Millennium Stage, Washington D.C., DC Videos

Jenny and the Mexicats - Millennium Stage (September 14, 2024)
Live Tonight on Millennium Stage: A jazz kit played with sticks and mano, an upright bass tattooed with comely women, jaunty Caribbean-influenced acoustic guitar, and a beautiful blonde siren with, yes, a trumpet. Do you wanna dance yet? Jenny will lure you in with her bluesy no-nonsense voice. She doesn’t want to work, just to dance. This relationship is torture. It’s just plain better in Buenos Aires. And always her case is compelling, the music a perfect dance in and of itself, pieced together like good jazz —every player counts. Jenny’s from Britain, but her Spanish is impeccable. The drummer is from Spain, and the strings are from Mexico, but this group is original, like Manu Chau without the political agenda, or a killer ska combo minus the kitsch. They are independents and the sum of their parts is from a land of heart and strong, quick rhythm.

California State University: Dominguez Hills - Millennium Stage (September 13, 2024)
Live Tonight on Millennium Stage: Founded in 2009, the Inner City Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles (ICYOLA) is a California 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation that transforms the lives and minds of young people in inner-city Los Angeles through high quality music education. We teach inner-city youth the great music of the world and provide opportunities for them to perform that music in the most magnificent settings of our community. We prepare our members for advanced study and high caliber success in music and otherwise. We instill the ancillary benefits that music instruction provides: problem-solving skills, critical thinking, self-reliance, self-confidence, self-discipline, and the crystallization and pursuit of meaningful purpose.

La Santa Cecilia - Millennium Stage (September 12, 2024)
Live Tonight on Millennium Stage: Grammy Award® winners for Best Latin Rock Album La Santa Cecilia exemplifies the modern-day creative hybrid of Latin culture, rock, and world music. The group draws inspiration from all over the world, utilizing Pan-American rhythms including cumbia, bossa nova, rumba, bolero, tango, jazz, and klezmer music. Their unique sounds and the experience of their colorful, passionate performances continues to captivate both loyal fans and new listeners. Named after the patron saint of music, La Santa Cecilia is composed of accordionist and requinto player Jose “Pepe” Carlos, bassist Alex Bendaña, percussionist Miguel “Oso” Ramirez, and vocalist “La Marisoul.” With a captivating voice that sings about love, loss, and everyday struggles, the band has become the voice of a new bicultural generation in the United States, fully immersed in modern music, but always close to their Latin American influences and Mexican heritage. La Santa Cecilia’s released their debut album Noche y Citas in 2011. The album was nominated at the Latin Grammy Awards® for the single “La Negra.” El Valor in 2012 was named one of the best albums of the year by NPR’s Alt Latino. In 2013, Treinta Días was released and went on to win the Grammy® for Best Latin Rock Album, Alternative or Urban. In 2016, Buenaventura was nominated for a Latin Grammy® in Best Pop/Rock Album category, and for a Grammy® in the Best Latin Urban, Rock or Alternative category. Their seventh album was released in the fall of 2019.

Svetlana & The New York Collective - Millennium Stage (September 11, 2024)
Live Tonight on Millennium Stage: Night at the Movies! is a concert inspired by Svetlana’s chart-topping record (#1 on the Billboard US Traditional Jazz Charts). The concert showcases innovative jazz interpretations of iconic movie soundtracks (American classics, French New Wave, European Cinema, contemporary Academy Award® winners, and beloved animated films). Audiences will be captivated by the blend of cinematic dreaminess and fiery musical virtuosity, experiencing a kaleidoscope of sound that transitions from sophisticated retrospection to a lively foot-stomping party. It’s a concert reflecting Svetlana’s own immigrant journey from the silver screen dreams of her childhood to the vibrant reality of New York City, blending fantasy with the fulfillment of a lifelong dream.

Martha Wainwright - Millennium Stage (September 7, 2024)
Live Tonight on Millennium Stage: Martha Wainwright is beginning again. The beguiling performer and songwriter returns with Love Will Be Reborn, released in August. Wainwright’s fifth studio album follows recent years of loneliness and clarity in search of optimism and joy.

John Muq - Millennium Stage (September 6, 2024)
Live Tonight on Millennium Stage: From Kampala, Uganda, Jon Muq is a vocalist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist who makes soul-filled pop music celebrating the magic of human connection, love, and the world’s many wonders. Now based in Austin, Muq has found a strong creative community to nurture his powerful talent. Dan Auerbach produced Muq’s debut album in Nashville, which was released through Auerbach’s Easy Eye Sound label in 2023. Muq has performed in New York City, Austin, Dallas, and Houston, and will expand his touring schedule to support his new music.

Gaia Wilmer & Jacques Morelenbaum - Millennium Stage (September 5, 2024)
Live Tonight on Millennium Stage: Jaques Morelenbaum is a cellist, composer, arranger, and musical producer who has worked with great names of Brazilian music, such as Caetano himself, as well as Tom Jobim, Gilberto Gil, and Egberto Gismonti. Morelenbaum has recorded and arranged/produced some of the most important recordings of Brazilian music. He has also been a fundamental part of the Jobim-Morelenbaum quartet, and the duo and trio with Ryuichi Sakamoto. Gaia Wilmer is a saxophonist, composer, arranger, and music producer, and has been active both in Brazil and the United States. Wilmer has been carving herself quite a niche in the jazz and Brazilian instrumental music scene, and has worked with the likes of Egberto Gismonti, Ra-Kalam Bob Moses, Frank Carlberg, amongst others. Trem das Cores is a celebration of Caetano Veloso, the Brazilian singer-songwriter and an important figure in Brazilian culture and in Morelenbaum’s and Wilmer’s lives. The idea comes from their love and great pleasure in working together with Caetano’s work, while also celebrating his 80th birthday. The idea comes most of all from honoring him as a composer, beyond his greatness as a singer and a poet—hence the idea of an instrumental journey through his music. Wilmer and Morelenbaum worked together for the first time in 2018, in a project paying homage to Egberto Gismonti’s music—also a celebration of his 70th birthday—in a series of concerts in Brazil organized by Wilmer. They also worked together during and the recording of Folia: The Music of Egberto Gismonti with Gaia Wilmer Large Ensemble and Morelenbaum as one of the guests. Since then, the desire of doing something together has been present in their lives and, during the pandemic, they came up with an idea: an album, together paying homage to Caetano. Thus, in 2022, in a project in partnership with Brazilian label Biscoito Fino, they assembled a group of musicians made up of two flutes, clarinet, two saxophones,

DC Jazz Festival: Ebban & Ephraim Dorsey - Millennium Stage (August 29, 2024)
Live Tonight on Millennium Stage: Ebban and Ephraim Dorsey are 20- and 21-year-old saxophonists, composers, bandleaders, and rising stars in the contemporary jazz scene. The multi-talented siblings have been playing together since they were nine and 10. Both have been members of Carnegie Hall’s NYO Jazz, Herbie Hancock Institute’s National Peer-to-Peer All-Star Jazz, JAZZ HOUSE KiDS, and Peabody Jazz Ensembles between 2020–2024. Ebban Dorsey’s improvisational prowess is also featured extensively on José James’ album On & On, a jazz tribute to Erykah Badu, which resulted in Ebban Dorsey being invited on her first international tour in 2023. Ephraim Dorsey was also cast to play a young Kamasi Washington in his short film As told to G/D thyself, which was nominated for awards at the Sundance and La Roche-sur-Yon International Film Festivals. Destined for greatness, the Dorseys continue to blaze a trail forward with their trademark humility, melodic invention, and forward-thinking musical concepts. Their performances can be described as two different voices coming together to create a healing, ethereal, and emotional experience for listeners as well as themselves. In collaboration with DC Jazz Festival

DC Jazz Festival: Eliot Seppa - Millennium Stage (August 28, 2024)
Live Tonight on Millennium Stage: Eliot Seppa is well known as one the most sought-after bassists in the D.C. area in jazz, R&B, gospel, musical theater, and more. Through years of experience in so many diverse musical situations, he has developed a band sound that is eclectic and uniquely his own. In his compositions and arrangements, Eliot embraces rich harmonies, infectious rhythms, and organic interplay between band members. In collaboration with DC Jazz Festival

Michael Tarbox
Live Tonight on Millennium Stage: “At the heart of Tarbox’s music is his guitar, as raw as it is charismatic. It creates an electricity that courses through every song.” —Twangville Michael Tarbox writes songs anchored in rock ‘n’ roll, backwater blues, and hillbilly music. They’re rough-hewn and immediate, and they convey a sense of hard-won perspective. The Chicago Reader calls Tarbox’s singing “ageless.” His gospel-tinged electric guitar playing, tough as Texas barbed wire, brings it all together. Tarbox grew up in a mill town just west of Boston. He credits a cool babysitter with introducing him to the music that led him to become a musician. “She was the older sister I never had,” says Tarbox, “She and her art-room friends would come over to my folks’ house and play these incredible rock ‘n’ roll records. They were also listening to Leadbelly and Robert Johnson. It was a window into another world, and it changed everything for me.” Tarbox began his career with The Tarbox Ramblers, a hard-hitting quartet that released well-received albums on Rounder and played countless shows throughout the U.S. and Canada. The group featured both Tarbox’s own songs and his unusual arrangements of old blues and string-band music. The Washington Post called The Tarbox Ramblers “a force of nature.” Robert Plant saw the band play and recruited them, on the spot, to open a string of concert dates. “My inspirations are musicians from a world that’s vanished. I let them guide me, but my goal is to create something new,” says Tarbox. “At the risk of sounding cliché, music saved my life. It kept me going when I was a kid and it looked like drugs and booze might tear my family apart. More than a few times, it provided an island of sanity when chaos seemed like the only alternative. I met my wife and most of my good friends playing music. I can’t imagine where I’d be today if I hadn’t picked up a guitar when I was fourteen.”

The State & Future of Theater Criticism (August 23, 2024)
In a live moderated conversation, Social Impact Senior Director Victoria Murray Baatin will host a discussion with the Peter Marks (former Washington Post theater critic) and Naveen Kumar (the newly appointed Washington Post theater critic). The event will explore the current landscape and the future direction of theater criticism on a national scale, as well as the specific dynamics within the Washington, D.C. theater community. This conversation aims to shed light on the evolving role of theater critics in shaping public opinion and supporting the arts. The discussion will delve into the challenges and opportunities facing theater critics today, examining how their work impacts both the industry and its audiences. With insights from Peter Marks, the dialogue promises to provide a comprehensive look at the critical discourse surrounding theater and its development in the nation’s capital. Can't make it in person? Catch the live stream of this special panel conversation on the Kennedy Center's web page, YouTube, and Facebook!

Gina Chavez - Millennium Stage (August 23, 2024)
Live Tonight on Millennium Stage: QUEER. LATINX. TEXAN. Gina Chavez is a wife, philanthropist, and an award-winning independent musician. She is a 2020 Latin Grammy® nominee for Best Pop/Rock Album, and a 12-time Austin Music Award winner, including 2019 Best Female Vocals and 2015 Austin Musician of the Year. Her NPR Tiny Desk concert has more than 1.3 million views, and her hour-long PBS special is available nationwide. Gina’s music is deeply personal. Her passionate collection of bilingual songs takes audiences on a journey to discover her Latin roots through music as she shares her story of life in Texas as a married, queer Catholic. Gina tours internationally as a cultural ambassador with the U.S. State Department and runs Niñas Arriba, a college fund she co-founded with her wife for young women in the gang-dominated El Salvador. She is featured alongside Oprah, Beyonce, Mahalia Jackson, Dolly Parton, and many more in Southern Living’s new book celebrating “100 extraordinary women who have left their indelible mark on the South and beyond.”

Ronnie Burrage & Holographic Principle - Millennium Stage (August 22, 2024)
Live Tonight on Millennium Stage: Holographic Principle is an exceptional all-star band of inventive musicians put together by drummer and composer Ronnie Burrage. Burrage grew up in St. Louis and moved to New York in the late 1970s. He became a founding member of Defunkt, a downtown band fusing improvisation with free jazz, funk, and rock. Burrage left Defunkt to join McCoy Tyner’s band when he was 20s. In the same period, he founded The Burrage Ensemble whose members were Kenny Kirkland, Marcus Miller, Wynton and Branford Marsalis, his uncle Rasul Siddik, Joe Ford, Avery Sharpe, and Wallace Roney. Since then, Burrage has been part of a myriad of projects. He served as a drummer in groups led by Sonny Fortune, Jackie McLean Woody Shaw, Sir Roland Hanna, Sonny Rollins, Pat Metheny, Chico Freeman, Jaco Pastorius, Wayne Shorter, Michael Brecker, Stanley Cowell, Archie Shepp Bobby Hutcherson, Hamiet Bluiett and others. He has been a leader of his own ensembles up to the present day. Holographic Principle’s music is steeped in tradition and reflects the spirit of Miles Davis and Weather Report, creating new sounds within music. Burrage’s band members have achieved strong recognition on the international jazz scene and shared the stage with a diversity of artists going from Henry Threadgill to Dizzy Gillespie, Victor Bailey, and Joel Ross. Together with Burrage they celebrate the many styles and eras that have shaped their musical vocabulary and inspired their boundlessly creative output. Holographic Principle features compositions from different band members and traverses aspects of jazz, funk, soul, fusion, straight-ahead, and world music. Their record Dance of the Great Spirit was Grammy®-nominated for 2020 Best Jazz Instrumental Album. Don’t miss this amazing musical journey in the best tradition of Black culture.

Burdah Ensemble - Millennium Stage (August 21, 2024)
Live Tonight on Millennium Stage: Presented in collaboration with the Reed Society. This Sufi inspired vocal group, founded in 2009 in Montreal, is led by Qari Sidi Anwar Barrada from Morocco. He is accompanied by traditional instruments that make up a takht, the classical music ensemble of Middle Eastern music —such as the qanun (zither), oud (lute), ney (reed flute), kaman (violin), and riq (drums).

Glen David Andrews - Millennium Stage (August 17, 2024)
Live Tonight on Millennium Stage: Glen David Andrews, a native son and a beloved musician of New Orleans, is a warrior for cultural preservation at a time when indigenous traditions are being threatened in the city. His commanding voice and fierce trombone sound are a powerful, emotional, and resonant blend of smoothness and grit. Along with his disarmingly honest manner, his voice and sound provide a musical experience that never fails to meet the moment. Glen’s music is packed with beauty, hard-earned truths, compassion, humor, anger, joy, and, most of all, hope.

Dom Flemons - Millennium Stage (August 16, 2024)
Live Tonight on Millennium Stage: As a resolute preservationist, storyteller, and instrumentalist, Dom Flemons has long set himself apart by finding forgotten folk songs and making them live again. His work has been recognized with a Grammy Award®, two Emmy® nominations, and 2020 U.S. Artists Fellowship. Dom Flemons is originally from Phoenix, Arizona and currently lives in the Chicago area with his family. He has branded the moniker The American Songster® since his repertoire of music covers over 100 years of early American popular music. Flemons is a songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, actor, slam poet, music scholar, historian, and record collector. He is considered an expert player on the banjo, guitar, harmonica, jug, percussion, quills, fife, and rhythm bones. Flemons is the host of the American Songster Radio show on Nashville’s WSM Radio. In 2022, he was awarded a degree as a Doctor of Humane Letters from his alma mater Northern Arizona University. Available now, Traveling Wildfire is his first new album since 2018’s Black Cowboys and his second release for Smithsonian Folkways. He turns to an important, overlooked voice that he’s proudly rediscovered: his own. Asked what he hopes his audience will hear in Traveling Wildfire, Flemons replies, “I hope people will be able to hear the different phases of my life through the lyrics and feel the energy that fuels my creativity within the songs. The past few years for me have been a time of deep reflection and meditation. I hope that the album will light a fire of inspiration inside everyone who experiences it.”

Martin Sexton - Millennium Stage (August 15, 2024)
Live Tonight on Millennium Stage: “The real thing, people.” —Billboard Martin Sexton returns with what Rolling Stone calls his “soul-marinated voice,” acoustic guitar, and a suitcase full of heartfelt songs. The tour takes Martin across North America in support of his latest EP 2020 Vision—produced by three-time Grammy® nominee John Alagia (Lukas Nelson, John Mayer, Dave Matthews)—and he reinvents his own classics for these critically-acclaimed solo performances. Still fiercely independent and headlining venues from The Fillmore to Carnegie Hall, Sexton has influenced a generation of contemporary artists. His songs have appeared in television series such as Scrubs, Parenthood, Masters of Sex, Sprung, and in numerous films. However, it’s his incendiary live shows, honest lyrics, and vocal prowess that keep fans coming back for a new experience every time.

The Sensational Barnes Brothers - Millennium Stage (August 14, 2024)
Live Tonight on Millennium Stage: The Sensational Barnes Brothers are a musical blend of old and new, a real gem in the gospel/soul scene. As PopMatters states, “The brothers run through a spectrum of moods and modes in their gospel soul, often bridging the gap between, say, the Soul Stirrers and Stax, all the while keeping a local flavor.” The brothers can dive deep into their roots, creating a sound that reflects the music of their history, all the while drawing in a modern-day audience. The Sensational Barnes Brothers are featured on vocalist Don Bryant’s Grammy®-nominated album Don’t Give Up on Love, and you can also hear them on several tracks from the album XOPA by Latin Grammy®–nominated Making Movies. The band has also recorded with the lead singer of The Black Keys, Dan Auerbach. These talented brothers made their mark with their first album—Nobody’s Fault But My Own—under Bible and Tire Recording Co. Fat Possum. Inspired by their shared past, fueled by harmonies that resonate with both their blood and their kindred souls, The Sensational Barnes Brothers are here to stay, singing, playing, and dancing for a long, long time. Their new album of all originals will be released in fall 2024.

Caracas Trio featuring Juan Diego Villalobos - Millennium Stage (August 10, 2024)
Live Tonight on Millennium Stage: Latin Grammy® Award winner Juan Diego Villalobos is a versatile vibraphone/percussion player and producer. He has excelled in different styles of music like jazz, classical, and Afro-Venezuelan music, making him one of the most sought-after musicians in New York. In 2011, Villalobos became part of “El Sistema” by joining the Teresa Carreño Youth Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, where he performed across Europe, Asia, and the U.S. as a classical percussionist, sharing the stage with Christian Vazquez, Makoto Ozone, and the acclaimed conductor Gustavo Dudamel. He’s also appeared at distinguished venues such as Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, Harlem Stage, Smalls Jazz Club, and Birdland. As a bandleader and sideman, he’s performed alongside Paquito D’Rivera, Ben Wendel, Arturo O’Farrill, Dayna Stephens, Jeremy Pelt, Peter Erskine, Jon Faddis, Andy Narell, and John Beasley, among others. Villalobos has also been recognized for his contributions to the music industry by winning a Latin Grammy® for his participation on the album Identidad by Venezuelan cuatro player Miguel Siso.