Here’s the Lineup for the Art Is All Around Lunchtime Concert Series

This week, the Downtown Alliance is kicking off a free lunchtime concert series that, each Wednesday, will bring six weeks of groovy sounds to 200 Water St. and Cortlandt Way.

The weekly concert series is part of the Alliance’s Art Is All Around campaign, which features public art that can be enjoyed throughout the neighborhood. Programmed by esteemed New York musician and producer Svetlana Shmulyian, the noontime performances seek to capture the neighborhood’s energy and delight the lunchtime crowd with a mix of some of the city’s most exciting jazz and blues musicians. 

See below for the performance schedule.

May 17: Alphonso Horne and His Gotham Kings @ 200 Water St.

Gotham Kings is a high-energy immersive experience! Two-time Grammy nominated trumpeter Alphonso Horne has put together an all-star band that weaves the sounds of New Orleans, funk, jazz, and hip-hop and uplifts every room they play. 

Gotham Kings uses the virtuosity of the young Louis Armstrong and innovative genius of King Oliver to take you on a journey through rags, stomps and shouts! 

May 24: Charles Turner & Uptown Swing @ Cortlandt Way

Charles Turner & Uptown Swing delivers the spirit of Harlem across the globe. The band extends music from the swing era to the present with songs from as early as the 1920s to original compositions written for today. 

Rooted in the traditions of jazz, swing and the blues, Charles Turner and Uptown Swing brings fresh new energy to the performance – aided by a swing dance demonstration to further engage with the audience. Bring your dancing shoes!  

May 31: Christopher McBride & the Whole Proof @ 200 Water St.

Born in Chicago and now living in New York, musician Christopher McBride’s resume is extensive in jazz, hip-hop, R&B, rock and beyond. He is also the director of education for the Second Line Arts Collective and was selected as 18th Street Arts Center’s 2022 Make Jazz Fellow. He has worked as a journalist and consultant with Forbes Ignite. Most recently he was a featured soloist as well as contributor on the Grammy-winning album “Generation Gap Jazz Orchestra” by Steven Feifke and Bijon Watson.

Christopher McBride & the Whole Proof is a jazz experience that explores the African American landscape from a wide variety of genres. Featuring original jazz compositions by McBride, the band infuses influences from the African diaspora, R&B, hip-hop, gospel, Latin music and soul. The Whole Proof retains a strong rooting in straightforward swing to create a feelgood concoction that keeps people dancing in (and sometimes out of) their seats.

June 7: Svetlana & the New York Collective @ Cortlandt Way

Svetlana is an award-winning, chart-topping vocalist, composer and educator whose sound blends breezy swing feel, lucid tone, and captivating performance style. Her performances have been covered by NY1, Wall Street Journal, PopMatters and WPIX11 as “energetic,” “upper echelon of joy” and “exuberant, foot-stompin’ music that combines swing with pop-singer/songwriter sensibilities.” Svetlana’s latest record, “Night at the Movies,” debuted at #1 on Billboard’s U.S. Traditional Jazz Album Charts.

Hailed as “NYC darlings” by Time Out NY, Svetlana’s New York Collective is an award-winning ensemble on a mission to uplift, energize and spread the joy of jazz. The ensemble headlined sold-out engagements in renown venues nationally and internationally and received multiple awards (from chamber music America, new music USA, south arts). Their performances is a joyful carnival of sound featuring tap dancing as a way to experience the exuberance of jazz music.   

June 14: Kalí Rodríguez-Peña’s Mélange @ 200 Water St.

A native of Cuba and now residing in NYC, Kali Rodriguez Peña’s Afro-Cuban jazz Experience mixes Afro-Cuban-based rhythms with jazz harmonies and techniques of improvisation. Aided by dance demonstrations, Kalí Rodríguez-Peña’s Mélange engages with audiences through movement, as listeners move and groove to the engaging rhythms from this exciting ensemble.

Rodríguez-Peña is joined by saxophonist Kazemde George, pianist Gabriel Chakarji , bassist Raul Reyes, drummer Zack O’Farrill  and percussionist Victor Pablo García. Mélange was founded in 2015 by Rodríguez-Peña and released its first album in March 2022.

June 21: Willerm Delisfort Project @ Cortlandt Way

The musical career of Willerm Delisfort ranges on a continuum of musical styles from jazz, gospel, R&B and more. A native of Little Haiti, Miami, the pianist and composer now resides in Harlem and continues his musical endeavors around the world. Delisfort’s versatility has created a high demand for him among prominent jazz, rap, soul and fusion artists, including 2009 Best World Guitarist Fareed Haque and Grammy-winning artists T-Pain and Lauryn Hill. 

A recipient of the Northern Illinois University Liberace Scholarship, Delsifort has performed at over 100 festivals and shared the stage with artists such as Javon Jackson, Jimmy Heath, Pharez Whitted, Bobby Broom, Calvin Newborne and Corey Wilkes.

photo: iStock