Night and Day: The Music of Chris Connor and Mahalia Jackson

New England Conservatory’s Contemporary Musical Arts Department pays tribute to two of the most iconic and creative American singers of the 20th century in Night and Day: The Music of Chris Connor and Mahalia Jackson on Wednesday, February 14, 7:30 p.m. at Jordan Hall, 290 Huntington Avenue, Boston. The program is curated by faculty members Hankus Netsky and Ran Blake. Admission is free, but tickets are required. For information visit https://necmusic.edu/events/contemporary-musical-arts-music-chris-connor-and-mahalia-jackson

The title of this Valentine’s Day concert, Night and Day refers not only to the iconic Cole Porter love song (a favorite of Connor’s), but also to Connor’s image as the queen of the smoky nightclub and Jackson’s embodiment of the holy spirit of love that infuses the music of the Black church every Sunday morning.

The concert features NEC Gospel Music Ensemble director and CMA faculty member Nedelka Prescod, along with other CMA faculty members and students performing their own versions of Connor and Jackson's most iconic repertoire. Selections include Billy Strayhorn’s “Something to Live For,” Margo Guryan's “Moonride,” Cole Porter's “Just One of Those Things” and “Get Out of Town,” “Angel Eyes” by Matt Dennis, “You Stepped Out of a Dream” by Gus Kahn and Nacio Herb Brown, Connor's own composition “Driftwood,” and Gospel music classics including Duke Ellington's “Come Sunday” and  “Psalm 23,” traditional spirituals including “Elijah Rock,” “It Don't Cost Very Much” by Thomas A. Dorsey, Jackson's own composition “I'm Going to Tell God,” and “Didn't it Rain,” and “I'm on my way to Canaan,” arranged by Prescod and performed by the NEC Jazz Department's Gospel Music Ensemble.

CMA Emeritus Department Chair Ran Blake recorded with Connor and knew her over the course of her entire career. He also studied piano with Mildred Falls, Jackson’s perennial accompanist. According to Blake, Chris Connor was unsurpassed for her use of “the element of surprise,” and Mahalia Jackson possessed nothing less than the “most majestic voice in American history.”

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