PODCAST: Inside Berklee—The Pat Patrick Collection

Bill Banfield, director of Africana Studies, points out a detail of the new Pat Patrick Collection to the jazz musician's son, Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick. In rear: Krystal Prime Banfield, Ed.D., director of Berklee City Music.

Photo by Phil Farnsworth

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In his long career, Pat Patrick performed with John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Duke Ellington, and Sun Ra, among many others.

Photo provided by the archive

Poet Amiri Baraka

Photo by Phil Farnsworth

Berklee president Roger H. Brown and Lawrence Simpson, senior vice president for academic affairs, talk with Deval Patrick at the March 24 event.

Photo by Phil Farnsworth

The future governor goes for a ride on his father's shoulders.

Photo provided by the archive

Rhonda Patrick Sigh shared memories of coming to understand her father's musical taste.

Photo by Phil Farnsworth

Berklee formally opens the Pat Patrick Collection at the Africana Studies Archive. From left: Simpson; Camille Colatosti, chair of liberal arts; donor Elizabeth Boland; and Mike Mason, assistant chair of liberal arts.

Photo by Phil Farnsworth

An image of Patrick from his years with Sun Ra. The collection includes nearly 2,000 photographs as well as original Ellington scores, reviews, and teaching notes.

Photo by Phil Farnsworth

The Berklee Pat Patrick Tribute Arkestra includes faculty members Carolyn Wilkins on piano; Allen Chase, Bill Pierce, and Lance Van Lenten on saxophones; and Charles Lewis on trumpet.

Photo by Phil Farnsworth

Thanks to a recent donation, students will have a new way to learn about the realities of life as a jazz musician in the good ol' days. Last month, the college officially opened the Pat Patrick Collection, part of the Africana Studies Archive.

Laurdine Kenneth "Pat" Patrick was an alto and baritone sax player best known for his long association with the progressive musician Sun Ra. After his death, his children—including current Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick—learned their father had left a voluminous collection of photographs, scores, concert programs, teaching notes, and other memorabilia that illustrated not only his own artistic development but the cultural context of musicianship at the time. The deep collection is now at Berklee to be plumbed by faculty and student researchers.

In the first Inside Berklee podcast, speakers at the March 24 dedication, including the governor, Berklee president Roger H. Brown, and Africana Studies director Bill Banfield share their thoughts as the Berklee Pat Patrick Tribute Arkestra plays.

to Inside Berklee: The Pat Patrick Collection