This Weekend: The Houston Symphony’s Got Rhythm — for Jazz-Lovers and Kids Alike

This Weekend: The Houston Symphony’s Got Rhythm — for Jazz-Lovers and Kids Alike

Houston Symphony presents Get Up and Dance! for families (photo by Melissa Taylor)

THIS WEEKEND, THE Houston Symphony teams up with the pianist Marcus Roberts, bassist Rodney Jordan, and drummer Jason Marsalis for Jazz, Love, & Gershwin: A Century of Rhapsody in Blue, a unique unpacking of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, originally scored in 1924 for solo piano and Paul Whiteman’s jazz ensemble.


Beginning with a solo clarinet trill on a low F natural that with a sigh and a scream sails upwards two-and-a-half octaves into the stratosphere, Rhapsody is a melting pot of musical inspirations, including early 20th-century jazz, that era’s modern European composers, and the Jewish music of Gershwin’s youth. For this weekend’s performances, Roberts’s trio will transform Rhapsody’s piano solos, interludes, and cadenzas into newly conceived moments of improvised interplay, paying homage to the music of early 20th-century African-American originators Gershwin and many other Jewish American composers felt a kinship with. Rounding out the program is Grammy Award-winning jazz singer Catherine Russell, who will join Roberts and the Symphony, led by Principal POPS conductor Steven Reineke, for a set of love songs by Gershwin (with lyrics by his brother Ira), including “The Man I Love,” “Embraceable You,” and “I Got Rhythm,” songs that are now standards of jazz repertoire. The concerts take place Friday through Sunday (Feb. 2-4) at Jones Hall.

Cat Russell

Martin Jaffe

Jason Marsalis


For parents whose kids are already bobbing their heads to music, this Saturday’s PNC Family Series concert Get Up and Dance! is a great way to introduce the wee ones to dance rhythms from around the world. Houston Symphony assistant conductor Gonzalo Farias will lead the orchestra in such groovy numbers as Ary Barroso’s Brazil (samba), Scott Joplin’s The Entertainer (ragtime), and Aaron Copland’s “Hoedown” from Rodeo. (Did somebody say RODEO???) In the Jones Hall lobby, kids are invited to try out various orchestral instruments at the symphony’s popular “Instrument Petting Zoo” and enjoy dance ribbon crafting, coloring, and a performance by the Folklorico Dancers. Get Up and Dance! takes place Feb. 3 at 10am and 11:30am.

Art + Entertainment
Meet Brian Boyter, New High-End Residential Broker with an Unique Background

BRIAN BOYTER IS a Houston native with an interesting background in real estate. After an impressive 16-year tenure managing commercial transactions in a Fortune 500 Real Estate Investment Trust, he recently made the shift to high-end residential brokerage. The experience left him uniquely suited to thrive in the sometimes-emotional world of buying or selling a home.

Keep Reading Show less

THE TRUFFLE MASTERS is returning for its 11th year on March 3rd. Now a Houston tradition of sorts, the competition sees top chefs creating a dish using black truffles all benefitting Southern Smoke.

Keep Reading Show less

A new look from the soft landings collection

FROM THE OWNERS of popular Montrose haunts Traveler’s Table and Traveler’s Cart is another jetset-focused business. Owners Thy and Matthew Mitchell launched Foreign Fare in the fall of 2023 with long-haul travelers in mind. The pieces are wrinkle-free and designed to be functional as well as stylish. The line was recently featured in Travel & Leisure as a “first class look.”

Keep Reading Show less