(NEW YORK, NY) -- JAZZ HOUSE KiDS announced world-renowned singer-songwriter, musician, actor, activist and 17-time GRAMMY-winner Sting as the special guest for the RALPH PUCCI 8th Annual Jazz Set, The Lowdown: Conversations with Christian® on February 28, 2024. Sting will perform alongside eight-time GRAMMY-winning virtuosic bassist and JAZZ HOUSE Artistic Director Christian McBride. The two will deliver a once-in-a-lifetime evening, performing together, trading stories, and celebrating Sting’s illustrious career.
McBride and Sting have collaborated frequently over the years, including on Sting’s albums All This Time and Sacred Love, McBride’s album Conversations with Christian, and for a number of live performances. “I’m so glad Sting was able to join us for the annual RALPH PUCCI Jazz Set for JAZZ HOUSE in 2024,” says McBride. “He is a dear friend of mine and someone full of knowledge and wisdom. I was honored to play bass on his album All This Time and in his touring band and look forward to playing with him again in February.”
The intimate evening will benefit JAZZ HOUSE KiDS, an nationally acclaimed nonprofit that uses the power and legacy of jazz to give young people an artistic edge, providing access to world-class education and performances, no matter what their financial constraints. A talented group of JAZZ HOUSE students will join Sting and McBride for the finale.
The backdrop of this exceptional musical pairing is the ultra-modern 30,000 square-foot New York City showroom and warehouse of RALPH PUCCI International, a special setting filled with limited-edition designs, from furniture to lighting to art. This is the eighth year Ralph Pucci has partnered with JAZZ HOUSE to turn the New York luxury furniture design gallery into a world-class jazz club. McBride’s past special guests have included Norah Jones, Wynton Marsalis, Diana Krall, Laurie Anderson, Gregory Porter, John Pizzarelli and Esperanza Spalding.
VIP event packages to the RALPH PUCCI 8th Annual Jazz Set go on sale starting Monday, December 18 with patron tickets released mid-January. Information is here.
Composer, singer-songwriter, actor, author, and activist Sting was born in Newcastle, England before moving to London in 1977 to form The Police with Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers. The band released five studio albums, earned six GRAMMY Awards® and two Brits, and was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003.
One of the world’s most distinctive solo artists, Sting has received an additional 11 GRAMMY Awards®, two Brits, a Golden Globe, an Emmy, four Oscar nominations, a TONY nomination, Billboard Magazine’s Century Award, and MusiCares 2004 Person of the Year. In 2003, he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for his myriad of contributions to music. Also a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, he has received the Kennedy Center Honors, The American Music Award of Merit and The Polar Music Prize. Sting has received Honorary Doctorates of Music by the University of Northumbria (1992), Berklee College of Music (1994), University of Newcastle upon Tyne (2006) and Brown University at its 250th Commencement ceremony (2018).
Throughout his illustrious career, Sting has sold 100 million albums from his combined work with The Police and as a solo artist.
Christian McBride is an eight-time GRAMMY®-winning bassist, composer, and bandleader. He is the Artistic Director of the historic Newport Jazz Festival, the New Jersey Performing Art Center’s TD James Moody Festival, and the National Jazz Museum in Harlem. McBride is also a respected educator and advocate for youth, and serves as Artistic Director of JAZZ HOUSE KiDS and the Jazz Aspen Snowmass Summer Sessions.
In addition to artistic directing and consistent touring with his ensembles, he hosts NPR’s “Jazz Night in America” and “The Lowdown: Conversations With Christian” on SiriusXM. Whether behind the bass or away from it, Christian McBride is always part of the music. From jazz to R&B, and pop/rock and hip-hop/neo-soul to classical, he is a luminary with one hand ever reaching for new heights, and the other extended in fellowship—and perhaps the hint of a challenge—inviting us to join him.
RALPH PUCCI International is a luxury furniture, lighting and mannequin company based in New York City. What began as a family business in the 1950s fabricating mannequins has grown to a gallery and showroom regarded as one of the best in the world, with outposts in Miami, Los Angeles and London.
Now in its third decade, JAZZ HOUSE KiDS transforms lives using the power and legacy of jazz through world-class education and performances that create avenues of access, learning, career development and community building. The organization and students have received more than 150 awards and honors for excellence in jazz and jazz education. Every day of the week through a series of in-school programs in New Jersey and out-of-school programs in Montclair and New York City, JAZZ HOUSE helps young people gain an artistic edge, fostering community leaders and global citizens who help us build thriving communities. JAZZ HOUSE produces 150+ free public concerts per year to audiences close to 150,000, including the organization’s far-reaching cultural signature program, the award-winning MONTCLAIR JAZZ FESTIVAL, the largest free jazz festival in the NYC area, attracting 25,000+ attendees to downtown Montclair each year.
Photo of Christian McBride by Ebru Yildiz
