Jazz News: UNC Greeley Jazz fest; PBS Kids goes jazz; obits for jazz columnists Davis and Provizer
This is Jazz News, a look at what’s news in jazz, music, and the arts.
This year’s UNC Greeley Jazz Festival presents a jaw-dropping lineup of talent, including vocalist Ekep Nkwelle with Wycliffe Gordon on Thursday, the Count Basie Orchestra with percussionist Samuel Torres on Friday, and pianist Sullivan Fortner playing on Saturday with saxophonist Sarah Hanahan, trumpeter Wayne Bergeron, and the Festival All-Star Big Band. Behind these public shows are open clinics, feedback clinics and jam sessions for elementary to college and semi-professional musicians. The festival held every April is one reason UNC-Greeley has one of the most notable jazz programs in the nation. (SOURCE: UNC/Greeley Festival Tickets)
A new show on the PBS Kids channel is designed to engage young viewers with jazz and dance. The new series of music videos called “Acoustic Rooster: Jazzy Jams” is based bestselling author Kwame Alexander’s children’s book, “Acoustic Rooster and His Barnyard Band.” Imagine these characters: horn-playing Mules Davis, drummer Lil’ Herdin, singer Ella Finchgerald and pianist Duck Ellington. PBS Kids is rolling out the three-minute shorts in May to introduce preschool children to jazz music concepts and important life skills. (SOURCE: Acoustic Rooster Brings the Wide World of Jazz to PBS Kids / Current Newsletter)
A final note on the passing of two great jazz columnists. In Philadelphia, Francis Davis was recognized with a Grammy in 2009 for his liner notes to the re-issue of Miles Davis’ “Kind of Blue.” Davis passed away at age 78. (SOURCE: NYTimes / Francis Davis)
Closer to home, we are very sad to report the passing of longtime Denver jazz columnist Norman Provizer at age 80. Norman was the Friday jazz columnist for the Rocky Mountain News, but he contributed his weekly commentary to KUVO for years in a feature called “Jazz Notes.”
He shared his vast jazz knowledge and enthusiasm with Downbeat magazine readers, and the Jazz Journalists Association named Provizer a “jazz hero” in 2020. He was a voting member of the Recording Academy.
Norman was a regular around town, showing up at venues wherever the music was swinging. Provizer’s obituary in the MSU-Denver Red magazine notes that the longtime political science professor often brought students with him to the clubs. It was a teaching opportunity, said his colleague at Metro State, Robert Hazan.
Yes, Norman Provizer’s other job was as a Political Science professor and one-time chair of the Poli Sci department. He created the Golda Meir Center for Political Leadership inside the little brick bungalow where the future prime minister of Israel once lived.
According to the folks at MSU-Denver, Provizer helped infuse jazz curricula into the University’s Department of Music. Provizer told “Metropolitan Denver Magazine” in 2013: “Both politics and jazz are about the art of improvisation.”
Norman Provizer is survived by his wife and daughter.
(SOURCE: https://red.MSU Denver / Norman Provizer)
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