About Jazz Forum Arts
Programs & Milestones
Since 1985 Jazz Forum Arts has brought top quality, live Jazz to audiences throughout the New York metropolitan area.
As Westchester County’s premier nonprofit Jazz organization, Jazz Forum Arts is committed to elevating the Jazz community through appreciation and understanding of this uniquely American art form.
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The History of Our Organization
Jazz Forum Arts brings the world of Jazz to you. From internationally-renowned musicians to emerging artists, we aim to showcase the diversity within the genre. We foster an environment where the truest expression of the music can be celebrated in all its forms. Our audiences experience Progressive and Bebop, Latin & Brazilian, World Music, Rhythm and Blues, New Orleans, Traditional, Swing and Contemporary Jazz. Jazz Forum Arts is for longtime Jazz enthusiasts and budding Jazz aficionados alike.
Driven by the desire to preserve and expand the appreciation of Jazz music, Jazz Forum Arts is proud to be contributing to the cultural landscape in the New York metro area. We believe Jazz is for everyone and we strive to make music accessible to all members of the community. Jazz Forum Arts is committed to education and aims to inspire current and future generations of Jazz lovers.
In addition to our listening room located in Tarrytown, New York, Jazz Forum Arts has produced its Jazz at the Tarrytown Music Hall series for several decades, The series has featured unforgettable performances by Billy Taylor, Lionel Hampton, Betty Carter, Gerry Mulligan, Sonny Rollins, Clark Terry, Dave Brubeck, the Count Basie Orchestra and many others. Jazz Forum Arts has also produced concerts at Peekskill’s Paramount Center, Purchase College’s Performing Arts Center, and Valhalla’s Kensico Dam. For over a decade, Jazz Forum Arts has been a leader in producing Jazz festivals throughout the East Coast including the Riverside Park Arts Festival in New York City, the Berkshire Jazz Festival, and the Sunnyside Jazz Festival. With a presence in NYC, Jazz Forum Arts has presented at The Town Hall, Symphony Space, The Michael Schimmel Center at PACE Downtown, the Beacon Theatre, NYU Skirball Center and from 2005 to 2015 at Jazz at Lincoln Center.
Jazz Forum Arts’s Free Summer Concert series is at the heart of what we do – bringing Jazz music to the community. For more than twenty consecutive summers, Jazz Forum Arts has presented dozens of concerts as part of this series, bringing live music outdoors to towns and villages throughout Westchester County, New York.
Our founding board members, which included David Amram, Dizzy Gillespie, and Wynton Marsalis, helped establish the one-of-a-kind organization that Jazz Forum Arts is today. We are proud of the music Jazz Forum Arts has brought to the community since those early days and we value the recognition we’ve received for our work. Jazz Forum Arts have received six grants from the National Endowment for the Arts. This grant, which helped fund the National Public Radio broadcast of Cedar Walton & Barry Harris on WBGO’s Toast of The Nation (New Year’s Eve), documented our long-running Piano Summit concert series at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall.
Jazz Forum Arts And the Tarrytown Music Hall
On June 13, 1992, Jazz Forum Arts co-founder Mark Morganelli inaugurated “Jazz at the Music Hall.” He created a “Swing Summit,” featuring Harry “Sweets” Edison, Frank Wess, Al Grey, Dr. Billy Taylor, Milt “The Judge” Hinton and Oliver Jackson. Jazz Forum Arts has continued and expanded upon that initial offering, presenting over 150 concerts in over two decades at the historic Tarrytown Music Hall.
This collaboration has featured performances by internationally acclaimed artists including Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, Mercer Ellington, Dave Brubeck, Lionel Hampton, Chuck Mangione, Pat Metheny, Betty Carter, Wynton Marsalis, Bobby McFerrin, The Manhattan Transfer, Chris Botti, Cassandra Wilson, Spyro Gyra, Dianne Reeves, Hugh Masekela and many others.
Our Mission Statement
Jazz Forum Arts is a 501© 3 not-for-profit arts presenting organization whose mission is to present top-quality events to the public at little or no cost, while enhancing the appreciation of Jazz, America’s preeminent indigenous musical artform.
About the club
Do you want to learn the story of our club, the Jazz Forum in Tarrytown? Find out what we’ve been up to since the beginning!
Jazz Forum Arts Management
Learn more about the people working at Jazz Forum Arts.
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