Jazz at Lincoln Center Presents Star-Studded Hurricane Relief Benefit

Jazz at Lincoln Center gathers stars from the worlds of jazz, pop, classical music, movies, and television for a concert at 7 p.m. ET tonight to raise money for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

The "Higher Ground Hurricane Relief Benefit Concert" at Rose Hall will be broadcast live starting at 8 p.m. on PBS, NPR, BET, BET Jazz, VH1 Classic, VH1 Soul, and other radio and television stations; XM Satellite Radio's broadcast will begin at 7 p.m. (check local listings). The concert can also be heard on the Internet at www.npr.org, www.wbgo.org, and www.xmradio.com.

Performers newly added to the lineup include soprano Renée Fleming, pianist Herbie Hancock, actor and comedian Robin Williams, and novelist Toni Morrison.

Also scheduled to appear are Wynton Marsalis, Harry Belafonte, Terence Blanchard, Ken Burns, Shirley Caesar, Cyrus Chestnut, Peter Cincotti, Bill Cosby, Elvis Costello, Danny Glover, Aaron Neville, Robert De Niro, Norah Jones, Diana Krall, Abbey Lincoln, Bette Midler, Toni Morrison, Arturo O’Farrill, Dianne Reeves, Paul Simon, Meryl Streep, James Taylor, McCoy Tyner, Cassandra Wilson, Jeffrey Wright, and Buckwheat Zydeco.

Actor Laurence Fishburne will serve as host; opera legend Beverly Sills will host Live From Lincoln Center's PBS broadcast, and talk show host Tavis Smiley will anchor the broadcast.

During the broadcast, contributions will be solicited for Jazz at Lincoln Center's Higher Ground Relief Fund, which assists musicians and others in the New Orleans area, as well as the Red Cross and the Salvation Army.

In addition, Jazz at Lincoln Center is auctioning a guitar signed by Eric Clapton and John Mayer, artwork by LeRoy Neiman and Peter Max, first-edition copies of Marsalis's Jazz ABZ: An A To Z Collection of Jazz Portraits, and other items to benefit the relief effort. The auction will run from September 17 at 7 p.m. ET through September 26 at 7 p.m. Visit www.ebay.com/higherground to bid.

As of yesterday afternoon, tickets for the concert were still available at the $1,000, $5,000, and $10,000 levels at the Jazz at Lincoln Center box office, www.jalc.org, or by calling CenterCharge at 212-721-6500.

By Ben Mattison playbillarts.com

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