Jon Batiste and Stay Human performing at Casino Theatre
In celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Newport Jazz Festival on International Jazz Day, a concert by Jon Batiste and Stay Human will be presented at the Casino Theatre. Sponsored by the Newport Festivals Foundation and Salve Regina’s Department of Music, Theatre and Dance, the concert is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 30.
Batiste and Stay Human will kick off International Jazz Day with a morning performance for students from Pell Elementary School and Thompson Middle School. In the afternoon, the band will present a workshop for jazz combos from Rhode Island high schools. The morning and afternoon sessions are being facilitated in collaboration with Alan Bernstein, supervisor of the arts for the Newport Public Schools.
The celebration culminates with the evening performance. All tickets are general admission and are priced at $25 for adults. Students with ID and ages 18 and under are free. Proceeds will benefit education programs of Newport Festivals Foundation. For information and reservations, call (401) 341-2295. Online registration has closed but tickets will be available at the box office.
Deeply rooted in the musical traditions of his native New Orleans, where he grew up playing with his family’s well-known band, pianist/harmonaboardist Batiste has developed a uniquely current, uplifting and playful brand of jazz that integrates his classical Juilliard training with contemporary mainstream sounds.
He tours around the world with his band, Stay Human – saxophonist Eddie Barbash, tuba player Ibanda Ruhumbika and percussionist Joe Saylor. Their mission is to bring the joy of jazz to the masses, transforming each space they play by breaking down the barriers between audience and performer, and inviting people to experience music as they never thought it could be played. Stay Human’s first studio album, “Social Music,” was released in October 2013.
