LEWISTON — Jazz musician and Bates College faculty member A.J. Johnson brings his Love Unlimited Trio to the college for a performance at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 23, in the Olin Arts Center Concert Hall, 75 Russell St.
Composed of veteran jazz players, the trio describes its sound as “grooving music abiding the freedom principle.” Admission is free, but tickets are required and are available at bit.ly/oacbates. For more information, please contact 207-786-6135 or olinarts@bates.edu.
“A labor of love without limits,” the Love Unlimited Trio features:
• Johnson on trombone, tuba, baritone saxophone and bass clarinet;
• Salim Washington on flute, oboe and bass clarinet;
• and Akua Dixon on cello and vocals.
Johnson is a visiting assistant professor of music at Bates. In addition to jazz, his interests include African American popular music, film music and the relationships between music and technology. His articles have appeared in the journals Musical Quarterly, Current Musicology and American Studies.
An accomplished composer, Johnson received the New Jersey State Council Fellowship in Music in 2000. He composed the material on his critically acclaimed first album, “Songs of Our Fathers” (2008). A prolific performer, he has played with such artists as Aretha Franklin, Charles Tolliver and Jay-Z.
Born in Memphis, Washington has been a jazz musician since the 1970s. Deeply influenced by both the jazz and the social justice struggle of South Africans, he is on the music faculty at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He performs solo and with a variety of group projects, notably the Eco-Music Big Band, a jazz ensemble mixing the music of Fred Ho and Cal Massey with political content.
A New York City native, Dixon is a classically trained cellist seasoned in the band pit of the Apollo Theater and in collaborations with such artists as Max Roach, with whom she performed in the Max Roach Double Quartet. An influential figure in the infusion of bowed strings into jazz, this composer and performer has appeared on several albums including her eponymous second solo recording, a self-release issued this month.
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