Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium (CBJC)
To Honor Reggie Workman, Kenny Dorham and Deacon Leroy Applin
At Brooklyn Church on February 12, 2005
For the sixth consecutive year the Central Brooklyn Jazz Consortium (CBJC) continues its effort to bring the music known as Jazz back to the African American community. Given that history, it is fitting that the legendary House of the Lord Church will host a tribute to Kenny Dorham, Reggie Workman, and Deacon Leroy Applin on Saturday afternoon, February 12, 2005, beginning at 3pm. The labors of the two distinguished composers/bandleaders and the Deacon have impacted greatly on the music in Brooklyn.
Organized by the CBJC, the February 12th tribute will feature Trio 3 (with Oliver Lake, Andrew Cyrille and honoree Reggie Workman), Evette Dorham, Kennyıs daughter, with a personal tribute, a youth choir from PS 329 led by Cyril Greene, and the soul stirring Anointed Voices of the House of the Lord Church.
Chaired by activist educator Jitu Weusi, the CBJC was formed in 1999 as a cooperative of community institutions and local venues working together. The tribute to these honorees comes at a significant moment as an historic renaissance of community activism has once again begun to associate with the music for the first time since the 70s. This annual program is part of CBJCıs ongoing efforts to honor those musicians who have contributed so much to the continual development of the music.
This year also marks the first organized effort emanating from Brooklyn venues to further identify the particular subset of Jazz as the Music of the Spirit.
Consistent with this and other events in the works throughout this sixth season, CBJC, in keeping with its mission, will ask the community to join in support of the principles outlined in a recently issued position paper: "Jazz: The Music of the Spirit," by trumpeter Ahmed Abdullah and poet Louis Reyes Rivera. One of the tenets of the paper states: "We define Jazz: The Music of the Spirit as an art form that defies time, genre and culture, even while it is, in fact, identifiably of a specific time frame (20-21st Century), genre (Jazz), and culture (African American)."
With its inception, the CBJC established in tandem a Jazz Hall of Fame into which this year's honorees have been inducted. Past inductees include Chief Bey, Eubie Blake, Joe Carroll, Betty Carter, Ernie Henry, Lena Horne, Cal Massey, Carmen McRae, Noel Pointer, Max Roach, Clifton Smalls, C. Scoby Stroman, and Randy Weston.
"Both Reggie Workman and Kenny Dorham have, without doubt, significantly carved their own niches into the annals of the music, and they have done so in Brooklyn," says Chairperson Weusi. "These two gentlemen have served as quintessential influences. Itıs great to see them so honored."
Jo Ann Cheatham of Pure Jazz magazine, CBJC's literary arm, says of Deacon Leroy Applin, "He was a Jazz aficionado; the embodiment of a Jazzman. He was a Jazz historian, a presenter of the music, a fan, a supporter and a fantastic swing dancer. He was one of the last in a dwindling line of people who you could go to get the real deal regarding Brooklyn Jazz."
As a natural lead-in for CBJC's annual Jazz Festivals, these tributes, annually held in Brooklyn churches, have garnered international attention. Last year's celebration of the life of Chief Bey and Eubie Blake at The Concord Baptist Church of Christ was picked up by one of the most prestigious venues in Europe and will be performed at Teatro Manzoni in Milan, on January 30, 2005. That event will include performances by groups led by baritone saxophonist Bluiett, dancer Mickey Davidson, and percussionist Kimati Dinizulu, along with Blue Coda, an excellent group of young musicians that has been working in Brooklyn.
The House of the Lord Church is located at 415 Atlantic Avenue between Nevins and Bond with Reverend Dr. Herbert Daughtry, Pastor, presiding. For more information call (718)-237-1246, (718) 875-1016 or (718) 434-4438 or email at
Ahmedian@aol.com. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door.
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