“Jazz at the Taylor” rounds out the 2019 season with Ruins Christmas, a holiday concert featuring the Buffalo Jazz Composers Workshop. The show takes place December 7, 2019 at 7:30 PM at the Kenan Center’s Taylor Theater at 433 Locust Street, in Lockport.
Ruins Christmas will be inspired by the “A Christmas Carol”, a familiar tale of the bitter Scrooge finding redemption and fellowship through the Christmas spirit. But that is NOT the story Charles Dickens set out to tell. His first title for the book was “An Appeal to the People of England on behalf of the Poor Man’s Child.” In fact, Dickens set out to write his pamphlet-turned-book in spring 1843, having just read a government report on child labor in the United Kingdom.
According to historian John Broich, “Dickens read the testimony of girls who sewed dresses for the expanding market of middle class consumers; they regularly worked 16 hours a day, six days a week, rooming — like Martha Cratchit — above the factory floor,” writes Broich. “He read of 8-year-old children who dragged coal carts through tiny subterranean passages over a standard 11-hour workday. These were not exceptional stories, but ordinary. Dickens wrote to one of the government investigators that the descriptions left him ‘stricken.’” His goal was for society to treat labor better and recognize the dignity and fellow humanity of the poor.
The Buffalo Jazz Composers Workshop, which includes some of the most celebrated players in the region, will perform original music inspired by the author’s intention. Musicians include Tim Clarke (trumpet), Kelly Bucheger (alto and tenor saxophones), Nelson Rivera (soprano and tenor saxophones), Jared Tinkham (guitar), Alec Dube (vibraphone), Joe Goehle (bass), John Bacon (drums) and Sara Rogers on vocals. Kathleen Rooney will serve as narrator.
Expect an evening of beautiful and compelling music that reframes a beloved story that you thought you knew well — but perhaps didn’t know at all!
Individual tickets for the show are $15 for Kenan Center members and $20 for the general public, and may be purchased online at Ticketleap, in person at the Kenan Center Business Office, or charged by phone. Ample free parking is available onsite. The Taylor Theater is located adjacent to the Kenan house at 433 Locust Street in Lockport, NY. For further information, visit www.kenancenter.org or call 716-433-2617. Because seating is limited, advance tickets are recommended.