WILL RECEIVE ASCAP’S INAUGURAL JAZZ ADVOCATE AWARD AT 29th ANNUAL CBCF ALC JAZZ CONCERT
GERI ALLEN AND FRIENDS TO PERFORM
Washington, DC – Rep. John Conyers, Jr., (D-MI), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, and Dean of the Congressional Black Caucus, will once again serve as the Honorary Host of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Annual Legislative Conference Jazz Issue Forum
and Concert. The events will take place during the CBCF’s 44th ALC, September 24 -27, at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center (WEWCC), 801 Mount Vernon Place, NW, Washington, DC 20001. The 2014 ALC Jazz Concert, featuring Geri Allen and Friends, will be held on September 25th, from 8:00 to 10:30 pm, in Ballroom A of the WEWCC. Doors open at 7:00 pm. At 7:30 pm, resident Washington pianist Janelle Gill will conduct a Meet the Artist Conversation with Ms. Allen. During the concert, Rep. Conyers will be honored by The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers with the first ever ASCAP Jazz Advocate Award in recognition of his extraordinary history of public and legislative initiatives for Jazz, including House Concurrent Resolution 57, also known as HR 57, and his latest bill, HR 4280: The National Jazz Preservation and Education Act of 2014. Howard University-educated, pianist/ composer Geri Allen is a major force in Jazz, a major touring and recording artist, as well as a respected academician and educator. Allen first performed for the ALC in 1990, in “A Salute to Women in Jazz” along with Shirley Horn, Bobbi Humphrey, Abbey Lincoln, Carmen Bradford, Dianne Reeves and Nancy Wilson. Allen returned in 2010 as a special guest soloist with Maestro Gerald Wilson and the Smithsonian Masterworks Orchestra. Allen taught piano, jazz and contemporary improvisation at both Howard University and the University of Michigan. She is currently Director of Jazz Studies at the the University of Pittsburgh, where she earned a Masters in Ethno-Musicology. On May 10 of this year, Allen was presented with an Honorary Doctor of Music Degree by The Berklee College of Music. Prof. Allen’s honors are impressive: the Soul Train, Lady of Soul Award for Jazz; the Danish Jazzpar Prize; a Guggenheim Fellowship for Musical Composition; the Kennedy Center’s Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Award; Spelman College’s African Classical Music Award; and Howard University’s Benny Golson Award. On September 25th, Rep. Conyers will present the 2014 CBCF Jazz Legacy Award to Prof. For this occasion Allen has specially assembled an intriguing group of “Friends,” reflecting her Detroit roots and Howard University connections: trumpeter Marcus Belgrave, saxophonist J.D. Allen, vibraphonist Warren Wolf, bassist Robert Hurst, drummer Gerald Cleaver, and the 10-member vocal ensemble, Afro Blue. The 2014 CBCF ALC Jazz Issue Forum, entitled A New Bill for Jazz: The National Jazz Preservation, Education and Promulgation Act, which will be held on Thursday, September 25th 2014, from 2:00 to 4:00pm, in Room 143-A of the WEWCC. Jazz stakeholders from the national, regional and local levels will discuss the potential impact of HR 4280 on their initiatives and programs, as well as on the long-term health and welfare of America’s living “National Treasure.”
The panelists will include Paul Carr, President and Chairman of The Jazz Academy of Music; Professor Judith Korey, Curator of UDC’s Felix E. Grant Jazz Archive; Linda Morgan, activist and Founder of the Living Legends Foundation; Dr. Wesley L. Watkins, Founder of The Jazz & Democracy Project; Randy Weston, NEA Jazz Master; Angela Winder, Music Teacher, School Without Walls at Francis Stevens; and Davey Yarborough, Director of Jazz Studies, Duke Ellington School of the Arts.. CBCF ALC Jazz Issue Forum and Concert Executive Producer Cedric Hendricks will moderate. For more information on Marcus Belgrave – a disciple of Clifford Brown – see www.marcusbelgrave.net. For more information on Robert Hurst – six sessions as a leader, over 100 as a sideman -- see www.roberthurst.com
For more information on Gerald Cleaver – a highly innovative drummer – see http://northernspyrecords.com/artist/black-host/. For more information on Warren Wolf – a prodigious instrumentalist, specializing in vibes - see www.warrenwolfmusic.com
For more information on J.D. Allen – a leading new voice on the tenor saxophone - see www.jdallen.com. For more information on Afro Blue -Howard University’s award-winning vocal jazz ensemble – see www.hu.edu/sfroblue. Since 1985, The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) Jazz Issue Forum and Concert has convened during the Foundation’s Annual Legislative Conference for the purpose of celebrating and educating the public about jazz, via performances and a wide variety panelists who discuss various aspects of the jazz experience in order to gain a better understanding of the diversity and vibrancy of the music as a dynamic cultural phenomenon in our society. The CBCF ALC Jazz Issue Forum and the Jazz Concert are both free and open to the public.
