The Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium (CBJC) once again begins its festival with a Gala event at the Sugarhill Supperclub (615 Dekalb Ave., at Nostrand) on Wednesday, March 30 ( doors open at 5pm), in
Brooklyn. The theme of this years festival, "Drop me off in Brookyn," allows for a Gala premiere featuring a dynamic ensemble of locals led by violinist Billy Bang and trombonist Curtis Fowlkes with pianist Harry Constant, bassist Alex Blake and master drummer Charli Persip. Admission is $20.
As in past years, the CBJC Gala marks the beginning of a thirty-day festival taking place throughout Brooklyn and featuring such masters of the music as Bob Cunningham, Barry Harris, Charles Gayle, Reggie Workman, Jimmy Owens, Byard Lancaster, Sam Newsome, Tulivu Donna Cumberbatch, Eddie Gale, Jeff King, Bertha Hope, Ray Abrams Big Band and Rufus Harley, along with several young artists like pianist Orrin Evans and tenor saxophonist Grant Langford. All events comprising the April Fest are hosted by participating member-venues and are listed in a festival calendar.
Chaired by activist-educator Jitu Weusi, the CBJC was formed in 1999 as a cooperative of community institutions and local venues working together. The annual festival is the culmination of venues working together to showcase talent and to develop audiences for the music in African American communities.
Jazz Music Of The Spirit
This year marks the first organized effort to further identify the genre of Jazz as a Music of the Spirit. praxis paper outlining this position and written by trumpeter Ahmed Abdullah with poet Louis Reyes Rivera offers as a basic tenet that Jazz: The Music of the Spirit is "...an art form that defies time, genre and culture, even while it is, in fact, identifiably of a specific time frame (20-21st Century), genre (Jazz), and culture (African American).”
In addition to close to 100 musical events running throughout April, this year's fest will offer a full fledged public forum discussing the ideas expressed in this paper at Sistas’ Place (456 Nostrand Ave.), on Tuesday, April 5, at 7pm, with Salim Washington, Monique Ngozi Nri and co-authors Abdullah and Rivera. As well, a conversation with Montreal Jazz Fest entreperneur Dou Dou Boicei, is expected to be another highlight.
For more information, call (718)-237-1246, (718) 875-1016 or email at Ahmedian@aol.com. Tickets are $20 at the door.
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