Harlem Speaks Swings in Summer!
Seleno Clarke (August 11th)
Herb Boyd (August 25th)
New York, NY (August 1, 2005) Harlem Speaks, the Jazz Museum in Harlem's interview series with jazz lights of Harlem, forwards its summer set with Seleno Clarke, special guest on Thursday, August 11th.
Clarke, like recent guest, saxophonist Bill Saxton, is yet another Harlem jazz treasure. One of the few living masters of the Hammond “B3" organ, Clarke will discuss his 40+ years in the music business. In the 60s he played sax in the various clubs in the Harlem loop (including the Apollo) as well as downtown. Clarke and Kenny Dorham were two of the last artists to play the famous Harlem club Minton's Playhouse. Legends like the late Grant Green and stars like George Benson, who produced Clarke's quintet CD, Diversity, have appeared frequently as special guests with his bands. The long list of other guitarists who have swung with him also includes Melvin Sparks, Jimmy Ponder, Mark Whitfield and Russell Malone. Clarke hosts an international jam session every Sunday evening from 7:00pm - 12:00am at Harlem's American Legion Hall, and plays from 7pm-11pm on Tuesdays at Perk's Jazz and Supper Club.
Harlem Speaks closes its summer set of talks on August 25th with Harlem resident Herb Boyd, one of the most tireless journalists in all of New York. In addition to serving as National Editor of the online publication The Black World Today, Boyd's byline can be seen on a weekly basis in the Amsterdam News. But in any given month, you can find his jazz reviews in Downbeat, Jazz Times, and other music publications. Boyd's co-editorship of the anthology Brotherman: The Odyssey of Black Men in America was awarded an American Book Award for nonfiction; he is also editor of The Harlem Reader, and author of a biography of Sugar Ray Robinson, Sugar in Harlem, as well as We Shall Overcome, a gripping account of the civil rights movement.
On July 28th Harlem native and woodwind giant Bill Saxton shared with the Harlem Speaks audience stories of his life in music since the sixties, when, as a teenager, he began playing the saxophone after the Harlem riots. While in his 20s, he studied woodwinds, arranging and composition with the legendary Gunther Schuller (among others) at the New England Conservatory. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the prestigious institution in 1973. For over a decade, Saxton’s quartet played regularly at St. Nick's Pub—he recalled many a tenor battle there with rising greats such as James Carter. Although he has been featured around the world, touring Europe and Africa and across the United States since the 1980s, he told all present that he considers Harlem his true home. In addition to recounting his superb work as a leader and sideman, with insightful tales about his tenures with Roy Haynes, Clark Terry and Frank Foster, he spoke of his new performance space, housed in a Harlem brownstone. He envisions the space as a place for live performances, education sessions for youth, visual art exhibits, among other creative uses.
The Harlem Speaks series is co-produced by the Jazz Museum in Harlem's Executive Director, Loren Schoenberg, and Greg Thomas Associates. Each event takes place at the offices of the Jazz Museum in Harlem, located at 104 East 126th Street, between Park and Lexington Avenues, from 6:30pm-8:00pm twice a month on Thursdays.
As always, the series is free to the public. Please call for reservations: (212) 348-8300.
Wilhelmina Grant, Executive Assistant The Jazz Museum in Harlem 104 E. 126th Street New York, N.Y. 10035 212.348.8300 phone 212.348.5030 fax [email protected]
Seleno Clarke (August 11th)
Herb Boyd (August 25th)
New York, NY (August 1, 2005) Harlem Speaks, the Jazz Museum in Harlem's interview series with jazz lights of Harlem, forwards its summer set with Seleno Clarke, special guest on Thursday, August 11th.
Clarke, like recent guest, saxophonist Bill Saxton, is yet another Harlem jazz treasure. One of the few living masters of the Hammond “B3" organ, Clarke will discuss his 40+ years in the music business. In the 60s he played sax in the various clubs in the Harlem loop (including the Apollo) as well as downtown. Clarke and Kenny Dorham were two of the last artists to play the famous Harlem club Minton's Playhouse. Legends like the late Grant Green and stars like George Benson, who produced Clarke's quintet CD, Diversity, have appeared frequently as special guests with his bands. The long list of other guitarists who have swung with him also includes Melvin Sparks, Jimmy Ponder, Mark Whitfield and Russell Malone. Clarke hosts an international jam session every Sunday evening from 7:00pm - 12:00am at Harlem's American Legion Hall, and plays from 7pm-11pm on Tuesdays at Perk's Jazz and Supper Club.
Harlem Speaks closes its summer set of talks on August 25th with Harlem resident Herb Boyd, one of the most tireless journalists in all of New York. In addition to serving as National Editor of the online publication The Black World Today, Boyd's byline can be seen on a weekly basis in the Amsterdam News. But in any given month, you can find his jazz reviews in Downbeat, Jazz Times, and other music publications. Boyd's co-editorship of the anthology Brotherman: The Odyssey of Black Men in America was awarded an American Book Award for nonfiction; he is also editor of The Harlem Reader, and author of a biography of Sugar Ray Robinson, Sugar in Harlem, as well as We Shall Overcome, a gripping account of the civil rights movement.
On July 28th Harlem native and woodwind giant Bill Saxton shared with the Harlem Speaks audience stories of his life in music since the sixties, when, as a teenager, he began playing the saxophone after the Harlem riots. While in his 20s, he studied woodwinds, arranging and composition with the legendary Gunther Schuller (among others) at the New England Conservatory. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the prestigious institution in 1973. For over a decade, Saxton’s quartet played regularly at St. Nick's Pub—he recalled many a tenor battle there with rising greats such as James Carter. Although he has been featured around the world, touring Europe and Africa and across the United States since the 1980s, he told all present that he considers Harlem his true home. In addition to recounting his superb work as a leader and sideman, with insightful tales about his tenures with Roy Haynes, Clark Terry and Frank Foster, he spoke of his new performance space, housed in a Harlem brownstone. He envisions the space as a place for live performances, education sessions for youth, visual art exhibits, among other creative uses.
The Harlem Speaks series is co-produced by the Jazz Museum in Harlem's Executive Director, Loren Schoenberg, and Greg Thomas Associates. Each event takes place at the offices of the Jazz Museum in Harlem, located at 104 East 126th Street, between Park and Lexington Avenues, from 6:30pm-8:00pm twice a month on Thursdays.
As always, the series is free to the public. Please call for reservations: (212) 348-8300.
Wilhelmina Grant, Executive Assistant The Jazz Museum in Harlem 104 E. 126th Street New York, N.Y. 10035 212.348.8300 phone 212.348.5030 fax [email protected]
For more information contact All About Jazz.
