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Watch Party: Fabu and Jane at the Kennedy Center (Live Stream)
Fabu Phillis Carter, the City of Madison’s first African American Poet Laureate as well as a scholar and educator, and Jane Reynolds, the superb jazz pianist and retired co-host of “Strictly Jazz Sounds” on WORT-FM, will perform their unique program – “Remember Me: Mary Lou Williams in Poetry and Music” – on Saturday, May 10th, at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. as part of the 2025 Mary Lou Williams Jazz Festival.
Our community members won’t have to travel to D.C., though, to see this milestone performance by Fabu and Jane, as Café CODA (1224 Williamson Street) will host a “watch party” for the livestream of their May 10th performance, starting at 5:00pm CDT. In addition, just prior to the live stream at 3:00pm, Café CODA will show the award-winning documentary film, “Mary Lou Williams: The Lady Who Swings the Band." Both events will be free and open to the public. Bar service will be available, and attendees are welcome to bring food with them into the club.
Fifteen years ago, in 2010, our community celebrated the 100th birthday of Mary Lou Williams, the legendary jazz pianist, composer, arranger, bandleader and educator who conducted a memorable residency at the UW-Madison in 1976. Under the guidance of artistic co-directors Fabu and Jane, and with assistance from the Mary Lou Williams Foundation and the Institute of Jazz Studies, our local Centennial Committee produced a diverse year-long array of concerts of Mary Lou's music and educational programs that illuminated her contributions to American music and culture, engaging more than 8,000 people in the process. One of the Centennial Celebration’s highlights was the jazz-and-poetry program about Mary Lou that Fabu and Jane delivered at concert halls, schools, and other venues across Dane County. Fabu and Jane will present a fresh new version of this program in their May 10th performance.
Performing at the Kennedy Center is a rare opportunity for Madison-based artists, and it will be a career-capping milestone for Fabu and Jane. Not only a dream come true for Fabu, this performance will be a chance for Jane to honor her mother, a very fine pianist who played in the style of Mary Lou Williams but gave it up to join in managing the family’s hotel, where the Kennedys stayed while on the campaign trail in 1960. She will be there in spirit with Jane at the Kennedy Center.
Event Links
Facebook: https://go.evvnt.com/3007977-0
