Today, JAZZ HOUSE KiDS announces international singer-songwriter, actor, and activist Angélique Kidjo as the special guest for the fundraiser, RALPH PUCCI 9th Annual Jazz Set, The Lowdown: Conversations with Christian®, on March 6, 2025. Hosted by nine-time GRAMMY-winning bassist and composer Christian McBride, this intimate evening will benefit JAZZ HOUSE KiDS, the nationally acclaimed nonprofit that uses the power and legacy of jazz to give young people an artistic edge—providing them with access to world-class arts education and live performances regardless of financial constraints.
Kidjo is one of the greatest artists in international music today. With an astounding global career that cross-pollinates the West African traditions of her childhood in Benin with elements of American music such as R&B, funk, and jazz, as well as influences from around the world, she is known for her iconic collaborations with Dave Matthews, Sting, Peter Gabriel, Bono, Tina Turner, and John Legend. The five-time GRAMMY Award winner adds to her accolades with a 2025 nomination in the Best Global Music Performance category for “Sunlight To My Soul,” and she was most recently invited to perform at the reopening of Notre Dame.
Christian McBride, host of the evening, shared, “I am thrilled that my good friend Angélique Kidjo will join us for this year’s fundraiser for JAZZ HOUSE. Angélique is not only an important voice musically, but a global ambassador uniting the world through song and carrying the royal lineage of Miriam Makeba from the Motherland.”
Last year’s RALPH PUCCI Jazz Set featured the superstar Sting for a rarefied evening before an intimate audience of 200 guests, raising nearly $800,000 to support JAZZ HOUSE KiDS’ annual arts education and youth development programming, which serves close to 2,000 young people in New York City and New Jersey. During the evening, Sting expressed his appreciation for JAZZ HOUSE’s important work: “It’s a gift to our community and also to the entire world. They say that music education is usually the first thing cut when there are budget cuts. It’s not some frivolous extra—it’s so important for our kids to play music.”
For fans of PUCCI and McBride, the evening has been dubbed the must-attend “event of the season,” with its unique pairing delivering a once-in-a-lifetime night of performances before an intimate audience—offering a glimpse into the world of today’s most celebrated music stars. Past guests have included Norah Jones, Wynton Marsalis, Diana Krall, Esperanza Spalding, Laurie Anderson, Gregory Porter, and John Pizzarelli.
The backdrop for this exceptional musical pairing is Ralph Pucci’s ultra-modern, 30,000-square-foot New York City design gallery showroom and warehouse. The RALPH PUCCI International gallery provides a special setting filled with limited-edition designs by renowned artists—from furniture to lighting to art—offering the perfect blend of world-class artistry both onstage and off. For Ralph Pucci, great design is an ongoing quest to celebrate legendary artists while also looking to the future and supporting emerging talent—a commitment that has led to PUCCI’s lasting support of JAZZ HOUSE.
VIP event packages to the RALPH PUCCI 9th Annual Jazz Set are on sale, and more information is available HERE.
About Angélique Kidjo
Five-time GRAMMY winner Angélique Kidjo is one of the greatest artists in international music today, a creative force with 16 albums to her name. Her striking voice, stage presence, and fluency in multiple cultures and languages have earned her respect from peers and broadened her following across national borders. Time Magazine called her “Africa’s premier diva,” and named her one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World for 2021. The BBC recognized her as one of the continent’s 50 most iconic figures, and in 2011 The Guardian listed her among the Top 100 Most Inspiring Women in the World. Forbes Magazine has ranked Kidjo as the first woman on their list of the Most Powerful Celebrities in Africa. In 2015, she received the prestigious Crystal Award from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, followed by the 2016 Amnesty International Ambassador of Conscience Award, the 2018 German Sustainability Award, the 2023 Vilcek Prize in Music, and the 2023 Polar Music Prize.
Kidjo travels the world advocating on behalf of children in her capacity as a UNICEF and OXFAM Goodwill Ambassador. At the 2019 G7 Summit, President Emmanuel Macron of France named Kidjo as the spokesperson for the AFAWA initiative (Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa) to help close the financing gap for women entrepreneurs in Africa. She has also created her own charitable foundation, Batonga, dedicated to supporting the education of young girls in Africa.
About Christian McBride
Christian McBride is a nine-time GRAMMY®-winning bassist, composer, and bandleader. He serves as the Artistic Director of the historic Newport Jazz Festival, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center’s TD James Moody Jazz Festival, and the National Jazz Museum in Harlem. McBride is also a respected educator and youth advocate, acting as Artistic Director of JAZZ HOUSE KiDS and the Jazz Aspen Snowmass Summer Sessions. In addition to artistic directing and touring with his ensembles, he hosts NPR’s “Jazz Night in America” and “The Lowdown: Conversations With Christian” on SiriusXM.
Whether behind the bass or away from it, McBride is always part of the music. From jazz to R&B, pop/rock to hip-hop/neo-soul, and even classical, he is a luminary—one hand ever reaching for new heights, the other extended in fellowship (and perhaps offering a hint of a challenge), inviting us to join him. McBride’s newest album, But Who’s Gonna Play The Melody?, was recorded with renowned bassist, composer, and seven-time GRAMMY® Award-winner Edgar Meyer. Released in 2024 via Mack Avenue Records, it debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Classical Crossover chart.
