WHAT: The Center for Jazz Studies at Columbia University will host “A Day for Dexter: Celebrating Dexter Gordon at 80," a daylong symposium and evening jazz concert on April 15 celebrating the life and career of legendary tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon. Gordon, a Grammy award-winning jazz artist and Academy Award nominee for his role as leading actor in the film Round Midnight, died in April 1990. The symposium will feature readings, testimonials and performances by musicians, writers, scholars and friends of Gordon, who will reflect on his career and continuing influence.
WHO: Scheduled guests include the photographer Herman Leonard (whose 1948 photo of Gordon is one of the most famous jazz images), writers Stanley Crouch, Thulani Davis, and Wesley Brown, along with scholars Robin D. G. Kelley, Farah Jasmine Griffin, Dan Morgenstern and Steven Feld. Pianist Barry Harris, who made several recordings with Gordon, and Frank Wess will headline the evening concert, which will also include a performance by Salim Washington's Harlem Art Ensemble.
A complete schedule of events is available at www.jazz.columbia.edu.
WHEN:
Tuesday, April 15, 2003
* Symposium: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
* Concert: 8 p.m.
WHERE:
Columbia University, West 116th Street and Broadway
* Symposium: Alfred Lerner Hall, 5th floor
* Concert: Miller Theatre
The event is open to the public. Symposium admission is free. Tickets for the evening concert range from $7 to $20. To reserve tickets, call Miller Theatre at (212) 854-7799.
The Center for Jazz Studies at Columbia University is an interdisciplinary unit dedicated to the study of jazz both as a musical idiom and important cultural phenomenon. By bringing together fields as diverse as musicology, history, literature, political science, anthropology, dance, and film, the Center encourages new perspectives on jazz music and culture. The Center for Jazz Studies represents a permanent home on the campus of Columbia University for this sort of critical thinking. Columbia University is the first research institution in the United States to take this approach to the study of jazz, and is committed to serving a diverse and wide audience.
For more information contact All About Jazz.
