Congressman John Conyers, Jr., Ranking
Member of the House Judiciary Committee, and Dean of
the Congressional Black Caucus, will once again team
with The American Society of Composers, Authors
and Publishers (ASCAP), and the Recording Industry Association
of
America (RIAA) to host a jazz forum and concert during
the upcoming Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s
Annual Legislative Conference. This event will take
place on Thursday, September 25th, from 7 to
10 pm in Ballroom C of the new, recently constructed Washington
Convention Center. Sponsored by ASCAP and RIAA, this
event is free and open to the public.
Jazz legends and ASCAP members Hank
and Elvin Jones will be featured together in a rare concert
performance by the siblings. These two extraordinary
artists, along with their late brother Thad Jones,
emerged from the fertile Detroit jazz scene to become
internationally renowned. Pianist Hank Jones, who celebrated
his 85th birthday this year, gained fame working as
an accompanist for Billy Eckstine, Charlie Parker,
and Ella Fitzgerald and as a composer, bandleader and
recording artist. Younger brother Elvin Jones is one
of the greatest jazz drummers and is best-known for
his work with John Coltrane, . Rounding out a truly
dynamic quartet will be two of DC’s own jazz
giants, bassist James King, and saxophonist Andrew
White. King is highly regarded for his years performing
with a variety of jazz greats, including Elvin Jones
and Gary Bartz. White is renowned for transcribing
the works of Coltrane, Parker and Ornette Coleman.
The jazz concert will be preceded by
a forum at 7 PM entitled “Changing the Beat:
Improving the Worklife of Jazz Musicians.” The
above artists, joined by A.B. Spellman, Deputy Chairman,
National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), New Orleans
Musicians Clinic Director Dr. Cathi Fontenot, Jazz
Journalist Association Vice President and broadcaster
Willard Jenkins, and University of Michigan Professor
and saxophonist Donald Walden, will tackle a set of
issues raised by the recent NEA study of the same subject.
ASCAP is a membership association of
over 160,000 composers, songwriters and music publishers
of all genres of music. ASCAP members are the dominant
creative force in music. The world’s largest
performing rights organization, ASCAP protects the
rights of its members by licensing and collecting royalties
for the public performance of their copyrighted works.
ASCAP is the only member-owned performing rights organization
with a Board of Directors made up solely of writers
and publishers elected by the membership.
