Bobby Weir & Sun Ra Arkestra to Headline Jazz Foundation of America Benefit

Bobby Weir and Sun Ra Arkestra will headline A Great Night in Harlem fundraiser for the Jazz Foundation of America. 

The annual benefit will take place March 28 at The Apollo in Harlem. Its name plays off of A Great Day in Harlem, the classic 1958 Art Kane black-and-white photograph for Esquire that featured more than 50 jazz musicians seated on and surrounding a brownstone stoop. 

The event, with Steve Jordan as musical director, will also feature a tribute to drummer Max Roach, who would have turned 100 in January, with Charles Tolliver, Dee Dee Bridgewater, George Cables, Billy Harper and Rufus Reid, as well as the Titans of Jazz Drums with Al Foster, Billy Hart and Louis Hayes. 

The evening will honor Richard Parsons with JFA’s Dr. Billy Taylor Humanitarian Award. Parsons is the former chairman of Citigroup and former chairman/CEO of Time Warner. 

Parsons is stepping down after 15 years as JFA chairman and will be succeeded by JFA president Jarrett Lilien. Board member Dr. Daveed D. Frazier will become president of the JFA board of directors. Last year’s event honored Clarence Avant, Dave Grusin and Charles Lloyd at Los Angeles’ Vibrato Grill Jazz. 

Proceeds from the benefit fund JFA programs that provide housing assistance, pro-bono healthcare, disaster relief and direct financial support to musicians and their families. For the past 35 years, JFA has been assisting not only jazz musicians, but artists in blues, roots and R&B genres. 

For more information on tickets for the March 28 event, go to JFA@eventassociatesinc.com. For individual concert tickets, go to jazzfoundation.org/gala2024.