Columbia University's Center for Jazz Studies and The Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation Present The Louis Armstrong International Continuum: Armstrong & Company June 13 - 19 at 9:00 am Daily

    NEW YORK, NY, June 10, 2022 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Columbia University's Center for Jazz Studies, in conjunction with The Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation (LAEF), presents the 2022 Louis Armstrong International Continuum: Armstrong & Company, a virtual, Symposium and Concert set for June 13 - 19 at 9:00 am (ET). The participants include Sonny Rollins, Gary Giddins, Ned Sublette, Angela Davis, Robin D.G. Kelley, Nichole Rustin-Paschal, Terri Lyne Carrington, Farah Jasmine Griffin, Theo Croker and more, plus concerts by vocalists Nnenna Freelon and Quiana Lynell and a special award presentation to Ran Blake.

The Continuum is free and open to the public. For more information and to attend, please go to https://jazz.columbia.edu/the-louis-armstrong-international-continuum-2/.

Highlighting this year's Continuum theme, Louis Armstrong and Company, the seven-day event brings together an outstanding group of musicians, authors, scholars, academics and art administrators to examine Armstrong's historic collaborations with some of the world's finest jazz musicians, including Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington. Building on last year's theme, this symposium also examines how Armstrong worked with leaders from various professions and disciplines to uplift the world during trying times.

"Louis Armstrong is a founding father of our music, and his collaborations with some of the brightest stars in jazz allowed them to tap directly into the wellspring of his artistry, which this symposium will explore in depth," said Robert G. O'Meally, the Columbia University Zora Neale Professor of English and Comparative Literature, Director of the Columbia University Center for Jazz Studies, and author of The Jazz Cadence of American Culture, and his latest book, Antagonistic Cooperation: Jazz, Collage and the Shaping of American Culture.

"As Albert Murray once remarked, "Louis Armstrong is the Prometheus of jazz," said Wynton Marsalis, President of LAEF and Artistic and Managing Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. "Like Prometheus, Armstrong shared the full fire of his artistic gifts with his fellow musicians and with the world. He was always ready to show up anytime, anywhere 'in the cause of happiness.'"

Pianist/composer Ran Blake, who taught at the New England Conservatory for five decades, will be awarded the 2022 Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation SATCHMO™ award. Bassist and LAEF Board Secretary David Chevan will conduct an interview.

"We're delighted to celebrate the accomplishments and legacy of Ran Blake," said LAEF Executive Director Jackie Harris. "Like Louis Armstrong, he is a pioneer who has moved the music forward and inspired generations of musicians."

Critically-acclaimed vocalists Nnenna Freelon and Quiana Lynell will conclude the symposium with soul-stirring performances.

The schedule features a Q & A: Sonny Rollins and Aidan Levy, Monday, June 13; Armstrong and Company: Gary Giddins, Ned Sublette, Nichole Rustin-Paschal and Robert O'Meally, Tuesday, June 14; Listening to Pops on Record: Allan Harris, Charles Tolliver, Theo Croker and Aidan Levy, Wednesday, June 15; Interview: Ran Blake, 2022 Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation "SATCHMO" Award Recipient, and David Chevan, Thursday, June 16; Armstrong on Film: Kevin Whitehead, Racquel Gates and Krin Gabbard, Friday, June 17; Social Justice: Angela Davis, Robin D. G. Kelley, Terri Lyne Carrington, Farah Jasmine Griffin and Robert O'Meally, Saturday, June 18; Armstrong and Company - A Special Concert: Vocalists Quiana Lynell Band and Nnenna Freelon Band, Sunday, June 19. All events are available at 9:00 am (EST) Daily.

For more information and to attend the Louis Armstrong Continuum:
https://jazz.columbia.edu/the-louis-armstrong-international-continuum-2/.

For more information on the presenting organizations:
www.louisarmstrongfoundation.org and www.jazz.columbia.edu.

The Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation, Inc. (LAEF) was founded and funded by Louis and Lucille Armstrong in 1969 to give back to the world "some of the goodness he received." The mission of the organization is to preserve and promote the cultural legacy of Louis Armstrong by fostering programs, lectures, and other educational events to assist those interested, gifted, and talented in the field of music, primarily jazz. Today, the Foundation is a major source of funding for programs that educate adults and children in the history of American jazz, and it has provided solid financial support to institutions across the nation.

At the Center for Jazz Studies, jazz becomes a music without borders that provides new models for innovative teaching and scholarly inquiry in the arts, humanities, and sciences. Our themes of internationalization, technology and community encourage excellence in research, in the teaching of music and culture, and in the presentation of public events. The Center views the interdisciplinary expansion of the intellectual conversation surrounding jazz, and especially its lifeblood practice, improvisation, as tracing a path toward the development of new knowledge that illuminates the human condition.

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