What other gala has an entertainment line-up this awesome? Germaine Bazzle featuring Charlie Gabriel; Irma Thomas; Galactic featuring Anjelika “Jelly” Joseph; Tim Laughlin Trio; Detroit Brooks Quintet; Aurora Nealand Quintet; Mahmoud Chouki; Shake’Em Up Jazz Band; Lukasz L.U.C. Rostkowski; Victor Atkins; and the Treme-Lafitte Brass Band — and that’s before we get to the Social Improvisations production!

The gala in question is the Improvisations Gala presented by the Herb Alpert Foundation, a benefit for the New Orleans Jazz Museum held on Dec. 3.

More than 1,200 supporters were spread throughout the museum and its grounds, located at the Old US Mint. Music was everywhere, with stages set throughout and the new-this-year Social Improvisations, which consisted of Trumpet Mafia, Opera Creole, The Next Generation Jazz Band, Hibriduz, Orquesta Nacional de Jazz de México, The New Orleans Chorus Girls, Dila Que NOLA, N’Awlins D’Awlins Baby Dolls and Big Queen Mary K. Stevenson & the Original Wild Tchoupitoulas performing from the museum balcony and second lining around the building.

Another creative enticement was the Sound Collage by Virtual Krewe of Vaporwave, a magical experience that intersected visual art with illuminated installations and dancing.

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“All proceeds from Improvisations will further enhance exhibits, cultural programming, events and the Jazz Museum Education Center,” said museum Executive Director Greg Lambousy.

Event co-chairs were Dr. Henry L. Bart and Wendy Lodrig Bart, and David Piscola and Lisa Ramsay Piscola. Honorary co-chairs were Herb Alpert, Jon Batiste, Randy Fertel and Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser.

Fun Facts

Since 2014, the Jazz Museum has had its own record label, Gallatin Street Records, which was conceived as a means of preserving public domain archival recordings from the museum’s collections or have never been made public before, making them available to a larger audience.

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