A Great Night in Harlem

A Great Night in Harlem Benefit Concert is an annual series of concerts organized by the Jazz Foundation of America (JFA), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, since 2001 to raise money for the Jazz Foundation's Musician Emergency Fund.

In August 2000, after being hired as Executive Director of the Jazz Foundation, Wendy Oxenhorn discovered the organization had only US$7,000 left in the fund. She suggested organizing a fundraising concert at the Apollo Theater. When she was told they could not afford to rent the Apollo, Oxenhorn asked board member Jarrett Lilien for advice. Lilien told Oxenhorn he would pay to rent the Apollo.

Oxenhorn conceived of the idea for the concerts during her first year as Executive Director of the JFA in 2000, after watching a 1994 documentary called A Great Day in Harlem about jazz musicians. The first concert, which took place in September 2001, raised $350,000 for the foundation's Jazz Musicians Emergency Fund, and over 65 jazz artists performed. Every year since, the event has grown.

By this time, the Foundation's emergency caseload had tripled and they were now helping 150 musicians. Lauren Roberts joined the organization and together they ran it, handling an average of 10 cases a day. Because of the success of the A Great Night in Harlem, they initiated the Jazz in the Schools Program, which generated employment for more than 400 elderly musicians in New York City.

The annual A Great Night In Harlem concerts were the organization's was the only major funding source. Each year it, and the Foundation's caseload, grew Lilien and his partners at E-Trade Financial Corp. started the first Musicians Emergency Housing Fund, which enabled the Jazz Foundation to pay rents and keep mortgages from foreclosure. The Jazz Foundation of America was now able to support hundreds of elderly musicians who had fallen behind due to illness or age, preventing evictions and homelessness.

Jarrett Lilien became the first president of the JFA. Within months, he was also made president of E-Trade Financial Corp. The Jazz Foundation had become a national organization. By 2009, they were handling approximately 500 emergency cases a year.

On Monday, September 24, 2001, the JFA presented the first A Great Night in Harlem at the Apollo Theater on 125th Street and Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard, at 7 p.m. The performance was MC'd by Bill Cosby, and Gil Noble, host of WABC-TV's Sunday television show Like It Is.

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