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Lafayette College will launch its celebration of Black History Month with a jazz concert, “Faddis, Hampton & Heath,” 8 p.m. Saturday, January 30, at the Williams Center for the Arts. The performance features three of jazz’s most acclaimed horn players; saxophonist Jimmy Heath, trombonist Slide Hampton, and trumpeter Jon Faddis. Tickets are $18.00 and may be purchased from the box office by calling 610-330-5009.
Dubbed his “heir-apparent” by the legendary Dizzy Gillespie in 1973, Faddis, then only 18-years old, was soon launched to jazz stardom. Faddis’ luminous credits include stints as a featured soloist with the Lionel Hampton and the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis big bands and as Charlie Mingus’s trumpeter. In 1991, the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band was formed with Faddis at its helm as musical director.
At Lafayette, Faddis will head an all-star lineup of jazz personalities. Hampton, the reigning master of the jazz trombone, has been a frequent collaborator with the late Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, and Paquito D’Rivera’s “United Nations” band, among others. Jazz soloist Heath has worked with many jazz greats, including Miles Davis, Ray Charles, and “Heath Brothers” bands. They will be joined by drummer Winant Harper, bassist Ray Drummond., and the internationally known pianist Mulgrew Miller, who has made his home in Easton for the last decade.
The concert is the first of three performances in Lafayette’s new “JazzTrio’99” series. Patrons may purchase a subscription to the series, which also includes concerts by Ray Drummond’s “Excursions” Band Feb. 9 and Oliver Lake’s “Trio Three” April 14. Tickets for the series are $33.00.
The concert is sponsored in part by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and the Mid-Atlantic Foundation for the Arts.
For more information, contact the Williams Center box office at 610-330-5009.