Jazz on a High Floor in the Afternoon:
Joanne Brackeen

Floor 8

Curated by celebrated jazz pianist, composer, and visual artist Jason Moran and Whitney performance curator Adrienne Edwards, Jazz on a High Floor in the Afternoon is a series of live in-gallery performances presented over nine weekends. The series features cross-generational artists performing within Moran’s three mixed-media “set sculptures”—STAGED: Savoy Ballroom 1 (2015), STAGED: Three Deuces (2015), and STAGED: Slugs’ Saloon (2018). Each installation pays homage to an iconic New York jazz venue.

A child prodigy, Joanne Brackeen learned to play the piano at age eleven and was performing professionally at twelve. She apprenticed with some of the greatest jazz names, including Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, Joe Henderson, and Stan Getz, before performing and traveling extensively with her own bands. Brackeen has written 300 compositions and recorded twenty-five albums as bandleader. In 2018, she was awarded the highest honor given to living jazz musicians, the title of NEA Jazz Master. Her playing epitomizes the history and evolution of jazz from traditional to free, and everything in between—all with a contemporary edge.

Friday, November 22
5 & 7 pm*

Saturday, November 23
2 & 4 pm

Tickets are required ($25 adults; $18 members, students, seniors, and visitors with a disability) and include Museum admission. 

*Tickets for performances during Pay-What-You-Wish hours (Fridays, 7–10 pm) will be distributed day-of, on a first come, first served basis at the Museum starting at 7 pm.

See all performances from the Jazz on A High Floor in the Afternoon series.