MELBA’s KITCHEN big band Concert and Conversation

Welcome to MELBA’s KITCHEN big band an intimate Concert and Conversation celebrating MELBA LISTON’S CENTENNIAL featuring the Melba Liston Research Collective! Join us at the Plymouth Jazz & Justice Church, for a night of incredible music and engaging discussions. This in-person event promises to be a unique experience that you won't want to miss. Get ready to groove to the sounds of the big band tunes chosen especially for this show, and hear new insights from jazz researchers. Mark your calendars and come join us for a memorable evening! Get your tickets early for this limited-seating musical experience.

MELBA’S KITCHEN - the all women big band that celebrates Black women musical geniuses Melba Liston, Mary Lou Williams, and their friends - invites you to an intimate evening toasting Liston’s Centennial. The band, cited in Downbeat magazine as “crackling,” presents new arrangements of Liston’s jazz pieces, and hosts conversations with the members of the Melba Liston Research Collective, who dig deeply into Liston’s contributions to the jazz universe.

Special guests include:

• Tammy Kernodle (Miami University. Soul on Soul: The Life and Music of Mary Lou Williams)
• Lisa Barg (McGill University. Queer Arrangements: Billy Strayhorn and Mid-Century Jazz Collaboration)
• Dee Spencer (San Francisco State University. Founder of SFSU jazz studies program; Grammy auditor; recording and performing artist)
• Sherrie Tucker (Kansas University. Swing Shift: “All-Girl” Bands of the 1940s)

Melba Liston, John Coltrane and Miles Davis all have centennials in 2026 - Liston is solidly in the jazz pantheon with her iconic colleagues.

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