Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra Plays 'From Cuba to the Crescent City' With Pedrito Martinez and Weedie Braimah

Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO) will perform From Cuba to the Crescent City on Friday, Oct. 23, and Saturday, Oct. 24, at 7:30 p.m. in Rose Theater at Frederick P. Rose Hall in New York. Jazz at Lincoln Center describes the program as an exploration of "the deep and enduring connections between jazz and the African diaspora."

The concert features selections from three of Marsalis's original suites: Ochas, Afro! and Congo Square. According to the organization, the program blends Yoruba-inspired portraits, Afro-Cuban rhythms and Ghanaian musical traditions with the communal heritage of jazz handed down from 19th-century New Orleans. The orchestra is joined by Cuban percussionist and singer Pedrito Martinez, djembe player Weedie Braimah and vocalist Shenel Johns.

All three guests have history with this music. Marsalis's official website says Martinez collaborated on Ochas, a suite that blends jazz with the folkloric music of Cuba and the Afro-Cuban Santería tradition and premiered at Jazz at Lincoln Center in 2014; at that premiere his trio of batá drummers played alongside the big band. Braimah and Johns were the featured guests at the world premiere of Afro!, the seven-movement suite that opened Jazz at Lincoln Center's 2025-26 Mother Africa season in September 2025 before the orchestra's first multi-city tour of Africa. Congo Square, which evokes the New Orleans site where enslaved Africans gathered to dance and drum, premiered in 2006 and was composed for the JLCO and the Ghanaian percussion and vocal ensemble Odadaa!.

The lineup on Marsalis's website lists Martinez on batá and vocals and Braimah on djembe and percussion. The orchestra includes Carlos Henriquez on bass, Dan Nimmer on piano and Obed Calvaire on drums and tambourine; trumpeters Ryan Kisor, Kenny Rampton and Marcus Printup; trombonists Chris Crenshaw, Vincent Gardner and Elliot Mason; and saxophonists Chris Lewis, Alexa Tarantino, Sherman Irby, Abdias Armenteros and Paul Nedzela.

The concerts close Jazz at Lincoln Center's October programming in its 2026-27 season, Come Home, which the organization says celebrates Marsalis's legacy and is his last as artistic director. In January, Jazz at Lincoln Center announced that Marsalis will step down from the role in July 2027 and continue in an advisory capacity as founder.

A pre-concert discussion led by Seton Hawkins, the organization's director of public programs, takes place at 6:30 p.m. before each performance. Before the Saturday concert, the voter-registration group HeadCount will have a table in the atrium as part of Jazz at Lincoln Center's JazzCall for Freedom initiative. Rose Theater tickets start at $30, according to the organization's October press release.