Hamilton College will host a unique jazz performance by internationally renowned artists Jon Jang and David Murray on Thursday, September 18, at 4 p.m. in the Fillius Events Barn. Free and open to all students, staff and faculty, as well as the larger Mohawk Valley community, this event will showcase the possibilities of new forms of cross-cultural engagement within the distinctively American musical form known as $B!c (Bjazz $B#c (B by featuring the collaborative efforts of Chinese American pianist Jang and African American reed instrumentalist Murray.
As leader of the Pan-Asian Arkestra and an award winning composer, Jang has led the way in the burgeoning Asian American jazz scene, joining elements of various Asian musical traditions with the cultural and political sensibilities of jazz. Comparably, Murray has led several different groups, including the World Saxophone Quartet, and collaborated with various artists, including Jang, on several projects. In all of his work, he has sought to extend the boundaries of jazz even further by reformulating the terms under which it engages with other musical traditions and forms. Together, these two artists have produced some remarkable music that further expands the cultural reach of jazz, therewith also re-imagining its possibilities.
Sponsors for this event include the Offices of the President, the Dean of Faculty and the Dean of Students, the Office of Multicultural Affairs, the Edwin B. Lee Lecture Series Fund of the Asian Studies Program, the Kirkland Project, Student Activities and the departments of Music, Theatre and Dance, Africana Studies, Comparative Literature, and English.
