Paley Library Lecture Hall This is BP with the GM! That’s legendary jazz broadcaster Bob Perkins (BP), bringing you the Great Music (GM) that is called jazz straight from Paley Library Lecture Hall this September. Talk with legendary radio broadcaster Bob Perkins and jazz musicians Orrin Evans, Terell Stafford and Dawn Warren Evans on the status of jazz music today. Is it alive and well? What affects the way jazz is produced, distributed and listened to today? That goes for both new music and classic jazz. Don’t miss Philly’s most renowned jazz broadcaster in conversation with other scholars and jazz musicians at Temple University Libraries.
Bob Perkins was born and raised in South Philadelphia. His career as a radio broadcaster began in 1964 in Detroit, and he returned to Philly five years later. In his 46 years of broadcasting, Perkins has amassed dozens of awards and much recognition, including a Kal Rudman Milestone in Radio Award and a Mellon Jazz Community Service Award in recognition of keeping America’s indigenous art form alive through his columns on jazz and his hosting of jazz music programs on radio. In 2003, Bob was inducted into the Philadelphia Broadcast Hall of Fame.
Dawn Warren Evans is an artist of varied tastes and musical interests; she has jammed with Roy Hargrove and Joshua Redman, sang with reggae, R&B, and rap bands and written and recorded in various genres. She also has extensive training in classical piano. Her professional debut took place in Paris where her ability to sing in French, Swahili, Woloff, and Lingala made her a sought after performer. Dawn continues to perform as a vocalist and is the founder of Imani Records. She has also been managing, booking and promoting jazz artists for 10 years.
A 2010 Pew Fellow in the Arts, pianist Orrin Evans is a gifted improviser, noted composer, and seasoned bandleader. He has worked alongside jazz veterans such as saxophonist Bobby Watson and drummer Ralph Peterson. In addition to collaborations with artists ranging from hip-hop stars Common and Mos Def to noted poet Sonia Sanchez, Evans is the founder of Imani Records and 88 Keys Productions.
Terell Stafford is one of today’s most celebrated jazz trumpeters. He is the Director of Jazz Studies and Chair of Instrumental Studies at Temple University and a member of the GRAMMY-winning Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, drummer Matt Wilson’s group, “Arts and Crafts,” and drummer Alvin Queen’s group, “Alvin Queen and the Organics.” Stafford has recorded six albums as a leader, including the critically acclaimed This Side of Strayhorn, and is heard on over 90 albums as a sideman. Stafford also serves as a clinician for the prestigious Vail Foundation in Colorado and Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Essentially Ellington Program. He has also served as a member of the faculty for the Juilliard Institute for Jazz Studies and is a board member of the Jazz Education Network.
