A faculty quartet will perform a free jazz recital on Thursday, Feb. 27 at 7:30 p.m. in Bucknell Hall. The quartet will include Barry Long, a professor and chair of music at Bucknell; David Pope, professor of saxophone and a distinguished teacher of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at James Madison University; Joshua Davis, director of jazz studies at Susquehanna University since 2006 who is also on the faculty at Penn State University; and drummer Phil Haynes, a veteran New York City artist.
While jazz played a vital role in the soundtrack to the modern Civil Rights movement, spirituals and freedom songs provided motivation and catharsis during meetings and marches in Montgomery, Birmingham, Selma, and across the South. Joined by leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and John Lewis, thousands marched while singing “Wade in the Water,” “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me ’Round,” “Eyes on the Prize,” and countless others. Work Songs draws upon these to provoke improvised responses in combination with works from Charles Mingus, Max Roach, and John Coltrane.
Long teaches interdisciplinary coursework in jazz and directs the jazz ensemble at Bucknell. The first to receive a doctoral degree in Jazz Studies from the Eastman School of Music, he has performed with such artists as Kenny Wheeler, Bob Brookmeyer, John Clayton, Eliane Elias, Benny Carter, and Jim McNeely.
Davis has performed with countless artists including Vardan Ovsepian, Ben Monder, Peter Erskine, Ole Mathisen, Donny McCaslin, and Randy Brecker.
Haynes has been a New York-based artist for more than 20 years and is featured on more than 60 LP, DVD and CD releases by seminal musicians of this generation.