Join us as we take a look at black history through the lens of jazz with author and editor of the Jersey Jazz magazine, Sanford Josephson.
Check out an article Josephson wrote this month on page 5 of the Jersey Jazz titled "Remembering Jazz’s Black Expatriates," he gives more detail on what will be covered during this exciting presentation!
Registration recommended but not required. Please register here or call 732-634-4450.
Find out more about what will be covered below!
Harlem
Renaissance
A look at the music scene in
Harlem in the 1920s, led by African-American jazz giants such Louis Armstrong,
Duke Ellington, Bessie Smith, and Fats Waller. Harlem’s nightlife was defined
by four institutions that served as the crucible for the new form of jazz that
would flourish in the next decades:
Expatriates
In the years following World
War II, a several African-American jazz musicians emigrated to Europe, motivated
by the relative lack of racism, the working opportunities, and the appreciation
that European audiences showed for their art. Jazz greats such as tenor saxophonists Dexter Gordon and Ben Webster
and pianist Bud Powell spent long periods of time on the European
continent and made many recordings there.
Resistance
to Racism
Sanford Josephson is the author of Jeru’s Journey: The Life and Music of Gerry Mulligan (Hal Leonard Books), published in October 2015, and Jazz Notes: Interviews Across the Generations (Praeger/ABC-Clio), published in June 2009. He is currently Editor of Jersey Jazz Magazine, published by the New Jersey Jazz Society.
He has also written extensively about jazz musicians in publications ranging from the New York Daily News to American Way magazine and is Vice President of Publicity for NJJS.
Josephson currently co-hosts the Jazz on a Sunday Afternoon
concert series at the Jay and Linda Grunin Center for the Arts in Toms River,
NJ. From 2011-2017, he curated the “Music in the Moonlight” jazz series at the
Luna Stage in West Orange, NJ, a series that he founded. Josephson also
produced the Flemington, NJ, segment of the Central Jersey Jazz Festival from
2014-2016. He also teaches online courses on “Giants of Jazz” for Rutgers’
Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.