“As a performer of a music that is objectively less popular than it used to be, I’m constantly searching for new ways to engage audiences of all kinds, and I think the best way to engage folks is with a good story. It’s thanks to my 92 year-old grandmother, Ada Pinchuk — a former world-class pianist who always pushes me to think deeply about what I’m playing — that I set out to piece together a performance that values the stories behind the music as much as the music itself. So, “Invisible Jazz Giants,” combines narrative with music to shed light on hidden figures that despite America turning its back on, are quite literally responsible for shaping American culture as we know it. I also think the program makes the case that jazz music is the perfect lens through which we can unearth and recount American history, in all its beauty and ugliness.” – Gabriel Schiller-Hyman
The Gabriel Schillinger-Hyman jazz quartet celebrates the timeless works of Black, Jewish, Women, and Queer luminaries whose impact on jazz and popular culture in the 2nd half of the 20th century was profound and unmistakable. Yet in order to make a living in an industry that reflected the structural racism, antisemitism, sexism, and homophobia that gripped the nation, many of these legends had to become invisible. In a discussion of the lives and in our performance of the musical works of these invisible giants in jazz, we hope to bring to the limelight a part of American history that, like its players, has struggled to be seen and heard.