The Max Roach Centennial Celebration and Jazz Festival is scheduled for April 11-13 in Elizabeth City.
Hosted by Elizabeth City State University’s Department of Music and Visual Arts, the festival will include jazz history workshops, master classes, K-12 workshops and live performances on the college’s campus and in Elizabeth City. All programming is open to the public at no charge.
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Roach, who died in 2007, was an African American drummer, composer and band leader praised for his instrumentation and jazz prowess.
Elizabeth City State Music Professor Douglas Jackson sees the event as an opportunity to explore the roots of jazz music.
“Max Roach was born in Newland, N.C. in Pasquotank County. Elizabeth City State University shares this same geographical reference,” Jackson said in an earlier release from the college. “The recognition of Max Roach is also a recognition of the contributions made by jazz musicians born in North Carolina, including Billy Taylor, John Coltrane, Nina Simone and Thelonious Monk.”
Jackson is leading the effort along with local partners including the Museum of the Albemarle, which is hosting the festival opening night reception with special guest, Elizabeth City native, A. B. Spellman, Thursday, April 11.
Related: Bebop drummer Max Roach kept coastal NC connections
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Spellman, who won in 2024 Grammy Award in the category Best Classical Compendium for the project “Passion for Bach and Coltrane,” has written essays and poetry for Rhythm magazine and taught at Morehouse College, Emory University, Rutgers, and Harvard University. In 1975, Spellman became director of Arts in Education Study Projects for the National Endowment for the Arts, and retired in 2005.
Guests can meet Spellman in the lobby starting at 6 p.m. before the program begins at 6:45 p.m. in the auditorium with Veronica Downing of ECSU/ WRVS Jazzy 89.9 Radio Show, Honey Vibes Weekend Radio Show and the JazzHead Podcast. Light refreshments will follow.
“We are thrilled to present this festival to the community,” Jackson said. “It is through the arts that we discover what a rich history we have throughout the state and the scope of jazz music.”
The Max Roach Centennial Celebration and Jazz Festival 2024 is sponsored by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
