Jazz Day Event Will Mark 100th Birthdays Of The Genre's Greats In Harlem

HARLEM, NY — A celebration of jazz greats who would have turned 100 this year is being held in Harlem.

The event, at the Dwyer Cultural Center, will mark centenaries of Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fizgerald , Buddy Rich, Thelonius Monk and Mongo Santamaria and coincide with the fourth Annual Internation Jazz Day on April 30.

The first jazz record, released in 1917 by the Original Dixieland Jass Band, will also be commemorated.

Jazz critic Ron Scott will be hosting the event.

It will take place between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. April 30 at the center, which is located on 258 St.Nicholas Ave.

Tickets can be purchased here.

April 30 was declared International Jazz Day by the United Nations in 2011. Since then, events and concerts have taken place around the globe to celebrate the culture and history of the music.

Two other jazz day events are scheduled to take place in New York.

The jazz website Second of Jazz will host a performance simulcast between the Small Jazz Club in New York and the Oslo Concert Hall in Norway. Concerts by two piano trios will be streamed.

"This is part of our continuing effort to promote humanity and togetherness through music," says the website's event section. It will begin at 3.45 p.m.

Not-for-Profit Jazz Ensemble will perform for free at the Sirovich Center Auditorium at 331 East 12th Street, at 2 p.m. on April 29. The seven-piece will play a two-set concert.

Photo by Keith Tsuji/Getty Images for Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz