Christian McBride, Jazz House Kids Artistic Director and acclaimed jazz bassist, is set to grace the stage with a one-off performance alongside rock icon Sting on Wednesday, Feb. 28, as part of the non-profit's annual fundraiser event.
This show also serves as a reunion for the duo of acclaimed musicians after working together for the past 20-some years on projects like Sting's "All This Time" and "Sacred Love" records, in which McBride is credited as a sideman.
The fundraiser, where the 8-time Grammy-winning jazz artist will also serve as the emcee, will be held at the Ralph Pucci International's luxury furniture design gallery in Manhattan and is also set to feature the student musicians from Jazz House Kids.
As the name suggests, the "Ralph Pucci 8th Annual Jazz Set" event will mark eight years of collaboration between the art gallery and the non-profit in a joint effort to help educate and nurture the community's new generation of passionate artists.
More information on the event can be found here.
The Brilliant Minds Behind Jazz House Kids' Two Decades of Impact
Founded in 2002 by jazz vocalist Melissa Walker, the performance non-profit organization has helped over 50,000 kids realize the depth of their musical potential across its two-decade-long existence through multi-leveled instrumental and vocal lessons offered every week.
Walker's husband, McBride, later joined JHK as an artistic director, contributing to the inauguration of the non-profit's first iteration of its annual jazz master class called "Inside the Jazz Note" back in 2008.
For years and years, JHK was the sole community arts group in Montclair, New Jersey where it was founded, however, it eventually branched out to New York last year with the same mission of providing quality music education through exposure to jazz's transformative "powers."
"Jazz harnesses empathy, it harnesses creativity, improvisation," Walker told CBS News in an interview. "Quite frankly, I think jazz really harnesses the things that kids need in the 21st century."
In December last year, the non-profit also enjoyed a sizeable $25,000 donation from the company Wing Drone Delivery, during Walker and McBride's appearance at the Kelly Clarkson Show.
There, the show's titular host praised JHK for their endeavors that are "clearly changing lives."
This is apparent in how Jazz House and its pupils have amassed over 150 awards from numerous prestigious bodies, alongside the fact that many of its alumni are now recognized as premiere musical talent and leaders in the musical industry.
"Jazz is a perfect balance of the head and the heart, and in order to learn this music properly, you have to have listening skills," McBride explained to Clarkson. "You have to understand the concept of teamwork, and when you understand [teamwork] you understand empathy."
"Those three things together not only make you a really great musician, they make you a great human being and global citizen," he added.
