Boston Public Library
Press Release
News & Events
Boston Public Library and JazzBoston Bring Live Jazz to Boston Neighborhoods
Riffs & Raps: Jazzin’ the Generations engages and entertains seniors and their juniors
 BOSTON – November 15, 2010 – The Boston Public Library this week announced the launch of a series of free concerts in partnership with JazzBoston, a 5 year-old nonprofit organization serving artists and audiences throughout the Greater Boston area. Riffs & Raps: Jazzin' the Generations invites people of all ages to travel together on a live musical tour through time that will be stopping at eight neighborhood branches this December. Most especially welcome are senior citizens, who will recognize many favorite songs as their musical guides use jazz standards and originals to bridge the generations.
The ageless trio of Arni Cheatham on saxophones; Bill Lowe on bass trombone, tuba, and percussion; and Kevin Harris on keyboards will take audiences on a journey from the roots of jazz in blues and spirituals, through the Great American Songbook, and right on to the sounds of jazz today – with excursions into other music traditions at home and abroad. Informal conversations with the musicians during and after each performance will engage audiences as well as entertain them.
The concert dates are as follows:
• Thursday, December 2, 6:00 p.m. at the Parker Hill Branch, 1497 Tremont Street, Roxbury
• Saturday, December 4 , 12 noon at the Codman Square Branch, 690 Washington Street, Dorchester
• Thursday, December 9, 6:30 p.m. at the Orient Heights Branch, 18 Barnes Avenue, East Boston
• Saturday, December 11, 12 noon at the Jamaica Plain Branch, 12 Sedgwick Street, Jamaica Plain
• Monday, December 13 , 1:00 p.m., at the Fields Corner Branch, 1520 Dorchester Avenue, Dorchester
• Wednesday, December 15, 6:00 p.m. at the Egleston Square Branch, 2044 Columbus Avenue, Roxbury
• Thursday, December 16, 6:00 p.m. at the Uphams Corner Branch, 500 Columbia Road, Dorchester
• Monday, December 20, 6:00 p.m. at the Brighton Branch, 40 Academy Hill Road, Brighton.
More information about the program and the musicians can be found on the Boston Public Library’s dedicated Riffs & Raps web page.
Riffs & Raps: Jazzin' the Generations was developed by JazzBoston specially for the Boston Public Library. It is presented in partnership with the Library and funded by an anonymous gift through the Boston Public Library Foundation. The program is the most recent addition to a history of partnerships with JazzBoston dating back to 2007 that includes the annual Jazz Week @ the Boston Public Library, the original Riffs & Raps after-school program for at-risk teenagers, and the Riffs & Raps children’s program. JazzBoston also assists with jazz programming for the Library’s Concerts in the Courtyard series each summer.
Riffs & Raps is just the latest of the Boston Public Library’s programs for senior citizens. The Never Too Late Group is one of the country’s oldest, continuously running groups for seniors. For over 60 years, it has provided a setting for seniors to gather together and enjoy with their friends a wide variety of programs that are entertaining and culturally enriching. Programs are held year-round in the Rabb Lecture Hall at the Central Library on Thursdays at 2:00 pm. For more information, and a complete schedule, visit the Never Too Late Group web page.
The Boston Public Library also offers yoga for seniors at its Central Library on the first Tuesday of each month at 2:00 p.m. and at the West End Branch, 151 Cambridge Street, every Monday at 10:30 a.m. The Boston Public Library’s online calendar offers a complete look at free programs for every age in every neighborhood of the city.
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