Herb Alpert Sculpture Debut at Jazz Museum

New Orleans Jazz Museum Receives Herb Alpert Sculpture and Program Support From Legendary Musician and Artist

Herb Alpert gifts New Orleans Jazz Museum a major bronze sculpture and his Foundation awards grant for programming, live performances and support for the new Jazz Education Center

NEW ORLEANS (December 5, 2019) — On December 7, 2019, the New Orleans Jazz Museum will publicly premiere a sculpture for their new Sculpture Garden, The Bass Player, by legendary musician and artist Herb Alpert. In addition, Alpert and his wife Lani Hall, through their Herb Alpert Foundation, have awarded a grant to the New Orleans Jazz Museum to support the construction of the museum’s new Jazz Education Center. The grant will also establish the Herb Alpert Live Performance Fund for ongoing jazz education and live performances. Commemorating this partnership, The Bass Player, created by Herb Alpert, will be installed in the museum’s new outdoor Sculpture Garden. The garden is located on the grounds of the New Orleans Jazz Museum at the corner of Barracks and N. Peters St. in the French Quarter.

“The Jazz Museum is committed to an integrated approach to teaching and learning jazz through exploration of performance, history, and culture. Jazz music, which is integrally linked to improvisation, cultivates creativity, self-awareness, and self-expression,” says Greg Lambousy, New Orleans Jazz Museum Director. “This commitment from Herb and his family furthers this mission. We are incredibly grateful and look forward to watching our young people blossom with the Herb Alpert Foundation’s generous investment.”

Herb Alpert’s lifelong passion for music and its subsequent impact on his life led him to focus his philanthropic support on arts education.

“Built on a constantly evolving tradition, Jazz is a powerful form of musical expression that should be nurtured and supported for the benefit of future generations.” Mr. Alpert stated. “I hope this gift to the New Orleans Jazz Museum will help children and adults learn more about the beauty of this uniquely American art form.”

The Jazz Education Center is at the heart of the Jazz Museum and delivers the core of the Museum’s mission: to celebrate the history of jazz in all its forms, to a broad audience of children, students, and adults. The Jazz Education Center will provide meeting and instructional space for young participants arriving for camps, workshops, music lessons, performances, and field trips. Enhanced with live music from the Herb Alpert Live Performance Fund, students of all ages will find the Museum’s Jazz Education Center to be a lively, participatory, fun, and engaging place to visit and to learn.

The installation of the Herb Alpert sculpture in the Museum’s new Sculpture Garden serves as an appropriate addition to the Jazz Museum’s second annual gala, Improvisations Gala, taking place on Saturday, December 7, where the sculpture will be formally announced. For tickets and sponsorships, visit www.nolajazzmuseum.org/gala. Email inquiries to gala@nolajazzmuseum.org.

About the Improvisations Gala

As night falls, come together for an elegant and extemporized mix of music, dancing, art, and illuminations at our Improvisations Gala 2019 on Saturday, December 7, 2019. The patron party kicks off at 7:00 p.m. inside the third-floor performance venue at the New Orleans Jazz Museum. The historic and exclusive celebration features an elegant cocktail hour, catering from Ruth’s Chris, and intimate performances by Grammy award winners Dee Dee Bridgewater and Christian McBride, along with Adonis Rose, Detroit Brooks, and Shea Pierre. Improvisations features libations, spectacular New Orleans cuisine, an exciting mix of the finest local and national musical talents, a live silent auction with a selection of coveted items, and a dazzling Sound Collage installation in conjunction with the LUNA Fête Celebration of Light. Musical lineup includes The Soul Rebels, Pinettes Brass-Band featuring Big Freedia, Lena Prima, Charmaine Neville, Meschiya Lake, Seth Finch Trio, Treme-Lafitte Brass Band, and Big Queen Mary Kay Stevenson of the Original Wild Tchoupitoulas Mardi Gras Indians and Carol Harris aka Baby Doll Kit and the N'awlins Dawlins Baby Dolls. Herlin Riley, Wendell Brunious, Shea Pierre and special guest Stephanie Jordan will perform with students from the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCCA) and the Trombone Shorty Foundation & Trombone Shorty Music Academy, with more artists to be announce.

All proceeds from Improvisations will help the Jazz Museum to globally promote jazz as one of the most innovative, historically pivotal musical art forms through highly-interactive exhibits, as well as support ongoing musical and educational programming.

About the Herb Alpert Foundation

The Herb Alpert Foundation envisions a world in which all young people are blessed with opportunities that allow them to reach their potential and lead productive and fulfilling lives. Over the past few years, the Foundation has focused on core areas, such as “The Arts,” a broad category that includes arts education, a focus on jazz, and support to professionals. This also includes programs that seek to use the arts to help meet the needs of underserved youth and to help build competencies that will enable them to become successful adults. The other core area is “Compassion and Well-Being,” which celebrates the positive aspects of human psychology and seeks to bring more empathy and compassionate behavior into our society. Please note: the Foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals.