Live Music at JCAL; Upcoming Performances
Our stages are primed and ready for upcoming concerts! Check below for our next shows and stay tuned for the announcement of The Downtown Jamaica Riddim and Jazz Festival. We’re expecting a show-stopping headliner, and we can’t wait to share!
Riddim Section Presents: Chembo Corniel
April 29, 8pm
153-10 Jamaica Avenue
Join us for an exciting Riddim Section concert! On April 29, at 153-10 Jamaica Avenue, we're presenting the renowned percussionist Wilson “Chembo” Corniel.
Chembo is considered one of the best hard-hitting, versatile percussionists around. He taught percussion to students at the SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Music and at The Drummers Collective. He also leads numerous clinics throughout the United States and around the world, where he brings awareness to others of the rich Afro-Caribbean traditions.
Thursday Night Jazz Presents: Johnathan Blake
May 14, 8pm
153-10 Jamaica Avenue
Thursday Night Jazz concludes with this exciting performance!
Johnathan Blake, one of the most accomplished drummers of his generation, has also proven himself a complete and endlessly versatile musician. Blake’s gift for composition and band leading reflects years of live and studio experience across the aesthetic spectrum. Heralded by NPR Music as “the ultimate modernist,” he has collaborated with Pharoah Sanders, Ravi Coltrane, Tom Harrell, Hans Glawischnig, Avishai Cohen, Donny McCaslin, Linda May Han Oh, Jaleel Shaw, Chris Potter, Maria Schneider, Alex Sipiagin, Kris Davis and countless other distinctive voices. Down Beat once wrote, “It’s a testament to Blake’s abilities that he makes his presence felt in any context. ”A frequent presence on Blue Note records over the past several years, Blake has contributed his strong, limber pulse and airy precision to multiple leader releases from Blue Note artists including Dr. Lonnie Smith’s Breathe (2021), All in My Mind (2018) and Evolution (2016) and Kenny Barron’s Concentric Circles (2018), the latter whose trio Blake has been a vital member for nearly 15 years.
Riddim Section Presents Andre White
May 27, 8pm
153-10 Jamaica Avenue
Join us for an exciting Riddim Section concert, headlined by Andre White! Riddim Section is a monthly concert series that explores the music of the African, Caribbean, and Latin American diasporas.
Andre White’s name is synonymous with excellence in Steelpan. Whether arranging popular music for a 100-person orchestra, Composing the abundance of life-force in a jazz trio or left with the instrument alone on stage, White’s music is unmistakable in impact. It’s simple to call someone “prodigy” when they begin to teach themselves music at the age of 6; when he began playing with Long-Island based ADLIB Steel Orchestra.
Riddim Section Presents Mark Adams & The Ubiquity Band
June 24, 8pm
153-10 Jamaica Avenue
Join us for the Riddim Section Finale, headlined by Mark Adams! Riddim Section is a monthly concert series that explores the music of the African, Caribbean, and Latin American diasporas.
Adams is a composer and musical director and regularly performs throughout the U.S., Cuba, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Nigeria, South Africa, Turkey, Japan and China with jazz legend and mentor Roy Ayers (whom he calls his surrogate father). He has toured with many other renowned artists including Ron Carter, Ronnie Laws, Hugh Masekela, the late Lou Rawls, Bobbie Humphrey, Angela Bofil, Jon Lucien, Lonnie Liston Smith, LelaHathaway, Dave Valentine, Wayne Henderson and tap dance sensation, Savion Glover. He has performed with R&B artists Erika Badu, Mary J. Blige, Maysa, Bilal, Jocelyn Brown, Queen Latifa and DJ Pete Rock. Adams also debuted as on Broadway in the musical ‘Five Guys Named Moe’ and ‘The Color Purple’ and in numerous off-Broadway productions, including in Frankfort, Germany.