Benefit Concert For Claude Black!

http://www.toledoblade.com/Music-Theater-Dance/2012/01/26/Benefit-concert-to-...

The UT Department of Music is accepting donations on Black's behalf. They can be mailed to Claude Black, c/o Jay Rinsen Weik and the UT Jazz Studies program, UT Department of Music MS605, The University of Toledo, 2801 W. Bancroft St., Toledo, OH, 43606. Checks should be made out to Claude Black.

http://www.toledoblade.com/Editorials/2012/01/25/Jazz-benefit.html

Jazz lovers owe a debt of gratitude to pianist Claude Black, who for more than 60 years has made beautiful music in Toledo, in the Midwest, and around the world. It's time to repay some of that debt.

Mr. Black, 79, was hospitalized before Christmas. His kidneys were failing, his blood pressure had skyrocketed, and cancer had returned. He's doing better now, but the road to improved health is long. Like many other jazz performers of his era, Mr. Black does not have the money to cover extraordinary medical bills.

The University of Toledo's jazz faculty, bassists Jeff Halsey and Ron Brooks, drummer George Davidson, and legendary vocalist Jon Hendricks want to help. But they can't do it alone. That's where you come in.

There will be a benefit concert at 8 p.m. Jan. 31 in the Recital Hall of UT's Center for Performing Arts. Admission is a pittance: $3 for students and seniors, and $5 for everyone else. Gunnar, UT's director of jazz studies, says every penny will go to help the ailing pianist.

Mr. Black, a Detroit native, has played professionally since he was 16. Over his long career, he has backed some of America's greatest artists, including saxophonist Earl Bostic and the queen of soul, Aretha Franklin.

For more than two decades, Mr. Black and bassist Clifford Murphy held court at Murphy's Place in downtown Toledo. They not only put their considerable talents on display six nights a week, but also nurtured generations of aspiring singers and musicians.

Mr. Black may be at his best in sessions with young artists. He has a natural ability to guide, support, prod, and even drag singers and musicians along as they test themselves before live audiences. It's part of his artistry and his personality.

The benefit concert is, in a way, a gift. Toledoans can thank Mr. Black by filling the 268 seats in UT's recently renovated recital hall. But don't stop there.

A full house for the concert, while generous, will be little more than a drop in his hospital-bill bucket. Dig deeper than the price of admission.

Do it for Mr. Black, for the pleasure his music brings, and for Toledo's jazz heritage.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Claude
• Black
• Jay
• Rinsen
• Weik
• Jazz
• Guitarist
• Universty
• of
• Toledo

[zutubefan]

great