Quentin Walston, Pianist, Composer, and Educator

Jazz and the Great American Songbook

Tuesday, September 8, 2026 at 1:30 PM EDT

Hybrid in-person and online program at The Woman's Club of Roland Park & via Zoom

The Great American Songbook shares a rich and deeply intertwined history with jazz. Pianist Quentin Walston will show that while jazz had its own thriving composers and original repertoire from the very beginning, the Songbook's sophisticated melodies and harmonies proved irresistible to jazz musicians. From the jazz age, to the swing era, bebop, and beyond, jazz musicians embraced these popular songs as vehicles for improvisation and artistic expression, weaving them into the fabric of jazz performance for generations. Decades past the initial premieres of these show tunes, jazz helps to preserve and spur creative interpretations of this body of work. In this engaging seminar and solo piano performance, Quentin Walston traces that remarkable relationship through Songbook giants Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, George Gershwin, and Jerome Kern and how jazz masters like Thelonious Monk, Coleman Hawkins, Duke Ellington, Erroll Garner, and Bill Evans drew inspiration from these popular song structures to shape their own landmark compositions and recordings. Featured works include “Blue Skies,” “Night and Day,” “Summertime,” “All The Things You Are,” “I Got Rhythm,” “Autumn Leaves,” and many more. Q&A will follow the performance/seminar.

$15 fee for guests and subscribers (no fee for members)

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