In February, Flushing Town Hall will present a lineup of performances and programs celebrating the Lunar New Year and kicking off Black History Month with its first trilogy spotlighting one of the founding fathers of rock ‘n’ roll, Chuck Berry.
SCHOOL PERFORMANCE: The Dragon King
Thursday, Feb. 2, 10 a.m.
Free admission
Celebrate Lunar New Year with an award-winning puppetry show “The Dragon King,” a heart-warming underwater fantasy based on Chinese folklore. A terrible drought has overtaken the land, and all the world has turned brown and lifeless. The Dragon King is ruler of the waters, and the people are beginning to wonder why he has not brought the precious rains in such a very long time. The tale stars an intrepid grandmother who journeys to the bottom of the sea to seek the Dragon King and save the world from this terrible drought. With colorful sea creatures, an exciting adventure, and all the gorgeous puppets of the Tanglewood Marionettes, “The Dragon King” is sure to thrill young and old alike.
Black History Month Trilogy #1 – The Chuck Berry Rock & Roll Concert Party
Friday, Feb. 3, 8 p.m.
In-person tickets: $15/$12 members, seniors and students with ID
During Black History Month (also known as African-American History Month), FTH will celebrate one of the founding fathers of rock ‘n’ roll, Chuck Berry. His profound impact on the genre has named his music as the DNA of rock ‘n’ roll itself. Enjoy an energetic night celebrating Chuck Berry’s music and legacy performed by Keith “The Captain” Gamble. A New York premier vocalist and blues guitarist, Keith Gamble, who is also a Chuck Berry initiate, has performed with his band in Europe, Africa and in venues across America. Get your dancing shoes ready to rock and roll with us, celebrating the musical legacy of Chuck Berry in concert and dance!
Second Annual Chinese Documentary Film Festival
Saturday, Feb. 4, 10 a.m.
In-person tickets: Free
Flushing Town Hall is excited to house for the second time the Chinese Documentary Film Festival. Filmmakers and lovers of film are welcome to come for free to view three documentary screenings followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers. Featured documentaries include: “Shanghai Queer” (上海酷儿); “Hard Love” (炼爱); and “No Rule is Our Rule” (没有规则是我们的规则).
Louis Armstrong Legacy Monthly Jazz Jam
Wednesday, Feb. 8, 7 p.m.
In-person tickets: $10/free for members, students and jamming musicians
Monthly Jazz Jams return live at Flushing Town Hall the second Wednesday of every month! Open to professional jazz musicians, graduate students studying jazz, music educators and serious hobbyists, Louis Armstrong Legacy Monthly Jazz Jams invites musicians to perform at Flushing Town Hall. All are welcome, regardless of instrument (vocalists, too!). Our Steinway baby grand and drum kit are available at each jam. Health and safety protocols will be in place so bring a mask, and feel free to bring your own microphone. House band and jam sessions are led by Carol Sudhalter, with Joe Vincent Tranchina, Scott Neumann and Eric Lemon. Don’t play, but love jazz? Come listen!
For the last 17 months since March 2020, more than 200 musicians from over a dozen countries as far as New Zealand, Italy and South Africa, have participated in the virtual monthly jams. Over 7,000 viewers from across the globe have enjoyed the music and tuned in to the monthly jams to listen as the venue moved its programming online.
This program is supported in part by a grant from The Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation, Inc.
Black History Month Trilogy #2 – The Challenge to Defy Gravity
Friday, Feb. 10, 8 p.m.
In-person tickets: $15/$12 members, seniors and students with ID
Travel back in time to the 1920s Savoy Ballroom as music director Frank Owens and choreographer and dance historian Mickey Davidson team up to present a dance experience like no other. Flushing Town Hall’s second Black History Month trilogy celebrates the gravity-defying contributions of Frankie Manning and Norma Miller known as The Lindy Hop and Air Steps. Coupled with swing music tributes once played at The Savoy Ballroom, you can take part in celebrating history with us.
Audiences will learn from Davidson dances from the swing era and history of African American Dances. Then they’ll get to put their new moves to practice as Owens and a swing band transport the audience to the 1920s through an unforgettable concert. Also joining the night will be the talented Theara J. Ward, Music Director Patience Higgins, The Savoy Swingers and Harvest Moon Hoppers.
“This Is Home” Artist Talk – Lunar New Year Photo Exhibition
Thursday, Feb. 16, 7 p.m.
Discussion is free and open to all
Join Janice Chung, Cindy Trinh and An Rong Xu, the artists presented in Flushing Town Hall’s Lunar New Year Exhibition “This Is Home,” for an artist talk where the NYC-based photographers will talk about their work, connecting with AAPI communities, and telling the stories of those communities. Moderated discussion streamed live on Zoom. Q&A to follow.
Black History Month Trilogy #3 – Soul Men: Music of Marvin Gaye, Otis Redding and More with Billy Cliff
Friday, Feb. 24, 8 p.m.
In-Person Tickets: $15/$12 members, seniors and students with ID
Flushing Town Hall will conclude its Black History Month trilogy series with a fun and funky mix of music and cinema. Soul Men is a chronological journey of the most iconic African American singers who helped to define the genre dubbed “soul music.” Starting from the classics to the big screen, vocalist Billy Cliff will lead the audience through the works of Isaac Hayes’s composition in “Shaft,” Curtis Mayfield’s soundtrack in “SuperFly” and Marvin Gaye’s film score in “Trouble Man.”
Billy Cliff has sung with artists Freddie Jackson, Angela Bofill. He has also been chosen as the lead vocalist for Kool & The Gang, the jazz Group Spyro Gyra, The Blues Brothers Band, Dianne Reeves and many more!
Mini-Global Mashup: Argentina Meets France
Sunday, Feb. 26, 1 p.m.
In-person tickets: $15/$12 members, seniors and students with ID
Virtual tickets: Watch with Culture Stream subscription ($5/month – cancel anytime)
Living in the United States since 1980, Argentine-born bassist and composer Pablo Aslan is recognized internationally as one of the leading figures in traditional and contemporary tango. His extensive discography includes Piazzolla in Brooklyn, a jazz-tango tribute to Astor Piazzolla, and Tango Grill. The latter earned him nominations for a Latin Grammy Award (“Best Tango Album”) and a Grammy Award (“Best Latin Jazz Album”). He performs and tours with a variety of ensembles, including his own ’50s tango dance band The Aces of Rhythm, with the Emilio Solla Tango Jazz Orchestra, Meg Okura’s Pan Asian Ensemble, composer Frank London’s ensembles, Brian Marsella’s Gatos do Sul and with members of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in Lalo Schifrin’s “Letters from Argentina.”
Heralded as “the next accordion star” by Howard Reich of the Chicago Tribune, Julien Labro has established himself as one of the foremost accordion and bandoneón players in both the classical and jazz genres. Deemed to be “a triple threat: brilliant technician, poetic melodist and cunning arranger,” his artistry, virtuosity and creativity as a musician, composer and arranger have earned him international acclaim and continue to astonish audiences worldwide.
Raised in a musical family in southern France, Eléonore Weill spent her youth surrounded by both classical and traditional music. She holds diplomas in recorder, piano, music theory and chamber music from the Regional Conservatory of Toulouse and the National Conservatory of Paris, and also learned from the “Street Music School” playing Mediterranean traditional music (mostly Occitane, Romanian and Jewish music) on wooden flutes, hurdy gurdy and accordion.
She then went on to complete a master’s degree in ethnomusicology from Sorbonne University in Paris and spent a year living and studying folk music in Romania. She has enjoyed a versatile career performing early, classical and contemporary music, klezmer and Yiddish song, Romanian folk music, Occitan folk music, and various other styles on wooden flutes, piano and vocals throughout Europe and the New York metro area with the C.M.B.V. After years of travel and study, Weill now resides in Brooklyn where she performs and teaches music.
