Jazz in RI History and Culture – A Salon Discussion

FirstWorks and the Providence Athenaeum present Sylvia Ann Soares (niece of the late, great jazz pianist Eddie Soares) and psychology professor and jazz aficionado Ferdinand Jones (co-editor of the anthology of essays “The Triumph of the Soul: Cultural and Psychological Aspects of African American Music”) for a fascinating discussion about the role of jazz in Rhode Island history and culture. This discussion is presented as part of the five-month “Art Activating Community” project which features Urban Bush Women and is designed to engage the Rhode Island community in conversations about race, activism, and the role of the arts in social change.

Urban Bush Women is an electrifying, Brooklyn-based dance troupe which galvanizes artists, activists, audiences and communities through performances, artist development, education and community engagement. As part of FirstWorks’ Artistic Icons Series, they will perform “Walking with ‘Trane,” a new live music/dance event created by the in tribute to the life of legendary jazz saxophonist John Coltrane and his seminal jazz suite, “A Love Supreme” on February 27 at the Vets.

FirstWorks’ Art Activating Community: Urban Bush Women in RI is made possible with lead support from Dance USA/The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Rhode Island Council for the Humanities, Brown University Creative Arts Council, RISD CSI, Carter Family Charitable Trust, and the National Endowment for the Arts. The Project is presented as a Widening the Circle initiative, a partnership with the American Dance Legacy Initiative and Rites and Reason Theatre with support from Brown’s Department of Theatre Arts and Performance Studies. Additional partners include Artists and Scientists as Partners and The Rhythm of Change Festival.