The Second Friday of each month!
The series celebrates the rich heritage of African American musicians with ties to Eastern North Carolina, with artistic director, Carroll V. Dashiell, Jr., a house band, and a special monthly guest artist. The music series is part of the African American Music Trails of Eastern North Carolina, a project of the North Carolina Arts Council, an agency of the Department of Natural & Cultural Resources and the counties of Edgecombe, Greene, Jones, Lenoir, Nash, Pitt, Wayne, and Wilson. Find a guidebook and more information at www.AfricanAmericanMusicNC.com.
Cost: Free
Location: ECU Campus
Next Concert Date: April 17-22, 2023
Schedule
The Billy Taylor Jazz Festival began humbly. High school and middle school jazz bands came to campus to perform at critiquing sessions, then to enjoy a performance by the ECU Jazz Ensemble "A" and a guest artist. The festival quickly outgrew A. J. Fletcher Recital Hall. In 2003, Dr. Billy Taylor lent his name to the festival, and the Greenville Convention Center was retained to contain the audience who came for a gala evening, witness Mayor Don Parrott offer Taylor the Keys to the City, and hear him proclaim the day “Dr. Billy Taylor Day” on behalf of the City Council. The festival offers three public concerts, a free jam session, critiquing sessions for eight or more high school and middle school jazz bands, and opportunities for Jazz Friends to mingle and celebrate. Please visit https://music.ecu.edu/billy-taylor-jazz-festival/ for the full schedule of events. |
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ABOUT CARROLL V. DASHIELL, JR. The North Carolina Arts Council, Pitt County Arts Council, and the Greenville-Pitt Convention & Visitor's Bureau named Carroll V. Dashiell, Jr. Artistic Director of The African American Music Series in 2016. Carroll Dashiell is a native of Washington, DC. A graduate of Howard University, with citations in Who's Who in Music and Down Beat Magazine, Carroll has been recognized for excellence in the music industry as a bassist, musical director/conductor and also as a composer/arranger. Affectionately known as CVD, he has been involved in academia for more than three decades serving as professor of music at the Saint Mary's College of Maryland, University of the District of Columbia and East Carolina University in North Carolina. CVD is the producer and writer of A Tribute to Motown Records, (a stage show and concert that celebrates some of the African-American's cultural contributions to the music industry, staged in the tradition of the famous touring Motown Review) that is selling out theaters and venues nation-wide. In addition to composing, writing and arranging, CVD is continuing performance as jazz bassist and is very humbled to be the Founder and Director of the Dr. Billy Taylor Jazz Festival, named in honor of his mentor. |
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