Jazz Power Youth Master Class

Thursday, March 19, 2019 from 4:30-7:30 PM

United Palace, Washington Heights

Led by master teachers Eli Yamin (music) and Mickey Davidson (dance/theatre) with a special guest, students ages 10-17 will be led through a voice and body warmup and will learn a song and movement.

Students who successfully complete at least one Jazz Power Master Class are eligilble to apply for a full scholarship for 12-week Jazz Power Youth training program which runs April through June. More information on JPI Youth Training here.

This master class is free, but guardians must register their youth.

Special Guest Teaching Artists Carol Maillard and Louise Robinson with Eli Yamin (photo by Kerry Kehoe)

Carol Maillard is one of the founding members of the Grammy Award-winning a cappella ensemble Sweet Honey in the Rock. She was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Although she originally attended Catholic University of America on scholarship as a Violin Performance major, she soon began writing music and performing with the drama department and eventually changed her major to Theater. Carol became an accomplished actress and has performed in film, television, cabaret and on stage. Her theater credits encompass a wide range of styles from musical comedy and revues to drama and experimental. She has worked on Broadway in DONT GET GOD STARTED , ITS SO NICE TO BE CIVILIZED, COMIN UPTOWN , HOME and EUBIE; off-Broadway with the Negro Ensemble Company, the New York Shakespeare Festival and at the Actors Studio and many regional theatre productions. Recently she Reprised her role as Woman Two for a staged reading of Samm Art Williams Tony nominated play HOME for Project 1Voice. Carol served as Conceptual and Creative producer for the 2005 documentary film SWEET HONEY IN THE ROCK: RAISE YOUR VOICE ! on the PBS series American Masters. Produced and directed by Stanley Nelson, the film chronicled SWEET HONEY’s 30th Anniversary year. She also produced the accompanying soundtrack for the film.

Louise Robinson, is one of the founding members of the Grammy Award-winning a cappella ensemble Sweet Honey in the Rock. She is a native New Yorker, studied concert bass for six years and attended the High School of Music and Art. A graduate of Howard University with a BFA, her professional career began at Washington, D.C.’s Arena Stage. Louise accepted Robert Hooks’ invitation to become a member of the new, D.C. Black Repertory Company Acting Ensemble. It was out of this theatre company that Louise, along with Carol Maillard. Bernice Johnson Reagon, and Mie, formed the a cappella quartet, Sweet Honey In The Rock. Louise’s colorful career has taken her up many paths, including performances, both on and off-Broadway, and in film and studio recording. She has also worn the producer’s hat as she, along with Maillard and Smokey Ronald Stevens, produced A Sho Nuff Variety Revue, a series of performances showcasing some of New York’s finest talent, including Adolph Casear, Sandra Reeves Phillips, and legendary tap dancers Gregory Hines, Avon Long, and Joe Attles.

Eli playing Artistic Director Eli Yamin is a pianist, composer, singer, and educator who has been spreading the joy of jazz through his work for 30 years including 10 years as founding director of Jazz at Lincoln Center's Middle School Jazz Academy. Eli tours with his blues band and jazz quartet, has released several CD's and has performed at The White House, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and over 20 countries as a cultural ambassador for the U.S. Department of State. Eli sincerely believes learning about jazz should feel as creative as playing jazz and consistently shares this experience with students of all ages.

Dancer/Choreographer Mickey Davidson won an Audelco award for choreography of "For Colored Girls Who Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf" directed by Ntozake Shange. She joined Dianne McIntyre's ground breaking "Sounds In Motion" in 1975 and danced with the company for eight years. She has worked closely with jazz artists Sun Ra, Cecil Taylor, the World Saxophone Quartet and was mentored by original Savoy Ballroom dancers Frankie Manning and Norma Miller. A beloved New York veteran of arts education, Ms. Davidson has an extensive background in African American dance styles and led the African American Dance program at Wesleyan University for 17 years. In addition to teaching with Jazz Power Initiative, she teaches at the Louis Armstrong Jazz Camp in New Orleans and is a passionate advocate for making the authentic jazz dance traditions available to the next generation.

Jazz Power Initiative is an uptown, New York City-based not for profit 501 (c) (3) organization whose mission is to ignite the power of jazz arts education to transform lives by fostering self-expression, leadership, collaboration and diversity. Jazz Power Initiative was originally founded as The Jazz Drama Program in 2003 by jazz musician/educator Eli Yamin and writer/educator Clifford Carlson. Since then, thousands of young people in New York City, across the US and around the world have made friends with jazz and in jazz through Jazz Power Initiative programs.