Jazz at One joins the celebration of Trinity’s decade-long organ project this fall, presenting some of the jazz world’s organ wizards as guest artists and exploring how the organ, historically built into a church’s architecture, came to expand the range — and deepen the soul — of jazz. In 1935, American engineer Laurens Hammond invented the B3 organ, a smaller, freestanding electric instrument that became especially popular in the Black church. It allowed artists from Fats Waller to Duke Ellington to bring the distinctive gospel-rooted sound from sacred spaces to soul-infused clubs, where it quickly redefined expression and groove. Join today’s jazz talents as they show off the B3’s captivating sound in the sacred space for which it was originally intended.

Trinity presents Jazz at One in collaboration with JAZZ HOUSE KiDS to showcase some of the most prolific and influential artists in music history.

Matthew Whitaker Organ Trio

Jazz pianist Matthew Whitaker began making music at age three after his grandfather gave him a keyboard; he grew up to perform at the Kennedy Center and Lincoln Center. Also a drummer and composer, Whitaker, who was born with blindness, has collaborated with the multi-talented Jon Batiste and famed bassist Christian McBride, both winners of multiple Grammys. He has appeared on Showtime at the Apollo, the Today show, Ellen, and 60 Minutes; starred, produced, and scored the Emmy-nominated documentary About Tomorrow; and scored the film Starkeisha, now streaming on Hulu. Whitaker’s current CD, On Their Shoulders: An Organ Tribute — an homage to his own Hammond heroes — has been nominated for Outstanding Jazz Album by the NAACP Image Awards.

Time: 1:00 pm EDT

Free!

Registration