"Jazz And The Philharmonic" is a one-of-a-kind concert project conceived by music producer and impresario Larry Rosen featuring a star-studded roster of award-winning jazz and classical artists performing iconic compositions by legendary composers. This historic event is a collaboration of four major national arts organizations--the National YoungArts Foundation, which identifies and mentors the nation’s most outstanding young artists; the University of Miami’s Phillip and Patricia Frost School of Music, home of the Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra; the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County, one of the country’s leading performing arts presenters; and JAZZ ROOTS: A Larry Rosen Jazz Series.
The all- star concert event was presented and filmed at the 2,000-seat John S. and James L. Knight Concert Hall at the Adrienne Arsht Center on January 11, 2013. The "Jazz And The Philharmonic" recorded program produced by Rosen, and executive produced by the National YoungArts Foundation, will be broadcast nationally on PBS TV stations in 2014, and will be released internationally on CD/DVD and digitally by SONY Masterworks’ OKeh Records on February 25, 2014.
The program features 10-time GRAMMY® Award-winning vocalist and YoungArts Master Teacher Bobby McFerrin; 20-time GRAMMY® award-winning virtuoso pianist Chick Corea; 12-time GRAMMY® and Oscar-winning pianist/composer Dave Grusin; five-time GRAMMY® Award-winning and YoungArts alumnus trumpeter Terence Blanchard who is also the artistic director for the Henry Mancini Institute.
In addition, the program features two-time GRAMMY award winning violinist Mark O’Connor, whose career has been based on the intersection of classical music and American folk music; Met opera star and YoungArts alumnus Eric Owens; classical pianist and YoungArts alumna Elizabeth Joy Roe; choreographer, dancer and YoungArts alumnus Desmond Richardson; three-time GRAMMY® Award-nominated Frost School of Music Dean, Music Director, pianist, arranger and YoungArts Master Teacher Shelly Berg; and the Frost School of Music’s acclaimed Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra, conducted by resident conductor Scott Flavin.
Two years in the making from concept to broadcast, the project harkens back to seventy years ago when producer and impresario Norman Granz expanded the scope of the jazz audience from clubs to classical concert halls, staging an all-star jazz concert at the Philharmonic Auditorium in Los Angeles. The July 1944 show marked the first Jazz at the Philharmonic concert that grew into an institution with Granz assembling internationally touring ensembles for the next four decades. In February 2014 this project will expand on the concept by bringing together world-class artists, composers, arrangers, and a full size philharmonic orchestra to audiences around the planet.
The CD/DVD and PBS Network special was shot in HD and mixed in Dolby 5.1 surround sound. Audio recording was supervised by 15-time GRAMMY® Award-winning engineer/producer the late Phil Ramone who passed away shortly after the recording of this project. The program is dedicated to the memory of Phil Ramone.
