Legendary Jazz Pianist Bertha Hope Performs For Hundreds Of PS 130 Students In Kensington

Bertha Hope, a legendary jazz pianist who has graced the stage with such greats as Dizzy Gillespie, Nat Adderley and Cassandra Wilson, wowed an audience of hundreds of students at PS 130 in Kensington on Wednesday. The concert, which was held in honor of Black History Month, was made possible by the Jazz Foundation of America.

Students, who ranged in age from kindergarten to fifth grade, were thrilled and “couldn’t be happier” to watch Ms. Hope perform, Kim Smith, a PS 130 parent who organized the event, told us.

Ms. Hope, who co-founded the all-female jazz band Jazzberry Jam, was married to be-bop architect Elmo Hope and lived a few doors down from the family of another jazz great, Thelonious Monk in the Bronx, brought with her to PS 130 Jennifer Vincent on bass and Kit McClure on tenor saxophone. During the performance, they played traditional jazz standards by Horace Silver, Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk.

During the show, children not only got to hear songs from these internationally beloved artists, but were taught some music theory while becoming familiar with a repertoire that included Horace Silver’s “Song For My Father,” Monk’s “Well You Needn’t” and the Billy Strayhorn favorite made popular by Duke Ellington, “Take The A Train.”