Thursday, February 16, 2017, at 8:30 pm

Laura Mvula

Troy Miller, Musical Director and DrumsKarl Rasheed-Abel, BassOli Rockberger, Keyboards

This evening’s program is approximately 75 minutes long and will be performed without intermission.

Produced in association with Jill Newman Productions

Major support for Lincoln Center’s American Songbook is provided by Amy & Joseph Perella.

Endowment support provided by Bank of America

This performance is made possible in part by the Josie Robertson Fund for Lincoln Center.

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Please make certain all your electronic devices are switched off.

The Appel RoomJazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall

American Songbook

We would like to remind you that the sound of coughing and rustling paper mightdistract the performers and your fellow audience members.

In consideration of the performing artists and members of the audience, those who must leave before the end of the performance are asked to do so between pieces. Flash photography and the use of recording equipment are not allowed in the building.

Additional support for Lincoln Center’s American Songbook is provided by Meg and BennettGoodman, Rita J. and Stanley H. Kaplan Family Foundation, Inc., The DuBose and DorothyHeyward Memorial Fund, Jill & Irwin B. Cohen, The Shubert Foundation, Great PerformersCircle, Chairman’s Council, and Friends of Lincoln Center.

Public support is provided by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support ofGovernor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature

American Airlines is the Official Airline of Lincoln Center

Nespresso is the Official Coffee of Lincoln Center

NewYork-Presbyterian is the Official Hospital of Lincoln Center

Artist catering provided by Zabar’s and Zabars.com

UPCOMING AMERICAN SONGBOOK EVENTSIN THE APPEL ROOM:

Friday, February 17, at 8:30 pmJamie Lidell & The Royal Pharaohs

Saturday, February 18, at 8:30 pmSantino Fontana

Wednesday, February 22, at 8:30 pmIndia.Arie

Thursday, February 23, at 8:30 pmBuffy Sainte-Marie

Friday, February 24, at 8:30 pmWilliam Bell

Saturday, February 25, at 8:30 pmRicky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder

Wednesday, March 8, at 8:30 pmThe Songs of Elizabeth Swadosfeaturing Taylor Mac, Grace McLean, Josie de Guzman, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Shaina Taub,and others

Thursday, March 9, at 8:30 pmTanya Tagaq

The Appel Room is located in Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall.

For tickets, call (212) 721-6500 or visit AmericanSongbook.org. Call the Lincoln Center InfoRequest Line at (212) 875-5766 or visit AmericanSongbook.org for complete program infor-mation.

Join the conversation: #LCSongbook

Since bursting onto the culturallandscape in 2013, Laura Mvulahas become one of the U.K.’sfinest exports. From her MercuryPrize nomination and Mobo Awardwins to her BRIT Awards, QAwards, and Ivor Novello Awardnods, she has found herself at theforefront of the current soulrevival. With effortless originalityand a molasses-rich voice thatcontains echoes of Nina Simone,Ms. Mvula invites listeners into a

glowing, poetic world.

Last summer she released The Dreaming Room, the follow-up to her 2013debut album, Sing to the Moon. Prince was an outspoken fan of Sing to theMoon and listened to it before shows. Ms. Mvula’s second album oftenresembles pop music, but with episodic, unusual song structures. There areoff-center drums and explosions of vocal harmonies; “Angel” shifts from acappella to a countryish guitar figure and then to a Baroque harpsichordbacking in the space of three minutes. The Dreaming Room never feels self -conscious or jarring; it’s less the work of an artist showily disregarding therules than one who didn’t wish to learn them in the first place.

Troy Miller

Troy Miller (musical director, drums) is Laura Mvula’s drummer, musicaldirector, and producer. He studied music at the Guildhall School of Music inLondon, where he is now a visiting professor. From 2004, he toured as adrummer and recorded with American vibes legend Roy Ayers for 10 years,which led to tours with the late Don Blackman, Chaka Khan, Tom Browne,Ronnie Laws, and Donna Summer. In 2007 he joined Amy Winehouse’sband as drummer and also worked alongside producer Mark Ronson, whichincluded performances at the Grammys and BRIT Awards in 2008.

Mr. Miller has played on many platinum-selling records, including those ofCeeLo Green & Rumer. As a producer, he has made records with RebeccaFerguson, including Lady Sings the Blues and her latest release,Superwoman. He also produced some of Grammy winner Gregory Porter’sdeluxe album Liquid Spirit. In 2013 he played on Mvula’s critically acclaimedalbum Sing to the Moon. He has now produced her last two albums: Singto the Moon with the Metropole Orchestra and the Mercury Prize–nomi-nated The Dreaming Room. Other artists Mr. Miller has worked and/orrecorded with include Adele, Lulu, Cliff Richard, Macy Gray, Branford

American Songbook I Meet the Artists

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American Songbook I Meet the Artists

Marsalis, Gary Bartz, Lonnie Liston Smith, Daniel Merriweather, Suggs, GloriaGaynor, Grace Jones, Sister Sledge, Q-Tip, and Mark Turner.

Karl Rasheed-Abel

Karl Rasheed-Abel (bass) started playing electric bass at age 15. After severalyears of primarily self-taught studying, Mike Janisch recommended he get adouble bass to explore the sound and feel of the instrument. In 2006 he wasgranted a scholarship to Berklee College of Music, where he had the opportu-nity to perform with several world-renowned jazz artists such as Joe Lovanoand George Garzone. Since returning to the U.K., Mr. Rasheed-Abel has per-formed with an eclectic variety of artists and genres, including pop (LauraMvula, Ms. Dynamite, Omar, Speech Debelle, Bashy), jazz (Jean Toussaint,Soweto Kinch, Femi Temowo, Troy Miller, Abram Wilson, Court ney Pine,Jason Rebello, Shabaka Hutchings), funk (Ronnie Laws, Tom Browne), hip-hop (The I.R.S, Confucius MC, KWAKE), folk, avant-garde, and world (HamidEl Kasri, Dele Sosimi, Arun Ghosh, Jally Keba Soussa).

Oli Rockberger

London-born keys man, singer, songwriter, and producer Oli Rockberger (key-boards) has performed and/or recorded alongside Carly Simon, John Mayer,Steve Gadd, Jesse Harris, Levon Helm, Randy Brecker, Gloria Gaynor, SteveJordan, Judy Collins, Nathan East, Becca Stevens, and Chris Dave and theDrumhedz, among many others. In addition to his work as a member of LauraMvula’s touring band, Mr. Rockberger will be following his acclaimed albumOld Habits (2013) with Sovereign, his fourth studio album to date, to bereleased in September 2017.

American Songbook

In 1998, Lincoln Center launched American Songbook, dedicated to the cele-bration of popular American song. Designed to highlight and affirm the cre-ative mastery of America’s songwriters from their emergence at the turn ofthe 19th century up through the present, American Songbook spans all stylesand genres, from the form’s early roots in Tin Pan Alley and Broadway to theeclecticism of today’s singer-songwriters. American Songbook also show-cases the outstanding interpreters of popular song, including established andemerging concert, cabaret, theater, and songwriter performers.

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc.

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (LCPA) serves three primary roles: presenter of artistic programming, national leader in arts and education and

community relations, and manager of the Lincoln Center campus. A presenterof more than 3,000 free and ticketed events, performances, tours, and educa-tional activities annually, LCPA offers 15 programs, series, and festivals includ-ing American Songbook, Great Performers, Lincoln Center Festival, LincolnCenter Out of Doors, Midsummer Night Swing, the Mostly Mozart Festival, andthe White Light Festival, as well as the Emmy Award–winning Live From LincolnCenter, which airs nationally on PBS. As manager of the Lincoln Center campus,LCPA provides support and services for the Lincoln Center complex and the 11resident organizations. In addition, LCPA led a $1.2 billion campus renovation,completed in October 2012.

Lincoln Center Programming DepartmentJane Moss, Ehrenkranz Artistic DirectorHanako Yamaguchi, Director, Music ProgrammingJon Nakagawa, Director, Contemporary ProgrammingJill Sternheimer, Director, Public ProgrammingLisa Takemoto, Production ManagerCharles Cermele, Producer, Contemporary ProgrammingMauricio Lomelin, Producer, Contemporary ProgrammingAndrew C. Elsesser, Associate Director, ProgrammingRegina Grande Rivera, Associate ProducerNana Asase, Assistant to the Artistic DirectorLuna Shyr, Senior EditorOlivia Fortunato, Programming Assistant

For American SongbookRocky Noel, Lighting DesignScott Stauffer, Sound DesignAngela M. Fludd, Wardrobe AssistantJanet Rucker, Company Manager

Rocky Noel

Lighting designer Rocky Noel returns to Lincoln Center’s American Songbookafter recently completing two weeks on Broadway with Kristin Chenoweth inMy Love Letter to Broadway. Mr. Noel calls New York City home and hasworked extensively with artists such as Liza Minnelli, Barbra Streisand, AlanCumming, Chita Rivera, Christine Ebersole, Elaine Paige, Stephanie J. Block,and Joel Grey, among countless others.

Scott Stauffer

Scott Stauffer has been the sound designer for Lincoln Center’s AmericanSongbook since 1999. His Broadway design credits include A Free Man of Color,

American Songbook

American Songbook

The Rivals, Contact (also in London and Tokyo), Marie Christine, Twelfth Night,and Jekyll & Hyde. Off-Broadway Mr. Stauffer has worked on Subverted,Promises, Hereafter, A Minister’s Wife, Bernarda Alba, Third, Belle Epoque, BigBill, Elegies, Hello Again, The Spitfire Grill, Pageant, and Hedwig and the AngryInch. His regional credits include productions at the Capitol Repertory Theatre,University of Michigan, Hanger Theatre, Berkshire Theatre Festival, ChicagoShakespeare Theater, and Alley Theatre. His concert credits include manyLincoln Center galas, as well as the Actors Fund concerts of Frank Loesser,Broadway 101, Hair, and On the Twentieth Century. At Carnegie Hall he hasworked with Chita Rivera and Brian Stokes Mitchell. As a sound engineer, Mr.Stauffer has worked on The Lion King, Juan Darién, Chronicle of a DeathForetold, Carousel, Once on This Island, and the original Little Shop of Horrors.