Lincoln Center Hosts Protest Jazz Discussion

Like folk, rock and R&B, jazz has seen its fair share of protest albums-Max Roach’s Freedom Now Suite, Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra, to name only two. But did albums of this ilk and the artists who made them actually help to make me, you and everybody else any freer? We know the question has been lurking in your mind for years. We’re dying to know too. Writer Amiri Baraka (pictured), poet Sonia Sanchez and trumpeter Cecil Bridgewater may come up with an answer for us on March 18, when they get their thinking caps on nice and snug to participate in a panel discussion dubbed “Jazz and Social Protest.”

Robert G. O’Meally, a Columbia University professor and author of Lady Day: The Many Faces of Billie Holiday, will moderate the trio as its members assess the effectiveness of jazz as a component of social protest in the 20th century and consider its role as a catalyst for activism and a stimulus for changing attitudes.

The discussion starts at 7 p.m. in the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse on the 10th floor of the Rose Building, located at 165 West 65th St. in New York City. Tickets cost $12 and are available at the Alice Tully Hall box office, by calling CenterCharge at (212) 721-6500, or via jazzatlincolncenter.org.

Originally Published February 13, 2003