Jazz and Blues
Jazz
North Carolina Jazz Repertory Orchestra
North Carolina natives have made significant contributions to the field of jazz. They include saxophonist John Coltrane, born in Hamlet and raised in High Point, who received a posthumous special citation from the Pulitzer Prize Board in 2007 "for his masterful improvisation, supreme musicianship and iconic centrality to the history of jazz." Pianist Thelonious Monk, born in Rocky Mount, is considered one of the founders of bebop. Tryon native Nina Simone was a singer, songwriter, pianist and civil rights activist. Grammy-winning vocalist Roberta Flack was born in Asheville. Pianist, composer and educator Billy Taylor was born in Greenville and currently serves as the Robert L. Jones Distinguished Professor of Music at East Carolina University there. Percussionist Max Roach, born in Newland, played on many of saxophonist Charlie Parker's most important recordings. Wilmington-born bassist Percy Heath spent more than 40 years playing with the Modern Jazz Quartet.
Today, their heritage is kept alive by North Carolina residents like Branford Marsalis, the noted tenor and soprano saxophonist; vocalist Nnenna Freelon, National Spokesperson for the National Association of Partners in Education, which represents more than 400,000 school/community partnership programs across the United States; vocalist and songwriter Lois Deloatch Dawson and Eve Cornelious, currently jazz vocal teacher at East Carolina University. Professional and academic groups include the North Carolina Central University Jazz Ensemble, led by Ira Wiggins, the Duke University Jazz Ensemble and North Carolina Jazz Repertory Orchestra, sponsored and operated by the Jazz Foundation of North Carolina, Inc., all in Durham; the East Carolina University Jazz Ensemble in Greenville, Saint Augustine's College Jazz Ensemble in Raleigh and the John Brown Quintet in Chapel Hill.
Blues
Boasting local talent, past and present, including Etta Baker, Alga Mae Hinton, John Dee Holeman and Lightnin' Wells, North Carolina is home to the blues. Since 1988, the annual Bull Durham Blues Festival has celebrated Durham's rich musical heritage as an important center of Carolina and Piedmont blues music. Today, the event has become North Carolina's largest blues celebration, attracting fans from more than 175 North Carolina cities, 39 states and eight countries. The Cape Fear Blues Society, formed in Wilmington in 1987 to preserve, promote and present blues music, has hosted the Cape Fear Blues Festival for 12 seasons, as well as an annual Blues Challenge, Blues Cruise and weekly Blues Jams. The Piedmont Blues Preservation Society in Greensboro, serving the Triad region, produces a monthly concert and presents school programs featuring blues music and exploring its roots in black culture. The Rowan Blues and Jazz Society in Salisbury preserves, promotes and present blues and jazz music with and emphasis on the music performed by musicians from the Piedmont region of the state. The Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro includes a taste of the blues in its summer lineup, whether legends like Johnny Winter, Cyril Lance or Lee Roy Parnell. And in Raleigh, PineCone, the Piedmont Council of Traditional Music, hosts an annual Down Home Series featuring blues icons like Taj Mahal.
Honoring blues musicians by keeping their bodies and souls together is the goal of Hillsborough's Music Maker Relief Foundation (MMR), which "helps the true pioneers and forgotten heroes of Southern music gain recognition and meet their day-to-day needs." Established in 1994, this non-profit public charity supports musicians aged 55 and older who earn less than $18,000 a year and whose work is rooted in a Southern musical tradition. Support covers basic living costs, emergency relief, professional development and preservation and proliferation of the American musical traditions embodied in their work. With its own record label, a concert series and an advisory board that includes B.B. King, Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne, MMR is a unique and essential North Carolina resource and champion for the blues.
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