This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. discusses the musical and social legacies of three African American jazz pioneers with Larry Tye, historian, former Boston Glove reporter, former journalism professor, and author of The Jazzmen: How Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, and Count Basie Transformed America.”
Count Basie
Dr. Carmen Fields, pt.2 (Ep. 42, 2023)
On this week’s In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. concludes his conversation with Dr. Carmen Fields, war-winning broadcast news journalist and author of Going Back to T-Town: The Ernie Fields Territory Big Band, the story of her father, Tulsa-based musician and bandleader Ernie Fields.
Armadillo Bonus: Blues, Jazz, and Funk
Join KUTX as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the historic Armadillo World Headquarters, the music venue that helped put Austin on the musical map. In this bonus episode, hear first-hand stories about the blues, jazz, and funk greats that made the Armadillo such a live music destination: the supernatural abilities of Freddie King and B.B. King, the Pointer Sisters in their funk heyday, and the raucous welcome given to jazz icon Count Basie.
Clark Terry (12.14.14)
Clark Terry is an American born bebop trumpeter and pioneer of the flugelhorn. Born in the Midwest in 1920 he began his career under the guidance of legends like Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Count Basie, and went on to educate generations of musicians including Miles Davis, Wynton Marsalis and even Austin’s own Ephraim Owens.
In this edition of Liner Notes, Rabbi and jazz historian Neil Blumofe talks about how precious the life and work of Clark Terry is, as he plays the role, not only of a great musician, but as a hinge that links us to the past, present and future of jazz and America.