We are excited to celebrate 21 years of Jazz Power Initiative, the non profit I co-founded in 2003. Please join us in support of our mission of transforming lives through jazz arts education and performance. You can buy a ticket to the concert on May 21 or give a tax deductible donation on this link.
I was thrilled to reconnect with Gary Walker at WBGO who I first met in 1986 when I starting working at WBGO on my 18th birthday. We discussed some of our experiences together at the station as well as my career as an artist, educator, co-founder, managing and artistic director of Jazz Power Initiative and our upcoming Celebration21 hosted by Catherine Russell where we are celebrating 21 years of Jazz Power Initiative transforming lives through jazz arts education and performance.
Produced by Eli “Dr. E” Yamin with Jazz Power Initiative in collaboration with Harlem School of the Arts for the third year in the row, this uplifting performance joins an intergenerational array of jazz instrumentalists, vocalists and dancers in the heart of Harlem to celebrate International Jazz Day.
Special Guest:
LISA LA TOUCHE AND TAP PHONICS with JEREMY PELT, trumpet, ELI “DR. E” YAMIN, piano, JENNIFER VINCENT, bass, EJ STRICKLAND, drums
Featured Performers:
JAZZ POWER INITIATIVE’S ZAH! JR with DR. E AND JAZZ POWER
HSA JAZZ BAND
HSA TAPPERS
BELONGO’S FAT CATS
CELIA CRUZ BRONX HIGH SCHOOL OF MUSIC JAZZ BAND
I’m flabbergasted. 3 weeks ago, out of the blue, I got a call from The Kelly Clarkson Show on my cellphone. Is it real? I hardly can believe it. They are excited about my work with Jazz Power Initiative and would like to learn more and possibly have me on the show as a guest. I did an interview with an Assistant Producer, made a “Hi Kelly video,” and sure enough, last Tuesday (one week ago) they asked me to come on the show. It was a whirlwind week leading up to the taping this past Monday. They wanted me to come on with a dear colleague and former student, Charenee Wade, and a current student. There were umpteen rounds of releases to be obtained for videos and photos they wanted to use for telling our story. Our current student’s mom was added to the mix, a very good move. All in all, it was amazing to be part of shaping Kelly’s vision for telling our story and we are telling it this Friday, April 4th on NBC. It is my national television debut and for Jazz Power Initiative. We are sooooo excited to share our story with the world and I hope you can tune in wherever you are in the U.S. For international viewing, there will be a link to the story on YouTube. Until then, I’m so happy to share this good news with you, and I hope to see you soon!
Thank you for your ongoing support!
Eli (aka Dr. E)
Jazz Power All-Stars (JPI photo Tanya Kulesh)
I’m excited to play with the newly configured Jazz Power All-Stars, a spirited mix of tunes in celebration of my birthday and good things to come. Hope you can join us Saturday, November 16 at 4pm at National Jazz Museum in Harlem and/or Wednesday, November 20 at 7 pm at Alianza Dominicana Cultural Center. See you there!
Eli Yamin, piano and vocal
| Michael Blake, saxophone and co-music director |
| James Zollar, trumpet |
| David F. Gibson, drums |
| Jonathan Troncuso, “JBlak”, percussion |
| Carmen Morillo, dancer |
| Charenee Wade, vocal (11/16) |
| Antoinette Montague, vocal (11/20) |
I’m excited to lead our 10th year of Jazz Power Institute for artists and educators offering a transformational experience for colleagues engaged in teaching jazz across disciplines of music, dance, theatre and writing. In addition to the wonderful artists in the flyer we will have a new acquaintance, Dr. Paul Austerlitz, a leading scholar on Afro Dominican music join us as well as Darick Kelly, who is Assistant Conductor of All City High School Latin Ensemble. We also expect to have students from All City and Jazz Power attend as musical demonstrators. It’s going to be a hoot!
Photo by Jim Cummins
I am so excited to co-produce with Jazz Power Initiative and Lee Hogans of Harlem School of the Arts, We Got That Swing! A Harlem Music Jubilee
Celebrating 125 years of Duke Ellington and 50 years of Hip Hop, featuring youth and veteran performers including Charenee Wade and her trio, MC Silent Knight, Zah! Jr. with Dr. E and Jazz Power, Nat King Cole Generation Hope Jazz Ensemble, All-City High School Jazz Ensemble, Dorothy Maynor Singers, HSA Dance. Free tickets available here. 
