This January, The National Jazz Museum in Harlem continues to offer a wide range of top quality free programming and affordable concerts from jazz’s most celebrated musicians, educators and historians.Our flagship educational program, Jazz For Curious Listeners, focuses on the visionary work of composer/saxophonist Wayne Shorter, with a series of events that shed light on various aspects of his genius. This series is presented in collaboration with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, which is presenting Mr. Shorter in concert at Carnegie Hall on February 1.Jazz at the Players returns with Israeli multi-reed player Anat Cohen, in duo with pianist Bruce Barth.Trombonist Luis Bonilla and clarinetist Andrew Sterman bring their ensembles to the Rubin Museum of Art for the NJMH’s longest running concert series, Harlem in the Himalayas.So, as you can see, it’s an action packed month for us, as usual. We hope to see you, your family and friends at as many of our events as you can make during this exciting month at The National Jazz Museum in Harlem. You’re bound to meet other similarly exciting, interesting and vital people – like yourselves!** Please note that our Visitors Center is closed for renovations through February 4th, and open only for evening events. Tuesday, January 8, 2013 Jazz for Curious ListenersWayne’s World (Shorter, That Is)images: Wayne on film7:00 – 8:30pmLocation: Maysles Cinema(343 Lenox Avenue between 127th & 128th)Donation Suggested | For more information: 212-348-8300Highlights on film by the master musician Wayne Shorter, from his first days with At Blakey in 1959 to his current quartet. Wednesday, January 9, 2013Jazz Is: Now!Hosted by Jonathan Batiste and the STAY HUMAN bandSpecial Guest Monica Yunus, Soprano and Co-Founder of Sing for Hope7:00 – 8:30pmLocation: Metropolitan Community United Methodist Church,NE Corner of 126th Street and Madison Avenue, enter on 126thFREE | For more information: 212-348-8300Jazz Is: Now has evolved into a tremendously successful and totally original program headed by NJMH Associate Artistic Director Jonathan Batiste. Audience members participate throughout the evening, playing/singing/dancing/organizing the music (yes!), and having their endorphin levels raised at the same time. If this sounds too good to be true, then make sure you join us for this rousing celebration of the joy of music. Friday, January 11, 2013Harlem in the HimalayasLuis Bonilla7:00pmLocation: Rubin Museum of Art(150 West 17th Street) $20/Door $18/Advance | For more information: rmanyc.orgLuis Bonilla, tromboneIvan Renta, saxophoneBruce Barth, pianoRobert Sabin, bassJohn Riley, drums"Bonilla slips, slides and scurries around some mesmerizing patterns from the rhythm section, neatly balancing the cerebral and the down-and dirty.” – Jazz TimesThe California raised, Costa Rican trombonist, composer and arranger is one of those rare artists whose work is always expanding, taking in more and more while remaining singular and focused: “Bonilla may be a trombonist used to handling that big long sliding thing, but when it comes to execution of his ideas, he lets nothing slide” -- All About JazzOf his first two albums on the Candid label, Pasos Gigantes and iEscucha! (2000) the former made Jazziz's top ten Latin list of 1998. His next album, 2007's Terminal Clarity was a celebration, reflection and aesthetic extension of his years working with Lester Bowie. While retaining the brash harmonic structures of his mentor's work from Brass Fantasy to his earlier and justly famous work with the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Bonilla adds a "contagious exuberance"  (Jazzwise magazine) that is at the heart of his artistic vision. Without in any way diminishing Bowie's audacity, Bonilla manages to balance "the cerebral and the down-and-dirty (Jazz Times), taking "bold steps to merge Latin genres, free jazz and a variety of other influences (Latin Jazz Corner).A heady mix of swing, rock, free jazz, funk, movie soundtracks, avant-garde noise and ballads, I Talking Now (2009), for all its musical diversity, speaks with one voice. It is a distinctly American vision, a gentle craziness that suggests that every one and every sound can co-exist if we just keep on taking in more and more. Luis Bonilla is moving in directions that are expanding our notions of jazz and leading us into startling new realms with "remarkable creativity and versatility" (Newsday). Tuesday, January 15, 2013 Jazz for Curious ListenersWayne’s World (Shorter, That Is)footprints: the early years with Blakey and Davis7:00 – 8:30pmLocation: NJMH Visitors Center(104 E. 126th Street, Suite 2C)FREE | For more information: 212-348-8300Extended listen and look the classic bands that made Wayne Shorter an international name, led by the fiery dynamo Art Blakey and jazz’s ultimate trendsetter, Miles Davis. Wednesday, January 16, 2013 Jazz at The PlayersAnat Cohen/Bruce Barth Duo7:00pmLocation: The Players(16 Gramercy Park South)$20 | For more information: 212-475-6116Clarinetist-saxophonist Anat Cohen has won hearts and minds the world over with her expressive virtuosity and delightful stage presence. Reviewing Anat’s 2008 headlining set with her quartet at the North See Jazz Festival, DownBeat said: “Cohen not only proved to be a woodwind revelation of dark tones and delicious lyricism, but also a dynamic bandleader who danced and shouted out encouragement to her group – whooping it up when pianist Jason Lindner followed her clarinet trills on a Latin-flavored number.With her dark, curly, shoulder-length hair swaying to the beat as she danced, she was a picture of joy.” Anat has been voted Clarinetist of the Year six years in a row by the Jazz Journalists Association, as well as 2012’s Multi-Reeds Player of the Year. That’s not to mention her topping of critics and readers polls in DownBeat magazine several years running. Anat has toured the world with her quartet, headlining at the Newport, Umbria, SF Jazz and North Sea jazz festivals as well as at such hallowed clubs as New York’s Village Vanguard. In September 2012, Anzic Records releases her sixth album as a bandleader, Claroscuro.The album ranges from buoyant dances to darkly lyrical ballads, drawing inspiration from New Orleans and New York, Africa and Brazil. In its ebullient, irresistible variety, Claroscuro encapsulates the description Jazz Police offered of Anat in full flight: “She becomes a singer, a poet, a mad scientist, laughing – musically – with the delight of reaching that new place, that new feeling, with each chorus.” Claroscuro takes its title from the Spanish word describing the play of light and shade (chiaroscuro in Italian).The album showcases Anat’s fluency in a global set of styles, from creolized New Orleans chanson and the evergreen swing of an Artie Shaw tune to African grooves and Brazilian choro, samba and more. Playing clarinet, bass clarinet and tenor and soprano saxophones, she was joined in the studio by her top-flight working band – pianist Jason Lindner, double-bassist Joe Martin and drummer Daniel Freedman – as well as special guests: trombonist/vocalist Wycliffe Gordon, percussionist Gilmar Gomes and star clarinetist Paquito D’Rivera. Recorded at Avatar Studios in Manhattan, Claroscuro comprises music from America, France, Brazil and South Africa played by kindred spirits from Israel, America, Brazil and Cuba. Reflecting on the naturally communicative, one-take spontaneity of the album, Anat says: “I’m playing with some of my favorite musicians in the world, and we all speak a common language, no matter where we come from.”Jazz pianist and composer Bruce Barth has been sharing his music with listeners the world over for more than two decades. Deeply rooted in the jazz tradition, his music reflects both the depth and breadth of his life and musical experiences. In addition to traveling widely performing his own music, he has also performed with revered jazz masters, as well as collaborated with leading musicians of his own generation. And most notably, his performances feature material from his large book of very powerful and imaginative original compositions, written in a voice that is both deeply personal and expressive. In a recent review in the Newark Star-Ledger, Zan Stewart writes “No one sounds quite like Barth. His solos are characterized by robust swing, his ability to tell a story, and by his rich, beguiling sound.”Bruce has performed on over one hundred recordings and movie soundtracks, including ten as a leader. He is equally at home playing solo piano (American Landscape on Satchmo Jazz Records), leading an all-star septet (East and West on MaxJazz), and composing for a variety of ensembles. His trio has recorded live at the legendary Village Vanguard in New York City, and he recently released a new DVD, Live at Café del Teatre, on Quadrant, recorded live at the Lleida Jazz Festival in Catalunia.Bruce arrived on the New York jazz scene in 1988, and soon joined the great tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine; their musical collaboration spanned a decade. Shortly thereafter, he toured Japan with Nat Adderley, and toured Europe and recorded with Vincent Herring’s quintet with Dave Douglas.In 1990, Bruce joined the Terence Blanchard Quintet; the band toured extensively, and also recorded six CDs, as well as several movie soundtracks. In 1992, Bruce played piano on-screen in Spike Lee’s Malcolm X.While in Terence Blanchard’s band, Bruce recorded his first two CD’s as a leader, In Focus and Morning Call for the Enja label; both were chosen for the New York Times’ top ten lists. These recordings displayed not only Bruce’s powerfully fluent piano playing, but also the scope of his own compositions and his imaginative arrangements of jazz standards.Throughout his professional life, Bruce has had extended collaborations with Tony Bennett, Steve Wilson, Terell Stafford, Luciana Souza, and Karrin Allyson and David Sanchez. And he has performed with James Moody, Phil Woods, Freddie Hubbard, Tom Harrell, Branford Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis, Art Farmer, Victor Lewis, John Patitucci, Lewis Nash, and the Mingus Big Band.Originally from Pasadena, California, Bruce was born into a musical family, and started banging on the piano almost before he could walk. By age five, he was taking lessons, although he preferred to play by ear. When he turned eight, his family moved to New York, where he studied piano and musicianship with Tony and Sue LaMagra for the next decade. For his fifteenth birthday, Bruce’s older brother, Rich, gave him his first jazz record, Mose Allison’s Back Country Suite. Bruce fell in love with both the music and the genre. Inspired, he taught himself to play jazz by listening to records and imitating his many favorite pianists and horn players. Later on, he studied privately with Norman Simmons and Neil Waltzer, and eventually enrolled in New England Conservatory in Boston, where he studied with Jaki Byard, Fred Hersch, and George Russell. Bruce’s first professional recording was Russell’s masterpiece, The African Game, captured live on Blue Note Records. In 2001, Bruce released East and West, which Stereophile called “one of the best jazz albums in recent memory.” It featured an all-star septet playing Bruce’s compositions based on his childhood memories of the western United States, with its deserts, ranches and ghost towns. Bruce continues to compose extensively for that septet, which has appeared at major jazz clubs in Manhattan including The Jazz Standard and Smoke, as well as at many European jazz festivals.In recent years, Bruce has made three solo piano tours of Japan, and has also performed with his trio throughout the United States and Europe. All About Jazz has described the trio, as heard on the Live at Café del Teatre DVD (featuring Doug Weiss on bass and Montez Coleman on drums) as “marked by keen empathy, sensitivity, and power.”Bruce’s frequent collaborators and band members have included: Adam Kolker, Tim Armacost, Scott Wendholt, George Robert, Dave Stryker, Carla Cook, Paula West, Rene Marie, Brad Leali, Sam Newsome, Luis Bonilla, Doug Weiss, Vicente Archer, Ed Howard, Ugonna Okegwo, Montez Coleman, Dana Hall, Adam Cruz, Pat O’Leary, Dayna Stephens, Chris Lightcap, and Rudy Royston.Bruce served two years on the panel for the U.S. State Department “Jazz Ambassadors” program, choosing jazz bands to represent the United States overseas. He is also a Grammy nominated producer, with more than twenty CDs to his credit.Finally, Bruce is a dedicated teacher, with more than ten years on the jazz faculty of Temple University in Philadelphia. He has also taught at Berklee College of Music, Long Island University, and currently teaches private lessons to City College University and New School students. Bruce has participated in many workshops, clinics, and seminars in the U. S. and abroad; he also maintains a private teaching studio, with students from the U.S., South America, Europe, and Japan. Friday, January 18, 2013Harlem in the HimalayasAndrew Sterman7:00pmLocation: Rubin Museum of Art(150 West 17th Street) $20/Door $18/Advance | For more information: rmanyc.org Andrew Sterman's music has attracted praise from New York ( NYTimes: "beautiful and sensitive playing" ) to Paris ( Liberation: "Fabuleuse") and Australia ( The Age: "a sound as pure as moonlight" ). In addition to presenting his original ensembles, he has performed with a huge variety of major artists from Frank Sinatra, Philip Glass, Freddie Hubbard, Dizzy Gillespie, Sarah Vaughan, Aretha Franklin, to New York's premier new music ensembles, ISCM, EOS Orchestra, Bang On A Can, MATA, and of course is well known for his work in the Philip Glass Ensemble. Equally committed to composed and improvised music, Sterman's Comprovisations integrate both approaches into a wholly new concept. In the concept of Comprovisation , the piece and the performance are inseparable; performers are free to play their parts in a highly intuitive way, while the written composition controls the fundamental expression of the piece. This inspires improvisations unique to each piece which could not occur in another setting. In Sterman's music, traces of classic American song, contemporary composition, free-jazz, world music and many other influences come together to create a unique and deeply moving whole. Tuesday, January 22, 2013Jazz for Curious ListenersWayne’s World (Shorter, That Is)weather report plus7:00 – 8:30pmLocation: NJMH Visitors Center(104 E. 126th Street, Suite 2C)FREE | For more information: 212-348-8300Shorter’s years with the legendary band that included innovators Jaco Pastorius and Joe Zawinul will form the core of this evening’s event, plus interesting projects that grew out of that initial collaboration. Tuesday, January 29, 2013Jazz for Curious ListenersWayne’s World (Shorter, That Is)boundaries: new music +7:00 – 8:30pmLocation: NJMH Visitors Center(104 E. 126th Street, Suite 2C)FREE | For more information: 212-348-8300So much of Shorter’s music is, as Ellington liked to put it, “beyond category”. We’ll delve into the many facets of his Shorter that didn’t fit into the previous week’s session