The Jazz at Lincoln Center Presents touring initiative provides an accessible opportunity to present great jazz programming, featuring up-and-coming musicians who have been identified as rising stars by JALC. The initiative also allows for expansion of JALC’s mission “to entertain, enrich and expand a global community for jazz through performance, education and advocacy.” First presented as the 2016 season opener at Jazz at Lincoln Center, “Songs We Love” is a journey through the first 50 years of jazz song. Under the musical direction of Riley Mulherkar, three guest vocalists will join an all-star band made up of New York’s rising stars. Combining their distinct talents, the group will sing their way through four decades of music, beginning with the early blues and jazz of the 1920s and ending in the early 1950s. Iconic singers to be explored include Ma Rainey, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland.