Award Winning Musician Cecil Brooks III to Appear April 10th at Bloomfield College

Award winning musician Cecil Brooks III will appear at Bloomfield College on Monday evening, April 10th, at 8:00 PM in the Van Fossan Theatre, as part of the Westminster Arts Center's JazzTalks series; an array of intimate evenings of conversation and performance with artists on their life and music. This series is designed to both inform and entertain, giving the audience greater insight into the humanity of the artist, and a greater appreciation for the jazz art form.

Cecil Brooks III is not only the owner of Cecil's Jazz Club in West Orange, but is a superb musician, drummer, bandleader, producer and composer. With a father who was a drummer, and a grandfather who was a concert pianist, he is one of the most in-demand drummers on the musical scene today.

Brooks was recently named the winner of Downbeat Magazine's Critic's Poll for “Producer Deserving Wider Recognition," and also has won acclaim as a producer of many recordings which have charted top ten on the Gavin National Radio air play charts. He is the former drummer for the Bill Cosby Show on CBS, and has performed and recorded with many jazz greats including: Stanley Turrentine, John Hicks, Billy Eckstine, Jimmy Smith, Geri Allen, Terumasa Hino, David Murray, Oliver Lake, Terence Blanchard, Benny Green, Mingus Dynast/Big Band, Greg Osby, Andrew Hill, Etta Jones, Jack McDuff, Houston Person, Groove Holmes, Michelle Rosewoman, Jack Walrath, Nat Adderley, ENJA All Stars, Don Braden, Don Pullen, Jimmy Ponder, Hannibal Peterson, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

“I have admired Cecil Brooks for a long time now," said Westminster Arts Center Artistic Director David Rosenak. “He is a renaissance jazzman, forging new frontiers in his music in both the studio and live performances. I have always been particularly impressed with the passion with which he mentors up and coming younger players, giving them the same care he gives the master players whose CDs he produces. I look forward to a lively evening of conversation and performance with Cecil on our April JazzTalks program."

Brooks' concert performances include tours throughout Europe, including France, Germany, Belgium, Spain and Norway, in addition to South America, Japan, The United States and Canada. He has appeared on many television and radio broadcasts, as well as in clubs and at jazz festivals as both leader and a sideman.

Tickets for JazzTalks are $15 for General Admission, $5 Students and Seniors, and FREE for BC students, faculty and staff. For reservations and information, please phone 973 748-9000, ext 279.

The Westminster Arts Center is a disabled access facility, located on the Campus of Bloomfield College, in the town center of Bloomfield, New Jersey, on the corner of Fremont and Franklin Streets.