{"id":251636,"date":"2026-06-02T00:48:58","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T00:48:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/251636\/"},"modified":"2026-06-02T00:48:58","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T00:48:58","slug":"photos-jazz-power-initiative-syncopated-celebration-2026-fundraiser","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/251636\/","title":{"rendered":"Photos: Jazz Power Initiative SYNCOPATED CELEBRATION 2026 Fundraiser"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jazz Power Initiative recently held its Syncopated Celebration 2026 fundraiser, hosted by 11-time Grammy Award winner Christian McBride. The event brought together artists, educators, supporters, and community leaders for an evening of performances and award presentations celebrating jazz education and community engagement.\u00a0Check out photos from the celebration below.<\/p>\n

The organization’s youth ensemble, Zah!, performed during the evening under the direction of vocal coach Antoinette Montague. The group opened the awards program with Don Pullen’s Listen to the People and later returned to the stage alongside McBride, saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin, drummer Alvester C. Garnett, and Jazz Power Initiative co-founder and Managing and Artistic Director Dr. Eli Yamin.<\/p>\n

Among the honorees recognized during the fundraiser were Council Member Carmen De La Rosa, who received the Miranda Family Champion of Arts and Culture Award, WBGO President and CEO Steve A. Williams, who received the Rothman Family Syncopated Partnership Award, and saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin, who received the JPI Changemaker Award. During the event, Dr. Eli Yamin was also presented with the Jazz Journalists Association 2026 Manhattan Jazz Hero Award by journalist Ron Scott.<\/p>\n

The evening concluded with a jam session led by McBride, Benjamin, Garnett, and Yamin, featuring selections including Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Lady and Charles Mingus’ Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting.<\/p>\n

Photo Credit: Tanya Kulesh<\/p>\n

\"Photos:

\nJPI Syncopated Celebration 2026 cocktail reception<\/p>\n

\"Photos:

\nChristian McBride<\/a>, Ron Scott<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Photos:

\nWendy Rothman with guests.<\/p>\n

\"Photos:

\nCurtis Archer, Christian McBride<\/a>, Tracy Hyter-Suffern and Rev. Kirk Lyons<\/p>\n

\"Photos:

\nDena Englehardt, Board Treasurer, with guest.<\/p>\n

\"Photos:

\nMs. Prego, Luis Miranda<\/a>, Jr. Annette A. Aguilar, and Evelin Collado.<\/p>\n

\"Photos:

\nAntoinette Montague.<\/p>\n

\"Photos:

\nTanya LeMelle<\/p>\n

\"Photos:

\nChristian McBride<\/a>, Tanya LeMelle.<\/p>\n

\"Photos:

\nCarmen De La Rosa, Luis Miranda<\/a>, Jr. and Tanya LeMelle.<\/p>\n

\"Photos:

\nDr. Eli Yamin, Steve Williams<\/a>, Dorthaan Kirk and Wendy Rothman.<\/p>\n

\"Photos:

\nLakecia Benjamin, Bob Stewart<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Photos:

\nDr. Eli Yamin, Ron Scott<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Photos:

\nJPI’s young ensemble Zah!<\/p>\n

\"Photos:

\nChristian McBride<\/a>, Dr. E., Alvester C. Garnett, and Lakecia Benjamin<\/p>\n

\"Photos:

\nJPI Syncopated Celebration 2026<\/p>\n


\n \"Theater
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

\n 2026 Theater Fans’ Choice Awards – Live Stats\n <\/p>\n

\n Best Scenic Design – Top 3\n <\/p>\n

\n 1.
\n Dane Laffrey – The Lost Boys <\/p>\n

\n 32.7% of votes\n <\/p>\n

\n 2.
\n Scott Pask – Schmigadoon! <\/p>\n

\n 10.2% of votes\n <\/p>\n

\n 3.
\n Soutra Gilmour – Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) <\/p>\n

\n 9.3% of votes\n <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jazz Power Initiative recently held its Syncopated Celebration 2026 fundraiser, hosted by 11-time Grammy Award winner Christian McBride.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":251637,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[128,9,24,63,129,131,130],"class_list":["post-251636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-the-bronx","tag-bronx","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-the-bronx","tag-the-bronx-headlines","tag-the-bronx-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251636"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251636\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/251637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}