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| DSU Jazz Ensemble to Perform Concert at the Schwartz Center The Jazz Ensemble of Delaware State University will perform a number of compositions during the "Echoes of a Prophet" Black History Month event at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 16 at the Schwartz Center for the Arts, 226 S. State Street. The "Echoes of a Prophet" – which is part of the center's Black History Month commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation – will begin with a pre-concert talk at 7 p.m. followed by the concert at 7:30 p.m. The University jazz musicians will perform a group of selections that will highlight through jazz the history of African-Americans. Among their selections will be the "Emancipation Blues, " "When the Saints Go Marching In, " "Satin Dolls, " "Night in Tunisia, " "Four" and other compositions. The DSU Jazz Ensemble is led by Randolph Johnson, DSU director of bands, who said the concert will also deal with the relevance of jazz and Delaware, particularly by telling the story of jazz legend Clifford Brown, who attended DSU in the late 1940s "Unlike other jazz musicians who did drugs, Clifford Brown was fresh and different; his character was clean, " Mr. Johnson said. "He inspired Miles Davis to get clean from drugs." He added the band will perform the Clifford Brown song "Jordu." Special guest artist Dr. Stanley Cowell, a jazz pianist, recording artist and the former director of bands at Rutgers University, will join the band to perform one of his compositions entitled "Abscretion." DSU alumnus Rev. John G. Moore Sr. will also give a multimedia presentation entitled the Echoes of a Prophet in which he will re-enact portions of a number of speeches by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The Rev. Moore is vice president of the United Way of Delaware and the youth pastor at Calvary Baptist Church. He is well-known throughout the state of Delaware and beyond for his uncanny portrayal of Dr. King through his presentation of the martyred civil rights leader's famous speeches. write your comments about the article :: © 2013 Jazz News :: home page |