ASHEBORO – The John Brown “little” Big Band will bring the
jazz sounds that influenced Invisible Man author Ralph Ellison’s writing
style to the Sunset Theatre at 7 p.m. Saturday, September 13.
The concert, part of the Randolph Reads: Invisible Man community
reading project and sponsored by the City of Asheboro, is free and the public is invited. The theater is located at
234 Sunset Avenue in Asheboro.
Bassist and Grammy nominee Brown will front his 11-piece (12
if you count the vocalist) band to present an eclectic mix of music from the
time period of Invisible Man, as well as songs influenced by the spirit
of the age.
Though smaller than Brown’s full jazz orchestra, the
“little” group still packs a punch and has that big band sound.
Brown is a composer, educator and actor who currently serves
as director of the Jazz Program at Duke University, where he is an associate
professor of the practice of music. A Fayetteville native, he has performed
professionally since his teens, at home and abroad, with artists including
Wynton Marsalis, Diahann Carroll, Rosemary Clooney and many more.
He earned a Grammy nomination in 1996 for co-writing Nnenna
Freelon’s album Shaking Free. He fronts jazz groups ranging from a trio
to a big band. His latest album, with his quintet, is called Quiet Time.
Ellison studied music at the Tuskegee Institute before
turning to writing. Jazz, blues and gospel music heavily influenced the use of
language in Invisible Man, and Ellison wrote extensively about jazz
during his career.
All Randolph County has been invited to read and talk about Invisible
Man by a partnership of community groups including The Courier-Tribune,
the Friends of the Randolph Public Library, the Asheboro City Schools, the City
of Asheboro, the George Washington Carver Community Enrichment Center, the
Randolph County Public Library and the Randolph County Schools.
The purpose of the project is to allow people from all walks
of life to have a common literary and artistic experience around the novel, and
to be able to share their views on the themes and issues of being invisible in
Randolph County.
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