith and Alan Cumming, among others, have worked with Mulherkar. He's also a founding member of The Westerlies, a new music brass quartet making sound that is “folk-like and composerly, lovely and intellectually rigorous” (NPR Music).

The group has nearly 50 tour stops. Some are for kids.

"How we play for kindergarteners is no different than how we play for adults, although I admit I do jump around the stage a bit more for the kids. But only because I wouldn't want to overwhelm the adults with my excitement at playing jazz!"

Jazz is dance music, for all

"Jazz is like salad. There are so many different dressings to choose that if you don't like one you probably just haven't found the right one. At its core, jazz is a dance music that is meant to uplift and share joy."

Ma Rainey, known as the Mother of the Blues, is inspiration for part of the show. Her singing and style epitomize blues' force "as a vehicle to overcome adversity and lift our collective spirit. She teaches us to never shy away from being ourselves, and to use the voice we have to tell our own story."

Although jazz is Black American music, there's plenty of room, Mulkerhar said, for non-Blacks. "... with deep roots in the history and lineage of African Americans in this country, from Congo Square through the Great Migration to the Harlem Renaissance. However, the history of the music has always been radically inclusive, and many of the creators and innovators of this music have been white. Just look at singers like Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland and Chet Baker, to name a few."

Vocalists are Brianna Thomas, Shenel Johns and Vuyo Sotashe

The youngest person to be inducted into Peoria’s African-American Hall of Fame, at the age of 13, Brianna Thomas earned her first trophy at age 8. Soon, she was singing at lavish events and as a guest on local radio stations, eventually touring Europe with the Peoria Jazz All-Stars.

Shenel Johns is a stand-out in her generation. Having earned a bachelor of arts degree in music management from the Jackie McLean Institute at Connecticut's Hartt School of Music, she has studied with jazz stars, including Rene McLean, Jimmy Greene and Nat Reeves. She has worked with Curtis Fuller, Hank Jones, Dionne Warwick and Sheila Jordan.

Vuyo Sotashe is a South African jazz vocalist who moved to New York City in 2013 after winning the Fulbright Scholarship to complete a master of music degree at New Jersey's William Paterson University. He won first prize at the first Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival Vocal Competition in 2014, and performed on the festival's main stage in February of 2015.

With guidance by managing and artistic director Wynton Marsalis, chairman Clarence Otis and executive director Greg Scholl, Jazz at Lincoln Center produces thousands of events every year in its home, New York City, and internationally.

If you go

WHAT: Jazz at Lincoln Center Presents "Songs We Love," to celebrate 50 years of jazz hits with some of New York's rising stars.

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Feb. 20

WHERE: Indiana University Auditorium, 1211 E. Seventh St.

TICKETS: $14-$53 at https://bit.ly/3la3ALg

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Jazz at Lincoln Center performs 'Songs We Love' at IU Auditorium