“400: An African American Musical Portrait” on Thu, Feb. 27, 7:30pm FREE at Brooks-Rogers Recital Hall, Williams College
“400: An African American Musical Portrait” performance of bassist Avery Sharpe’s recent album which draws on plantation music, blues, ragtime, gospel, classical, New Orleans second line, and other deeply rooted historical styles, all refracted through the prism of modern jazz. The album marks 400 years, starting in 1619 with the arrival of the first enslaved Africans to Point Comfort, or what is now Fort Monroe in Hampton, Virginia, to the present. The music tells a harrowing yet inspiring tale, century by century
Avery Sharpe, longtime bassist with the McCoy Tyner Trio, Williams faculty member, distinguished leader and recording artist, released his latest work in 2019 titled “400: An African American Musical Portrait.”
Co-sponsored by the Africana Studies Department at Williams, Mr. Sharpe gathers together his collaborators for this live performance of a monumental and inspiring work.
Featured artists are faculty members Avery Sharpe – bass, Samirah Evans – vocals, Kris Allen – reeds, and Tendai Muparutsa – djembe. Honored musical guest artists are Haneef Nelson – trumpet, Matt DeChamplain – piano, and Royal Hartigan – drums. Talented Williams music students include Theophyl Kwapong ’20 – voice, Kevin Zhou ’20 – violin, Jeongyoon Han ’21 – violin, and Andrew Rim ’20 – cello
This free event is open to the public on Thursday, Feb. 27 at 7:30 p.m. in Brooks-Rogers Recital Hall on the Williams College campus.
