Jazz Icons

The Jazz Icons series at Trinity Church presents free Sunday afternoon concerts featuring brilliant, world-renowned practitioners of the jazz tradition. A joint effort between Trinity and JAZZ HOUSE NYC, these concerts are curated by eight time Grammy Award-winning bassist and Jazz House Artistic Director Christian McBride, as well as JAZZ HOUSE KiDS founder and jazz vocalist Melissa Walker. Past performances have featured the legendary double bassist Ron Carter, influential Afro-Cuban pianist Chucho Valdés Trio, and the celebrated jazz pianist Monty Alexander.

Trinity Church’s popular Jazz at One series offers free midday concerts from luminaries like Samara Joy, Billy Hart, and Roy Hargrove.

Learn about upcoming performances below and enjoy recordings of iconic past performances.

Event

October 7, 2024, 1:00 pm

Don’t miss Lance Bryant, a legendary vocalist, saxophonist, and composer, and his 16-piece band, Shout! A long-time collaborator with South African great Abdullah Ibrahim (the pianist known for his anti-apartheid anthem Mannenberg), Bryant presents his own healing, empowering brand of jazz.

This season’s Jazz at One, Long Walk to Freedom, is inspired by Nelson Mandela and the 30th anniversary of South African democracy. Presented in collaboration with JAZZ HOUSE KiDS.

Event

October 13, 2024, 3:00 pm

Award-winning pianist Billy Childs and his Billy Childs Trio open the Jazz Icons series. Widely recognized for his original compositions and arrangements, Childs garnered a 2013 Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship (2009), 17 Grammy nominations, and six Grammy awards. As a pianist, he has performed with Freddie Hubbard, J.J. Johnson, Yo-Yo Ma, Sting, Renee Fleming, Chick Corea, Wynton Marsalis, and many others. The Los Angeles Times praised Childs’s “improvisatory skills and powerful sense of swing.”

Event

October 14, 2024, 1:00 pm

Hear a jazz quartet helmed by classically trained pianist and composer Helen Sung, a Guggenheim Fellow and winner of the Kennedy Center’s Mary Lou Williams Jazz Piano Competition. Sung graduated from the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance and has worked with such luminaries as Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter, Wynton Marsalis, MacArthur Fellow Regina Carter, the late Clark Terry, and Grammy winners Terri Lyne Carrington and Cecile McLorin Salvant.

This season’s Jazz at One, Long Walk to Freedom, is inspired by Nelson Mandela and the 30th anniversary of South African democracy. Presented in collaboration with JAZZ HOUSE KiDS.

MusicSeptember 30, 2024

Jazz at One: Vuyo Sotashe

Award-winning South African jazz vocalist Vuyo Sotashe opens the Jazz at One season. He has performed at Jazz at Lincoln Center and was one of the first male singers to place in the prestigious Thelonious Monk Institute International Jazz Vocal competition.

This season’s Jazz at One, Long Walk to Freedom, is inspired by Nelson Mandela and the 30th anniversary of South African democracy. Presented in collaboration with JAZZ HOUSE KiDS.

MusicJuly 21, 2024

Jazz Evensong with Theodicy Jazz Collective

Join us for a special jazz evensong featuring Theodicy Jazz Collective and members of The Choir of Trinity Wall Street. Bringing together sounds from jazz and gospel and rhythms from Latin America and Africa, the collective’s music is a shout for joy, a cry for hope, a call to action — and a constant prayer.

MusicMay 5, 2024

Jazz Icons: Chucho Valdés Trio

Cuban pianist, composer, and arranger Chucho Valdés is the most influential figure in modern Afro-Cuban jazz. He is perhaps best known for helming iconic Cuban ensemble Irakere (1973–2005). In a career spanning more than 60 years, Valdés has distilled elements of the Afro-Cuban music tradition, jazz, classical music, rock, and more into a deeply personal style. He is joined by bassist Jose Armando Gola and percussionist Roberto Vizcaíno Jr. for what is sure to be a transcendent performance. The concert is presented in collaboration with JAZZ HOUSE KiDS.