Jazz at Lincoln Center To Open a World-Class Jazz Complex
September 1st 2004
by Andrew Lienhard
[NOTE: this article is a reprint of an article I wrote for the Mexican Travel Magazine "Travesias" in the summer of 2004]
New York City may be the center of the jazz universe, but for the casual visitor that universe is not easily found. Jazz remains an insider’s secret, tucked away in Brooklyn lofts, West Village basements and bars in Harlem. But that’s about to change. Jazz venues, once a ubiquitous attraction in Manhattan, will regain a great deal of lost ground with the fall debut of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Fredrick P. Rose Hall, a 100,000 square foot jazz mega-center across from Central Park.
Rose Hall fits neatly inside the new 1.2 billion dollar Time Warner Center. Located on Columbus Circle, Time Warner’s 750 foot twin towers beckon those venturing into the Lincoln Center and The Upper West Side. The 52-storey glass towers can also be seen from the southern end of Central Park and throughout midtown. The Center includes a five-star hotel, The Mandarin Oriental (whose 251 rooms start at $595/night), luxury condominiums (a bitter rival for Trump’s Hotel and Tower across the street), and a tony four-level shopping center.
Donald Trump was apparently so miffed about the new center’s proximity to his Trump Tower, that he hung several one storey high banners atop his building to taunt prospective tenants. The signs read, “Your views aren’t so good, are they? We have the real Central Park views and address. Best Wishes, ‘The Donald.’”
None of this rivalry should faze the new jazz complex though. Located on the sixth floor and accessible from the mall, two of its three venues offer panoramic views of the Park and the Manhattan skyline. Consistent with jazz itself, a theme of intimacy is threaded into every room. One of Argentinean architect Rafael Vinoly’s design goals was to better connect the audience to the performer, rather than emphasize their separation as is typical of most music venues. He adds “We need to understand clearly that jazz is not attached to the same ceremonial aspects as are some of the other forms of the performing arts.”
The hall’s largest room, The Rose Theatre, seats up to 1200 patrons and is suitable for large jazz ensembles or even symphonies. Yet, it still adheres to this principle of intimacy with its small audience chamber – the distance from the stage to the uppermost tier is only 80 feet – and clever layout which includes a theater-in-the-round option.
The Allen Room, at 300-600 seats (depending on the performance configuration), is modeled after a Greek Amphitheatre with tiered platforms and a 50-foot high glass wall overlooking Central Park. The stunning view serves as backdrop behind the stage. There’s also a dance area, should the music so move its audience.
The cozier, though poorly named, Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola is the smallest room at 140 seats. The venue is modeled after a traditional jazz club and offers views of the Manhattan skyline. The rest of Rose Hall’s enormous space is dedicated to an educational facility and an impressive multi-media installation on the history of jazz.
Besides its scale and beauty, Rose Hall is further distinguished as being the world’s first performing arts center built expressly for jazz. Wynton Marsalis, Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center and the project’s champion, couldn’t be happier: “The whole space is going to be dedicated to the feeling of swing… Everything is going to be integrated… Every single aspect will be an interaction, because that's how our music is”
It should come as no surprise that this showplace is the handy work of the famed educator and trumpeter. In the last two decades, Marsalis has ascended to a position of tremendous influence in the jazz world. His recorded output alone has few rivals at over 50 CD’s. But his accumulation of awards is even greater. Marsalis is the recipient of nine Grammy Awards (in both classical and jazz), scores of Honorary Doctorates, a Peabody Award, and a Pulitzer Prize (the only one ever awarded for a jazz composition). He is also a millionaire, one of the few musicians to have become rich playing jazz music.
Like Donald Trump, Marsalis’ success is coupled with a highly opinionated and outspoken persona, earning him as many detractors as fans. Yet, it is difficult for anyone to discount his contributions to a once dying art form. In the late 1970’s jazz languished as the more popular styles of funk, rock and disco dominated the airwaves. Once famous jazz artists went into seclusion or relocated to Europe. But that ended when the young prodigy from New Orleans burst onto the tepid New York jazz scene of the early 1980’s. Donning designer suits, he played jazz with the flash of a classical virtuoso. Marsalis disparaged electric jazz and anything with a backbeat. Tradition became the new buzzword. Soon youthful arrogance and energy, with its flair of historical reverence, took hold and the era of jazz neo-conservatism was born.
This new breed of jazz musician was soon embraced by wealthy art patrons. In 1987, Lincoln Center asked the trumpeter to organize a few summer concerts. At the time they needed something to offset the costs of leaving their halls dark in the summer months. But they also desperately wanted to expand the reach of their membership to younger, more diverse audiences.
As the jazz series began to flourish, the summer programs became year-round events. In 1996, Jazz at Lincoln Center became an official branch of Lincoln Center, with Marsalis serving as Artistic Director. This momentum soon carried over into Julliard, America’s most prestigious classical conservatory and also part of Lincoln Center, with the introduction of a Jazz Studies degree in 2001.
It seemed natural that as Jazz at Lincoln Center expanded, so should its facilities. Plans for a new jazz hall began with a modest 18 million dollar budget. As the idea started to take shape though, the planned performance space morphed into a 128 million dollar jazz megaplex. Marsalis and his cohorts on the Lincoln Center board orchestrated this huge surplus by wooing a diverse set of deep pocketbooks including a Saudi Prince, The Coca-Cola Corporation and celebrities like Eric Clapton.
This fall’s opening, scheduled for October, is a triumph for jazz. Rose Hall will provide a welcome, hospitable environment to savor America’s great art form. Its location in the Time Warner Center will make it easy to find for natives and tourists. Until then, Jazz at Lincoln Center is pressing on with an ambitious roster of shows and recording projects.
New York City may be the center of the jazz universe, but for the casual visitor that universe is not easily found. Jazz remains an insider’s secret, tucked away in Brooklyn lofts, West Village basements and bars in Harlem. But that’s about to change. Jazz venues, once a ubiquitous attraction in Manhattan, will regain a great deal of lost ground with the fall debut of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Fredrick P. Rose Hall, a 100,000 square foot jazz mega-center across from Central Park.Rose Hall fits neatly inside the new 1.2 billion dollar Time Warner Center. Located on Columbus Circle, Time Warner’s 750 foot twin towers beckon those venturing into the Lincoln Center and The Upper West Side. The 52-storey glass towers can also be seen from the southern end of Central Park and throughout midtown. The Center includes a five-star hotel, The Mandarin Oriental (whose 251 rooms start at $595/night), luxury condominiums (a bitter rival for Trump’s Hotel and Tower across the street), and a tony four-level shopping center.
Donald Trump was apparently so miffed about the new center’s proximity to his Trump Tower, that he hung several one storey high banners atop his building to taunt prospective tenants. The signs read, “Your views aren’t so good, are they? We have the real Central Park views and address. Best Wishes, ‘The Donald.’”
None of this rivalry should faze the new jazz complex though. Located on the sixth floor and accessible from the mall, two of its three venues offer panoramic views of the Park and the Manhattan skyline. Consistent with jazz itself, a theme of intimacy is threaded into every room. One of Argentinean architect Rafael Vinoly’s design goals was to better connect the audience to the performer, rather than emphasize their separation as is typical of most music venues. He adds “We need to understand clearly that jazz is not attached to the same ceremonial aspects as are some of the other forms of the performing arts.”
The hall’s largest room, The Rose Theatre, seats up to 1200 patrons and is suitable for large jazz ensembles or even symphonies. Yet, it still adheres to this principle of intimacy with its small audience chamber – the distance from the stage to the uppermost tier is only 80 feet – and clever layout which includes a theater-in-the-round option.
The Allen Room, at 300-600 seats (depending on the performance configuration), is modeled after a Greek Amphitheatre with tiered platforms and a 50-foot high glass wall overlooking Central Park. The stunning view serves as backdrop behind the stage. There’s also a dance area, should the music so move its audience. The cozier, though poorly named, Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola is the smallest room at 140 seats. The venue is modeled after a traditional jazz club and offers views of the Manhattan skyline. The rest of Rose Hall’s enormous space is dedicated to an educational facility and an impressive multi-media installation on the history of jazz.
Besides its scale and beauty, Rose Hall is further distinguished as being the world’s first performing arts center built expressly for jazz. Wynton Marsalis, Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center and the project’s champion, couldn’t be happier: “The whole space is going to be dedicated to the feeling of swing… Everything is going to be integrated… Every single aspect will be an interaction, because that's how our music is”
It should come as no surprise that this showplace is the handy work of the famed educator and trumpeter. In the last two decades, Marsalis has ascended to a position of tremendous influence in the jazz world. His recorded output alone has few rivals at over 50 CD’s. But his accumulation of awards is even greater. Marsalis is the recipient of nine Grammy Awards (in both classical and jazz), scores of Honorary Doctorates, a Peabody Award, and a Pulitzer Prize (the only one ever awarded for a jazz composition). He is also a millionaire, one of the few musicians to have become rich playing jazz music.Like Donald Trump, Marsalis’ success is coupled with a highly opinionated and outspoken persona, earning him as many detractors as fans. Yet, it is difficult for anyone to discount his contributions to a once dying art form. In the late 1970’s jazz languished as the more popular styles of funk, rock and disco dominated the airwaves. Once famous jazz artists went into seclusion or relocated to Europe. But that ended when the young prodigy from New Orleans burst onto the tepid New York jazz scene of the early 1980’s. Donning designer suits, he played jazz with the flash of a classical virtuoso. Marsalis disparaged electric jazz and anything with a backbeat. Tradition became the new buzzword. Soon youthful arrogance and energy, with its flair of historical reverence, took hold and the era of jazz neo-conservatism was born.
This new breed of jazz musician was soon embraced by wealthy art patrons. In 1987, Lincoln Center asked the trumpeter to organize a few summer concerts. At the time they needed something to offset the costs of leaving their halls dark in the summer months. But they also desperately wanted to expand the reach of their membership to younger, more diverse audiences.
As the jazz series began to flourish, the summer programs became year-round events. In 1996, Jazz at Lincoln Center became an official branch of Lincoln Center, with Marsalis serving as Artistic Director. This momentum soon carried over into Julliard, America’s most prestigious classical conservatory and also part of Lincoln Center, with the introduction of a Jazz Studies degree in 2001.
It seemed natural that as Jazz at Lincoln Center expanded, so should its facilities. Plans for a new jazz hall began with a modest 18 million dollar budget. As the idea started to take shape though, the planned performance space morphed into a 128 million dollar jazz megaplex. Marsalis and his cohorts on the Lincoln Center board orchestrated this huge surplus by wooing a diverse set of deep pocketbooks including a Saudi Prince, The Coca-Cola Corporation and celebrities like Eric Clapton.
This fall’s opening, scheduled for October, is a triumph for jazz. Rose Hall will provide a welcome, hospitable environment to savor America’s great art form. Its location in the Time Warner Center will make it easy to find for natives and tourists. Until then, Jazz at Lincoln Center is pressing on with an ambitious roster of shows and recording projects.
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