BGJI Honors Joanne Brackeen at Annual Summit, March 31

The Berklee Global Jazz Institute (BGJI) presents its fifth annual BGJI Summit on March 31, at the Berklee Performance Center. This year’s summit is hosted by Joe Lovano, Gary Burton Jazz Chair at Berklee, and will honor longtime faculty member Joanne Brackeen in celebration of her receiving the BNY Mellon Jazz 2014 Living Legacy Award.

March 16, 2015

The Berklee Global Jazz Institute (BGJI) presents its fifth annual BGJI Summit on March 31, at the Berklee Performance Center. This year’s summit is hosted by Joe Lovano, Gary Burton Jazz Chair at Berklee, and will honor longtime faculty member Joanne Brackeen in celebration of her receiving the BNY Mellon Jazz 2014 Living Legacy Award.

The BGJI Summit will also pay homage to the great jazz masters who have contributed to the Berklee jazz legacy over the course of its history and will feature BGJI students performing with world-renowned jazz musicians and Berklee faculty including Tia Fuller, Greg Hopkins, John Lockwood, Matt Marvuglio, and Terri Lyne Carrington.

"I am thrilled to be hosting an evening of music honoring the incredible contribution of member and world-renowned pianist and composer Joanne Brackeen,” said Lovano, who also serves as mentor and faculty for the BGJI. “We're going to have a lot of fun."

Described as "a visionary of extraordinary depth" by Tony Bennett, Brackeen is a pianist, educator, and composer whose long list of accomplishments include being the first woman in Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, and gracing the stage alongside jazz greats like Clint Houston, Eddie Gómez, John Patitucci, and Billy Hart. She has also been the leader on 25 albums that include more than 100 original compositions, and has hosted her own cable television show, Joanne Brackeen Presents.

“Joanne Brackeen has been at the forefront of american music and her contributions have  been extremely valuable to the entire  Berklee  community,” said Danilo Pérez, artistic director for the BGJI. “It is an honor to be able to dedicate this BGJI summit to her music.”

Watch Joanne Brackeen perform "Zapatos Españoles" at the 2015 BGJI Summit: