Lee Mixashawn Rozie Launches World Premiere Of AN AMERICAN SONGBOOK

Lee Mixashawn Rozie, composer and bandleader, with the collaboration and support of the Autorino Center for the Arts and Humanities and the Hartford Jazz Society, will launch the world premiere of AN AMERICAN SONGBOOK (AMS) on Saturday, March 7, 2020, at 8 p.m., with the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts Jazz Ensemble opening at 7 p.m. and a free master class offered from 4:30-6 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at tickets.usj.edu or 860.231.5555 for $20-$14. Performances and the master class will be held in the Bruyette Athenaeum at the University of Saint Joseph, located at 1678 Asylum Ave., in West Hartford, Conn.

AMS is performed by a quartet of world-class musicians: Lee Mixashawn Rozie on sax and flute, Rick Rozie on bass, Warren Byrd on keys, and Pheeroan Aklaff on drums. AMS embraces the music of the Americas - from Indigenous to Bebop, Stomp to Funk, Ragtime to no time - music that freely spans styles and labels driven by the inner pulse of creativity and spontaneity. Encompassing over a 5000-year history and two continents, Mixashawn traces and demonstrates both indigenous American and African-American contributions to American Jazz.

Ronald Lyles, President of the Hartford Jazz Society says, "This project is mission-centric as our aim is to cultivate an appreciation of the sound, culture, and love of jazz by presenting a variety of live events and other activities throughout the Greater Hartford Community."

Autorino Center Director Steven Raider Ginsburg says, "This is one of the season's seminal events. Lee Mixashawn Rozie is an acclaimed musician, visionary, and composer, and this is the world premiere of a long-time passion project. Along with that, the partnership with such an esteemed community organization as the Hartford Jazz Society, the longest continuously operating jazz society in the country, makes this event a deeply community-engaged experience."

On Thursday, Feb. 27, from 6-7 p.m., Lee Mixashawn Rozie will lead a lecture-demonstration focusing on the roles that sound, tradition, and "being" play in understanding how creative energy is the wellspring of living. Lee Mixashawn Rozie will explore through sound, history, and group interaction how we manifest creativity/life. The panel is free and open to the public. Tickets can be reserved at tickets.usj.edu or 860.231.5555 and will be held in the Bruyette Athenaeum at the University of Saint Joseph.