Vince Giordano & the Nighthawks are headlining an evening of hot New York and French jazz in Central Park on July 1
Rumsey Playfield, Central Park
Enter at 72nd St. & Fifth Ave.
Saturday, July 1, free, 6:00 – 10:00 pm
www.cityparksfoundation.org
Paris and New York City come together for the special jazz, swing, and ragtime show “The Bridge,” a SummerStage event presented by the French Mission du Centenaire of WWI, the Cultural Services of the French Embassy, and the New York Hot Jazz Festival. The headliner is the hardest working man in jazz, Vince Giordano, the subject of the recent documentary There’s a Future in the Past; Giordano will be leading his amazing band, the Nighthawks, with guest appearances by Catherine Russell, Kat Edmonson, Nicolle Rochelle, and DeWitt Fleming Jr., performing “From Harlem to Montmarte: The Jazz Age Voyage.” The four-hour show also features the New York City-based Avalon Jazz Band, with vocalist Tatiana Eva-Marie and guest guitarist Stephane Wremble performing “Do You Zazou? The Swing Kids of Wartime Paris”; California-born New Orleans chanteuse Aurora Nealand & the Royal Roses performing “Sidney Bechet: The Paris Years”; and French orchestra Ensemble Matheus, with opera singer Natalie Dessay, conducted by Jean-Christophe Spinosi. Doors open at 5:00 for what should be one truly hot show, which commemorates WWI and the cultural alliance between the United States and France.