Program Notes: An Evening of Ragtime and Harlem Stride with Aaron Diehl

PROGRAM INFORMATION
An Evening of Ragtime and Harlem Stride
with Aaron Diehl
Wednesday, March 30, 2022
7:00 PM
Bing Studio
Program
Eubie Blake
Poor Katie Redd
Memories of You
Jesse Pickett
Dream Rag
James P. Johnson
Carolina Shout
Over the Bars
Adagio from Jazz-a-mine Concerto
Fats Waller
Honeysuckle Rose
African Ripples
Viper’s Drag
Willie “The Lion” Smith
Echoes of Spring
Fading Star
Finger Buster
Jelly Roll Morton
The Pearls
Finger Breaker
Original Jelly Roll Blues
Luckey Roberts
Ripples of the Nile
Scott Joplin
Solace (A Mexican Serenade)
Easy Winners
Maple Leaf Rag
Roland Hanna
Century Rag
Season Sponsor:
PROGRAM SUBJECT TO CHANGE. Please be considerate of others and turn off all phones, pagers, and watch alarms. Photography and recording of any kind are not permitted. Thank you.
HEALTH AND SAFETY: Masks are no longer required for indoor performances but are strongly recommended.
About the Artist
“Diehl has developed an organic, sophisticated approach” — DownBeat
Pianist and composer Aaron Diehl mystifies listeners with his layered artistry. At once temporal and ethereal, his expression transforms the piano into an orchestral vessel in the spirit of beloved predecessors Ahmad Jamal, Erroll Garner, and Jelly Roll Morton. Following three critically-acclaimed leader albums on Mack Avenue Records—and live appearances at historic venues from Jazz at Lincoln Center and The Village Vanguard to New York Philharmonic and the Philharmonie de Paris—the American Pianist Association’s 2011 Cole Porter fellow now focuses his attention on what it means to be present within himself. His forthcoming solo record promises an expansion of that exploration in a setting at once unbound and intimate.
Aaron conjures three-dimensional expansion of melody, counterpoint, and movement through time. Rather than choose one sound or another, he invites listeners into the chambered whole of his artistry. Born in Columbus, Ohio, Aaron traveled to New York in 2003, following his success as a finalist in JALC’s Essentially Ellington competition and a subsequent European tour with Wynton Marsalis. His love affair with rub and tension prompted a years-long immersion in distinctive repertoire from Monk and Ravel to Gershwin and William Grant Still. Among other towering figures, Still in particular inspires Aaron’s ongoing curation of Black American composers in his own performance programming, unveiled this past fall at 92nd St. Y. Aaron has enjoyed artistic associations with Wynton Marsalis, Benny Golson, Jimmy Heath, Buster Williams, Branford Marsalis, Wycliffe Gordon, Philip Glass, and multi-GRAMMY Award-winning artist Cécile McLorin Salvant. He recently appeared with the New York Philharmonic and the Cleveland Orchestra as featured soloist. Aaron holds a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies from Juilliard. A licensed pilot, when he’s not at the studio or on the road, he’s likely in the air. Follow both his earthbound and aerial exploits via Instagram at www.instagram.com/aaronjdiehl.
Upcoming Events
Samora Pinderhughes
The Healing Project
Sat, Apr 2 at 8:00 PM | Bing Studio
Silkroad Ensemble: Home Within
Wed, Apr 6 at 7:30 PM | Bing Concert Hall