(Originally published June 8, 2023) Last week jazz saxophonist Donald Harrison, the “Big Chief of the Congo Square Nation Afro-New Orleans Cultural Group,” made an unusual appeal online on Facebook during his medical emergency; an anxious request for our prayers as he awaited arrival of EMR to be taken to hospital. Many people reacted and… Continue Reading
(Originally published June 4, 2023) Continue Reading
(Originally posted May 25, 2023) Guided by Love: Navigating a Mother with Memory Loss, a new book by award-winning jazz pianist and author Sarah Cion that includes poems with artful drawings by her mother, Elizabeth Heller, is a tour de force. Its power and appeal draw deeply from a wellspring of human sensitivity and compassion,… Continue Reading
(Originally posted May 15, 2023) More than two decades ago I interviewed my esteemed former neighbor, community leader Mrs. Rosemary Moore, RN, a lovely woman of great dignity. Maturing ever so gracefully, she personifies wisdom and experience. My hope was that our conversation would yield a unique story and perspective about life’s joys and the… Continue Reading
This Black History Month 2023 we look back at the opening of a landmark educational institution spearheaded by the late civil rights leader, educator, and pastor of Abyssinian Baptist church, Rev. Dr. Calvin O. Butts III. This is a picture of the opening of Thurgood Marshall Training Academy for Social Change in Central Harlem in… Continue Reading
As Harlem’s Abyssinian Baptist Church, family, and friends along with citizens of New York City and beyond are joining to celebrate the life of Rev. Dr. Calvin O. Butts III, I invite those who may not be familiar with Rev. Butts to watch this interview from the show Explorations in Black Leadership, produced and hosted… Continue Reading
The Jazz at Lincoln Center (JALC) Orchestra, directed by Wynton Marsalis, led a spectacular jazz tribute to New Orleans and Jazz Music on October 15. “A Night in New Orleans” – Michigan vs Penn State – Oct 15, 2022 JALC partnered with the extraordinary University of Michigan Marching band in a spectacular half-time performance before a… Continue Reading
Originally published September 2022: Tribute to Dr. Paul T. Kwami Today, I join with the Fisk University community and countless others throughout the international music world in mourning the loss of Dr. Paul T. Kwami, Director of the historic Fisk University Jubilee Singers. Dr. Kwami passed this week at age 70. He was a native of… Continue Reading
Originally published September 2022: Brooklyn Memorial to Billy Kaye A musical memorial to post-Bebop-era drummer Billy Kaye, who made his transition in August at the age of 89, took place on September 1 at Ornithology Jazz Club in Brooklyn, the NYC borough where Willie King Seaberry Wilson (AKA Billy Kaye) grew up after his family… Continue Reading
Originally published September 2022: Jazzstoria “Jazzstoria,” a musical journey through Black History, was performed at St. Peter’s Church in midtown Manhattan in 2001. Here I’m re-posting the program’s publicity description as I am looking back at that performance while considering future similar efforts. Front Row: Anthony Nelson, Nadine Mozon, Dennis Llewellyn Day, Back Row: David Jackson, Richard Wyands,… Continue Reading