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* Tribute to Professor Emeritus Andy McGhee to Feature Javon Jackson, Bill Pierce, & the Kendrick Oliver Big Band *
BOSTON, January 7, 2002 — Berklee College of Music's Black History Month Music Celebration 2002 will begin with a rousing Gospel Jubilee on Sunday, February 3, by the award-winning Berklee Reverence Gospel Ensemble, directed by Dennis Montgomery III. The Gospel Jubilee begins at 7:00 p.m. at the wheelchair-accessible Berklee Performance Center and will feature contemporary gospel artists Dawkins & Dawkins. Besides performing with his brother, Anson Dawkins is the Minister of Music at the New Convenant Christian Center in Seattle, WA. Eric Dawkins combines performing with writing and producing for artists such as CeCe Winans and Oleta Adams. Tickets for the Gospel Jubilee are $8.00 — $2.00 for seniors — and can be purchased at the Performance Center box office, 136 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, or by calling (617) 747-2261.
Throughout the month of February, Berklee's Black History Month Music Celebration 2002 will feature concerts, clinics, and lectures by visiting artists, faculty, and students. On Thursday, February 7, at 1:00 in the Berk Recital Hall, 1140 Boylston Street, there will be a free screening of the 1979 Academy Award-winning short documentary film Paul Robeson, Tribute to an Artist, narrated by Sidney Poitier. Later that evening at 8:15 p.m., singer/pianist Frank McComb, who collaborated with Branford Marsalis on his jazz-rap fusion project Buckshot LeFonque, will perform at the Berklee Performance Center. Marsalis co-produced McComb's new release Love Stories, his debut for Columbia Records. All events are open to the public, and many are free. Admission to Berklee Performance Center events, except for the Gospel Jubilee, is $5.00 — $2.00 for seniors. For a complete schedule of events, visit the Berklee website at www.berklee.edu.
On Thursday, February 21, Berklee pays tribute to saxophonist and Professor Emeritus Andy McGhee with performances by numerous alumni, including guest artist Javon Jackson, Woodwind chair Bill Pierce, and the Kendrick Oliver Big Band. A graduate of the New England Conservatory, Andy McGhee rose to prominence as a saxophonist and arranger with Lionel Hampton and Woody Herman, as well as performing with the Count Basie Orchestra, Dizzy Gillespie, Dee Dee Bridgewater, and Sonny Stitt. McGhee toured Europe with Lionel Hampton's "Golden Men of Jazz," with included Harry "Sweets" Edison, Clark Terry, Benny Bailey, Al Grey, Jimmy Woode, Munior Mance, Bobby Durham, and Benny Golson. After the tour, Hampton was honored by President George Bush at the Kennedy Center, where the group performed with guest vibists Milto Jackson and Gary Burton. McGhee has performed at jazz festivals all over the world, and he received the President's Award for his service to Berklee.
Jazz vibraphonist Stefon Harris has been invited to present Berklee's Fifth Annual Dr. Warrick L. Carter Lecture on Thursday, February 14, 2002. Harris will perform with his accompanist, pianist Xavier Davis, and also address students from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. in the David Friend Recital Hall, 921 Boylston Street, in Boston. The event is free and open to the public.
Stefon Harris was a recipient of the prestigious Martin E. Segal Award from Lincoln Center, and he earned a Grammy nomination for his 1999 release, Black Action Figure on Blue Note Records. His latest CD, Kindred, a quartet recording with noted pianist and Berklee alumnus Jacky Terrasson, was recently nominated for a Grammy for Best Jazz Instrumental Album. Harris was voted "Best Mallet Player" by the Jazz Journalists Association in 2000 and 2001. Other accolades include Jazz Times' "Debut Artist of the Year;" Downbeat magazine's "Critics Poll Winner" (Talent Deserving Wider Recognition); Newsweek magazine's "Best Jazz CD;" Jazziz magazine's 1999-2000 Readers' Poll "Best Vibraphonist;" and The Chicago Tribune's "Debut of the Year."
Berklee's tradition of scholarly lectures as part of Black History Month was initiated by Dr. Warrick L. Carter, who served as Dean of Faculty and later as Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs at Berklee from 1984 to 1996. Dr. Carter worked with the Community Service program at Berklee to help serve the educational needs of the area black community, and his work contributed to diversity and the hiring of minorities and women at Berklee.
In appreciation and recognition of his many enduring contributions to Berklee, the Board of Trustees established the annual Dr. Warrick L. Carter Lecture Series as an integral highlight of Berklee's annual Black History Month Music Celebration. Other presenters have included jazz educator Dr. David Baker, BET Founder and CEO Robert L. Johnson, Harvard Professor of Education Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, and Grammy-nominated jazz violinist Regina Carter.
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