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[John Arthur, Jr.]

(b Worcester, MA, June 15, 1922; d Queens, NY, Feb 11, 1999). American jazz pianist, composer, educator, and bandleader. He was technically proficient at playing rags, stomps, boogie-woogie, swing, bebop, and free jazz, but his performance career never conformed to any specific style or era. He is perhaps best known for his work with the Charles Mingus group (1962–5, 1970), with whom he recorded albums such as Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus (1963, Imp.). He studied classical music from the age of five or six until he was 20 and began playing jazz on the trumpet when he was 16. As a jazz pianist, his early influences included Fats Waller, Art Tatum, Earl Hines, and Count Basie. After working with various groups in the 1950s, including three years with Earl Bostic around 1950, Byard recorded frequently from 1957 to 1962 with leaders such as Herb Pomeroy, Maynard Ferguson, Don Ellis, and Eric Dolphy. At this time he also recorded his first albums as a leader, ...

[CBMR]

The Center for Black Music Research (CBMR) was founded in 1983 at Columbia College Chicago by Samuel A. Floyd, Jr. Its mission has remained the same since its inception: to document, preserve, and promote the music of the African Diaspora. This mission is accomplished through publications, conferences and symposia, performances, research fellowships, and the Library and Archives, housing books and research collections.

The Center’s flagship publication, Black Music Research Journal (1980–), antedates Floyd’s move to Columbia College. The Center has also published Lenox Avenue (1995–1999), the scholarly journal for a grant-funded project which explored music’s role in the arts of the African Diaspora. Various newsletters, including Black Music Research Newsletter/CBMR Bulletin (1977–1990), and CBMR Digest (1990–) informed members about the Center’s activities. Kalinda! (1994–1997), Stop-Time (1998–2000), and Cariso! (2003–2006) were published for specific grant-funded projects. The Center’s publications also include a bibliographic and reference series consisting of five CBMR monographs, ...

Jazz division of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York. In 1987 Lincoln Center launched Classical Jazz, its first concert series devoted solely to jazz. In 1996 JALC became an autonomous jazz division with wynton Marsalis at the helm. Marsalis has continued to work as the artistic director of JALC and the music director of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. This ensemble maintains an extensive repertoire of classic jazz works while continuing to commission and premiere new pieces. It tours extensively, frequently collaborating with guest artists, and participates in JALC programs, such as the annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival. JALC also maintains a busy schedule of concerts by visiting artists, lectures, and jazz education initiatives....

(b Enugu, Nigeria, 1938). Nigerian alto saxophonist and educator. Raised in southeastern Nigeria, King began his career as a percussionist with the trumpeter, saxophonist, and singer Roy Chicago (John Akintola Ademuwagun) in Ibadan. There, and in Lagos, he subsequently played double bass, drums, and, finally, alto saxophone. In 1961 he moved to London to study music, including a period at the Trinity College of Music. With the drummer Bayo Martins and the trumpeter Mike Falana he formed the African Messengers in 1964. They played at festivals and nightclubs in England and accompanied Motown stars, including the Four Tops, the Temptations, and Diana Ross. Among their recordings was the hit song Highlife Piccadilly (c1964, Carnival 7013), a blend of highlife music and jazz on which King plays flute. He then toured Europe and northern Africa as leader of the Blues Builders.

After leading a band, The Voice of Africa, from ...