The University of Pittsburgh’s Jazz Studies Program in collaboration with the University of Illinois Press seek research articles for Issue No. 2 of Jazz and Culture.

PhD candidate Ben Barson is one of 15 recipients of the 2018 Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Awards. ASCAP (The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) has made the awards since 2002 to encourage jazz composers under the age of 30. Barson received an award for his composition Insurrealista which he describes as an,

“…homage to the revolutionary surrealism of the father of Negritude, Aime Cesaire. In terms of influences, the piece employs a 20-string koto, within a jazz-hip hop rhythmic section.”

In the 1970s an avant-garde jazz scene flourished in the lofts of lower Manhattan. Yet this energetic era had not been extensively documented until the recent publication of Pitt jazz studies professor Michael C. Heller’s Loft Jazz: Improvising New York in the 1970s (University of California Press).

According to the publisher,

The Pitt Jazz Composers Concert is open to Pitt students, faculty, staff, and alumni and will take place on March 18, 2018, at 2 p.m. in Bellefield Hall. Scores are due on February 1, 2018. Visit music.pitt.edu/pjc for complete submission guidelines.

Jazz Studies PhD candidate Ben Barson’s music and research was recently highlighted in an interview with the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences. Barson is a composer, bari sax virtuoso, and scholar whose research focuses on stories of “resistance and self-determination.”

In his interview with the Dietrich School, Barson emphasized a community oriented approach and interdisciplinary opportunities as his primary reasons for coming to the Department of Music.

Dear members of the University of Pittsburgh community,
 
Our beloved Geri A. Allen, Associate Professor and Director of Jazz Studies, passed away June 27, 2017 after a year-long battle with cancer.  She was surrounded by family and life-long friends.