Help Fabu & Jane Get to Perform at the Kennedy Center

Help us send our first African American Madison Poet Laureate Fabu Phillis Carter and Jane Reynolds , the superb jazz pianist and retired co-host of “Strictly Jazz Sounds” on WORT-FM, to the Kennedy Center in Washington DC to perform at the 2025 Mary Lou Williams Jazz Festival.

Fifteen years ago, in 2010, our community celebrated the 100th birthday of Mary Lou Williams , the legendary jazz pianist, composer, bandleader and educator who conducted a memorable residency at the UW-Madison in 1976. Under the guidance of artistic co-directors Fabu and Jane, and with assistance from the Mary Lou Williams Foundation and the Institute of Jazz Studies , our local Centennial Committee produced a diverse year-long array of concerts of Mary Lou's music and educational programs that illuminated her contributions to American music and culture, engaging more than 8,000 people in the process. Among those events was a jazz-and-poetry program about Mary Lou that Fabu and Jane presented at concert halls, schools, and other venues across Dane County.

Since then, Fabu has dreamed of presenting her Mary Lou-inspired poetry at the Kennedy Center as part of the annual Mary Lou Williams Jazz Festival hosted by the great jazz vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater. Now, through an encounter with Dee Dee when she headlined the 2024 Madison Jazz Fest, the Kennedy Center has invited Fabu and Jane to present an updated version of their jazz-and-poetry program at this year's Mary Lou Williams festival. Their performance is scheduled for Saturday, May 10th, at 6:00pm (EDT), on the Center’s Millennium Stage, just prior to the closing evening's headline concerts. However, the Center’s honorarium will cover only a portion of Fabu and Jane’s expenses for their trip and for the preparation and delivery of their performance. So, we are turning to the community to raise the rest of the needed funds with Arts+Literature Laboratory, a local nonprofit that works to empower artists and writers, serving as the fiscal receiver for Fabu and Jane.

Fabu and Jane have been enriching the cultural life of our community for decades. Your tax-deductible gift in any amount will help them realize this career milestone and fulfill Fabu’s dream!