Inwood, New York (April 17, 2025)…For the third year in a row, Jazz Power Initiative (JPI) will partner with the Harlem School of the Arts (HSA) on We Got That Swing a celebration of  Jazz Appreciation Month.  The event will take place on April 26th, in Dorothy Maynor Hall (645 St. Nicholas Avenue) at HSA.  

The two uptown arts organizations will join forces on a program that will feature performances by Jazz Power Initiative’s Zah! Jr ensemble comprised of pre-teen and teen singers who have been mastering the artistry of the jazz vernacular; Belongo’s Fat Cats, one of the finest youth orchestras in New York City, the Celia Cruz Bronx High School of Music Jazz Band, as well as the HSA Tappers and the HSA Jazz Band.

In honor of this year’s theme, “Jazz is Movement,” the event’s special guest artist is Canadian born and current Harlem resident, tap dancer/choreographer/educator/cultural historian – Lisa La Touche and Tap Phonics. Ms. La Touche, an award-winning tapper, was the 2024 Louis Armstrong Museum, “Armstrong Now” Artist in Residence and has performed all around the city and internationally, from The Cotton Club to Lincoln Center to the Royal Albert Hall.   

Over the years she has perfected her skills as a leading tapper, choreographer, worked closely with Tony Award-winner and tap master, Savion Glover, was part of the Broadway production of Shuffle Along, the Off-Broadway production and touring company of STOMP, and since 2010, she has directed her own company – Tap Phonics.  As an educator, she is working with the legendary Apollo Theater and Apollo Education and is a professor at Pace University and Marymount Manhattan College.

Jazz Power Initiative, recognized as one of the leading concert producers in upper Manhattan (Harlem, Washington Heights, Inwood), has been focused on an intergenerational approach to educating and training the next generation of young people on the historical impact of jazz on the global community. Through programs like We Got That Swing, Dr. Eli Yamin (a.k.a. Dr. E) is providing a platform for the next generation of young creatives to showcase their appreciation for the jazz idiom, along with the knowledge and skills they have gained from being a part of JPI.  

Jazz Power Initiative was recently recognized on the popular Kelly Clarkson Show, where the organization was highlighted for the life changing impact it has had on the thousands of young people that have attended their free, year-round jazz arts and music education programs, which also blends movement and theatrical performances in a curriculum that has changed the course and improved the prospects of countless lives.

The Harlem School of the Arts too, has been an empowering force in the community for more than six decades, enriching  lives and creating an army of accomplished alumni that include Giancarlo Esposito, Lenny Kravitz, Zazie Beetz, playwright Katori Hall and Ray Chew.

In February, during Black History Month, the Harlem School of the Arts launched the Dizzy Gillespie Jazz Academy, made possible by the Herb Alpert Foundation, expanding its portfolio of music programs and paying homage to one of the greatest trumpeters and composers to ever live.  The organization is poised to introduce the Nat King Cole Generation Hope Jazz Ensemble and the Natalie Cole Community Concert Choir this year as well.

Both organizations understand the importance of honoring the legacy of the Harlem community and ensuring that the history of the Harlem Renaissance, a decade when artistic expression (from literature to music) flourished, is preserved and appreciated by countless generations of young creatives.   

On April 26th We Got That Swing will showcase just how important music is in the lives of children and how essential it is in forming community and bringing joy.  The program begins at 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm in Dorothy Maynor Hall at Harlem School of the Arts.  

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ABOUT JAZZ POWER INITIATIVE

Jazz Power Initiative (JPI, a dba of The Jazz Drama Program), a non-profit, 501 (c) (3) organization founded in 2003, serves thousands of New Yorkers and visitors annually – students, teachers, artists, seniors and general audiences, ages 8-80+, to promote music education, and build more creative and inclusive communities through jazz music, theater and dance education and performance.   

ABOUT HARLEM SCHOOL OF THE ARTS

New York City’s premier community arts and youth development institution, the Harlem School of the Arts, the Herb Alpert Center has been uniquely positioned at the intersection of arts, community, education, and social justice, and through the transformational power of the arts, dedicated to bringing equity of opportunity to every student. The institution’s reputation for artistic rigor and excellence attracts students of diverse socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds from the five New York City boroughs as well as Westchester County and the tri-state area, which includes Connecticut and New Jersey. HSA’s alumni and faculty are counted among the most talented leaders in the arts. 

Founded by concert soprano Dorothy Maynor 60 years ago, HSA has enriched the lives of tens of thousands of young people through world-class training in the arts. HSA offers its students the freedom to develop the artist and citizen within themselves in an environment that teaches discipline, stimulates creativity, builds self- confidence, and adds a dimension of beauty to their lives, empowering them to become creative thinkers and innovative leaders of tomorrow. 

Press Contact: Sam Mattingly

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