Please note: all tickets will be held at Will Call for pick up on the night of March 5. Will Call and the box office will open at 7pm, which is one hour before the 8pm show.

NEA Jazz Master Phil Woods' The Children's Suite

Presented by the CAC, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation, and The NOCCA Institute

Live orchestra and jazz vocals inspired by the verses of A.A. Milne, featuring a 15-piece band with Phil Woods (composer/conductor/alto sax), Vicki Doney & Bob Dorough (vocals).

About The Children's Suite

"This is an enchanting jazz suite with songs, inspired by the stories of A.A. Milne. Woods got the idea to set some of them as songs in 1961 when he was unpacking his own children's Milne books after one of many family moves. He eventually wrote 15 of them and much later arranged them into this suite.

However, getting clearance to perform the pieces with a narrator, orchestra and singers, or to record them, was steadfastly barred by the Milne estate and Disney, owners of the rights. Forty years after writing the songs Woods ran into the one person licensed by the Pooh Trustees and Disney to perform Milne's works on stage, and this person - Peter Dennis (who died in 2009) - finally made it possible for Woods to be allowed to perform and record his music.

The selections are a delight, beautifully capturing the simple appeal of Milne's childs' world. The vocals by Boney and Dorough are also a kick; Bob is of course just right for this task based on his popularity with all the boomers who grew up on his Multiplication Rock songs on PBS. Never mind that he's now hit his eighth decade - his distinctive insouciant Arkansas voice takes us back to a swinging childhood."