A Swingin' Sesame Street Celebration

Context & Trivia

The concert took place on October 25 and 26, 2019, at the Rose Theater in Lincoln Center, under the full title "A Swingin' Sesame Street Celebration: 50 Years & Counting". The television version, edited from footage of both sessions, aired on PBS on October 30, 2020, alongside the release of a digital album featuring the concert's music.

The puppet team was captained by Matt Vogel, with Ryan Dillon performing Elmo, Eric Jacobson handling Abby Cadabby and Bert, Peter Linz as Ernie, Carmen Osbahr-Vertiz as Rosita, and Leslie Carrara-Rudolph and Christopher Hayes rounding out the cast. Jason Weber served as puppet creative supervisor, Michelle Hickey and Stacey Weingarten as puppet wranglers for The Jim Henson Company, and Paul Rudolph as vocal coach for the puppet cast.

Sesame Street's relationship with jazz goes back decades, with Dizzy Gillespie, Herbie Hancock, and Mary Lou Williams among those who appeared on the show over the years. Marsalis himself had been on the series twice before — performing "Take the A Train" in 1991 and duetting with Hoots the Owl on "No Matter What Your Language" in 1998. What this special does differently is place the puppets not as guests alongside musicians, but as the principal performers on a professional jazz stage in their own right.