UPPER WEST SIDE — Cancel that trip to New Orleans, because you can hear hot jazz in Columbus Circle next Friday.
More than 300 high school jazz musicians, band directors and parents — joined by the Grammy-winning, New Orleans-born trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, who is the artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, and his colleagues — will march in a Second Line parade from Columbus Circle Park to the nearby JALC performing arts complex, Frederic P. Rose Hall, starting at 10:30 am and lasting through noon on May 12, organizers said.
Second Line parades are a tradition in Marsalis's hometown, where brass bands famously march and play in the streets as part of funeral observances.
The "United We Swing" parade will mark the start of the 22nd annual "Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival," a jazz education program at JALC bringing 15 high school jazz bands to the Big Apple for workshops and performances.
"Amidst proposed cuts to arts funding in the federal budget, this Second Line seeks to demonstrate both the importance of preserving the arts as well as the need to protect the next generation’s access to arts education, which is the foundation of their self-expression and free speech," organizers said.
Those looking to participate can sign up here.
Correction: The original version of this article stated that the parade was taking place May 5.
