National Park Service
U.S. Department of the Interior

PO Box 65
Harpers Ferry WV 25425

304 535-6748 phone
304 535-6244 fax

Harpers Ferry NHP News Release

Release Date: Immediately
Contact: Marsha B. Wassel
Phone: 304 535-6748

Don Redman Heritage Jazz Concert

On Saturday, June 24 Harpers Ferry National Historical Park will host the Fifth Annual Don Redman Heritage Awards & Concert. This year’s event features legendary jazz pianist Hank Jones and saxophonist Jimmy Heath. The two men will be joined by the Howard Burns Quartet.

Hank Jones began his professional career over sixty years ago becoming the first of the great Detroit pianists. The oldest of the three illustrious Jones brothers (which include Thad and Elvin), Jones was one of the first pianists to take on the language of bebop. He recorded with Charlie Parker, and fast became an influential presence on the emerging bebop scene. Today at age 88, Jones continues to leave his mark on jazz with his dynamic and diverse recordings reinterpreting jazz in all of its varieties.

Jimmy Heath has long been recognized as a brilliant instrumentalist and a magnificent composer and arranger. Jimmy is the middle brother of the legendary Heath Brothers (Percy Heath/bass and Tootie Heath/drums). He has performed with nearly all the jazz greats of the last 50 years, from Howard McGhee, Dizzy Gillespie, and Miles Davis to Wynton Marsalis.

This free concert will begin at 6:00 P.M. on the lawn behind the Mather Training Center, on the campus of Storer College in Harpers Ferry.

This campus was once the home to Donald Matthew Redman, one of the school’s most successful graduates. Of all the students of Storer College during its illustrious eighty-eight year history, no one had the impact on the world of music like Don Redman.

Don Redman was born in Piedmont, West Virginia on July 29, 1900. He began playing trumpet at age three and by the age of sixteen he came to Harpers Ferry to study music at Storer College. Graduating in 1920 Don Redman’s talent for jazz music was instantly recognized. He became known as “The Little Giant of Jazz”, and the first great arranger in jazz history. Until his death in 1964, Don Redman continued to have a profound influence on the evolution, direction and development of this uniquely American art form.

Jazz music is one of America’s greatest cultural achievements. This concert celebrates Storer College’s finest musical mind by highlighting jazz, both as an historical and a living American treasure. Mark your calendar so you don’t miss this special evening.

-NPS-

Updated: Tuesday, 20-Jun-2006 12:21:59 Eastern Daylight Time
www.nps.gov /archive/hafe/new/nr-don-redman.htm
Author: Marsha B. Wassel

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