I was surprised and humbled to receive an award at the 2017 Northwest Regional Emmy® Awards last Saturday. I was recognized in the Musical Composition/Arrangement category for my composition in Oregon Public Broadcasting’s (OPB’s) Oregon Experience special “JazzTown” Portland’s Golden Jazz Age.
Read MoreMy friends, we are not there yet. We are not done…
I’ve never been to New Orleans, the Crescent City, the birthplace of jazz. I’ve never been to New Orleans, but I’ll be there in four weeks to perform a piece dedicated to those who marched, prayed, sat-in, and stood up to injustice, who willingly put their bodies on the line, on the bridges, on the streets, in the churches, in the face of violence and brutality, so that I and my descendants could rise.
Read MoreOne of my favorite collaborators and the bassist of the MJ New Quartet, Marcus Shelby is a force to be reckoned with as a composer, creator, and social justice advocate. His composition and performance in playwright and actor Anna Deavere Smith's latest creation Notes from the Field: Doing Time in Education has been nominated for a 2017 Drama Desk award for Outstanding Music in a Play. The docu-drama dissects the conveyor belt from school to incarceration for African Americans in the United States with Deavere taking on 17 roles based on scores of interviews.
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