INFORMATION FOR
The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, which continues its long history as one of the great sources of energy behind early New Orleans jazz, will perform at William Paterson University in Wayne on Thursday, March 14.
The concert, a joint presentation of the University’s spring 2024 WP Presents! series and spring 2024 Jazz Room series, begins at 8 p.m. in the Shea Center for Performing Arts on campus. The concert will be preceded by “Sittin’ In,” the Jazz Room’s accompanying “meet the artist” concert preview featuring interviews with jazz artists and guest speakers. This informal discussion, free to all Jazz Room ticketholders, begins at 7:00 p.m. in Shea Recital Hall 101.
The Jazz Room, William Paterson University’s long-running performance series, will feature a wide variety of today’s most exciting jazz musicians during the spring 2024 season. Upcoming performances include saxophonist Alexa Tarantino on April 7; trumpeter Peter Nater with the WP Latin Jazz Ensemble on April 14; a Wingspan reunion concert on April 28; and the Martin Wind All-Star Quartet with Scott Robinson, Jim McNeely, and Matt Wilson on May 5.
Named after the legendary New Orleans performance space, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band has existed since the 1960s, founded by tubist Allan Jaffe and now led by his son Ben to be a New Orleans-based band. Today, their worldwide touring continues nonstop, including the period when their home was ravaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The band was awarded the National Medal of Arts, the nation’s highest artistic award, in 2006, and received the NAACP Image Award in 2013. They have recorded over 20 albums, and bring the infectious joy of their New Orleans swing wherever they go.
Tickets are $57 for Gold Circle, $53 for orchestra/front loge, and $47 for rear loge. Tickets are an additional $5 if purchased on show day. For tickets or additional information, visit wp-presents.org, or contact the Shea Center Box Office at 973.720.2371 or boxoffice@wpunj.edu.
William Paterson University’s Jazz Room series is the longest-running program of its kind in the United States. Launched in 1978, the Jazz Room has welcomed more than 500 jazz legends to the stage, including Sonny Rollins, Wynton Marsalis, Wayne Shorter, Joe Williams, Marian McPartland, Slide Hampton, Kenny Burrell, Joe Lovano, Kenny Garrett, Clark Terry, Michael and Randy Brecker, the Vanguard Orchestra, and more. Concerts have encompassed the entire spectrum of jazz, from early jazz and swing to avant garde, and from intimate solo performances to big bands.
The performance series provides support for the University’s internationally renowned Jazz Studies Program, founded in 1973, which recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. The program draws students from across the United States and abroad under the current direction of Grammy Award-winning pianist Bill Charlap.
The Jazz Room at William Paterson University has been made possible, in part, by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts.
