Local Jamaica residents gathered at the Queens Public Library to enjoy a free holiday-themed jazz concert featuring world-class musicians.
The band strung together by various artists played classic Christmas songs with a jazz-twist that filled the room with soulful cheer. Bryan Carter, who won the “Best Orchestrations” category at the 2023 Tony Awards as co-composer of Broadway’s “Some Like It Hot,” led the band.
Carter was named a nominee in 66th Annual Grammy Awards set to take place in February.
“This music is all about community. It’s all about conversation, it’s about hearing the community and it’s about seeing the community,” said Carter when asked why a musician of his caliber would play a free show at a local library.
The concert was held by Culture Connection — a program at the Queens Public Library whose mission statement is to bring “world-class arts and culture” to local Jamaica and Queens residents. Many members of the audience were returning to the auditorium for the first time since the COVID-19 lockdown.
“It was a wonderful experience. It felt nice to enjoy the moment and some good music in such an intimate environment so close to home,” said Sammy Ali who was a first-time attendee to a Culture Connection concert.
Dan Zaleski, the curator for Culture Connection for over a decade, expressed his over-the-moon excitement to the audience before introducing the band.
“We are facing some real challenges, so you got to talk to your elected officials if the library is important to you,” said Zaleski to the audience. He met Carter through Alphonso Horne who was the first musician to perform for Culture Connection.
Carter and his band were joined by vocalist Martina DaSilva who was raised in New York City. DaSilva has released eight jazz albums — half of which she recorded and produced herself during lockdown. She was recognized by Vanity Fair as one of the leading jazz artists of her generation in 2015.
They played holiday classics such as “Frosty the Snowman” and “All I Want for Christmas Is You” with a calm intensity that left the crowd tapping their feet and singing along. Each member of the band played a solo at some point in the night and were met by a round of applause by an audience of around 20 people every time.
“I hope that they saw us, one, having fun and they see young people who really care about jazz, Black-American music, American music and they see that this whole thing is alive,” said Carter.Culture Connection has many concerts, author readings and sit downs in the works as they return from lockdown, with the only one on the books being a program with award-winning filmmaker Ira Sachs.
