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Nanette Shaw
The CUNY Graduate Center and the Louis Armstrong House and Archives at Queens College will be hosting "Pops: Celebrating the Life of Louis Armstrong," a day of panel discussions, video showings, and a jam session. The program will take place on Tuesday, January 9, 2001, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at The Graduate Center’s Baisley Powell Elebash Recital Hall, 365 5th Avenue at 34th Street. The fee is $25; students, free. For further information, or to register, please call 212/817-8215. Panel discussions will feature Pulitzer-Prize-Winner, Margo Jefferson, of The New York Times; renowned Village Voice journalist Nat Hentoff; Armstrong band alumni Arvell Shaw; and Willard Jenkins, jazz critic and "BET on Jazz" program host. Jimmy Owens, trumpet player and professor of music at New School University, will lead a jam session in addition to offering perspectives on Armstrong’s dynamic creativity. Michael Cogswell, director of the Louis Armstrong House and Archives at Queens College, will present a keynote speech, as well as offer one-of-a-kind slides and audio clips. Louis Armstrong’s musicality, verve, and innovative spirit are only part of the legacy that he left behind. Spanning nearly six decades and thousands of performances, the body of Armstrong’s work is a testament to the fact that he was a premier force in African American music, shaping a whole new form of expression that reverberated throughout the world. According to Mr. Cogswell, "Louis would have been famous for any one of his many contributions: trumpet virtuoso, vocalist, father of jazz, composer, writer, actor, philanthropist, and Ambassador of Goodwill." While Pops was, in many ways, "larger than life," during Armstrong’s life, Mr. Cogswell adds that "there is more serious interest given Louis today than during his lifetime. The program at The Graduate Center promises to be both an entertaining and informative look at Louis Armstrong and his legacy." The Graduate Center is the doctorate-granting institution of The City University of New York, the largest urban university in the U.S. The only consortium of its kind in the nation, The Graduate Center draws its faculty of more than 1,600 members mainly from the CUNY senior colleges and cultural and scientific institutions throughout New York City. Established in 1961, The Graduate Center has grown to an enrollment of nearly 4,000 students in 32 doctoral programs and seven master's degree programs in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. The Graduate Center also houses 28 research centers and institutes and administers the CUNY Baccalaureate Program. According to a recent National Research Council report, more than a third of The Graduate Center's rated programs rank among the nation's top 20 at public and private institutions, nearly a quarter are among the top ten when compared to publicly supported institutions alone, and more than half are among the top five programs at publicly supported institutions in the northeast. Further information on The Graduate Center's programs and activities can be found on its Web site at: www.gc.cuny.edu. |