MoCACT welcomes you into its entry gallery space to enjoy music and the arts in an intersecting social event. Guest DJ Jim Motavalli will play a curated selection of songs throughout the night in conjunction with our current exhibition, Art, Jazz + the Blues.

A freelance journalist whose jazz writing appears in the New York City Jazz Record, Jim is also the author of nine books and serves as a radio host and publicity director for the listener-supported WPKN—described as the “greatest radio station in the world” by The New Yorker. Throughout the evening, he will guide the journey by introducing each album segment with the stories and historical context that define these recordings. His curated set features a narrative thread through the genre, including:

Art Tatum – “Tea for Two”
Charlie Parker – “Donna Lee”
Jaco Pastorius – “Donna Lee”
Thelonious Monk – “Well, You Needn’t”
Horace Silver – “Song for My Father” (alongside Steely Dan’s “Rikki, Don’t Lose That
Number”)
Miles Davis – “All Blues” (alongside Tim Buckley’s “Strange Feeling”)
John Coltrane – “Giant Steps”
Eric Dolphy – “Warm Canto”
Chet Baker – “Time After Time”
Johnny Hartman – “In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning”
Art Ensemble of Chicago – “Odwalla”
Dave Brubeck – “Blue Rondo à la Turk”