Musician and Photographer Milt Hinton
Harvard Jazz Bands and Learning From Performers present
WALKING THE BASS LINE: A TRIBUTE TO MILT HINTON
Considered the Dean of bass players and honored by the National Endowment for the Arts with a 1993 Jazz Master Fellowship, Milt Hinton (1910-2000) began his career in the late 1920s playing and recording with legendary figures such as Louis Armstrong, Art Tatum, Dizzy Gillespie, Illinois Jacquet, Ben Webster, Billie Holiday, Benny Carter and—for fifteen years—with Cab Calloway’s big band. Hinton also worked with popular performers—including Bing Crosby, Paul McCartney and Barbra Streisand—and played on countless records, radio and TV programs, and commercials. But music was only one of his passions: as a photographer whose output consisted of thousands of images of friends and fellow artists, Hinton’s visual record of six decades of music-making, both in the studio and on the road, is unsurpassed. Intimate, joyous, reflective and historic, these photographs have appeared in gallery and museum exhibitions, several volumes, and in documentary films.
The Harvard Jazz Bands and OFA Learning From Performers pay tribute to Milt Hinton’s genius—both on the bandstand and behind the camera—with “Walking the Bass Line: A Tribute to Milt Hinton,” a film screening, exhibition and concert, the latter featuring the Harvard Jazz Bands and guest artist, bassist Cecil McBee.
Bassist Cecil McBee
Thursday, November 4, 7 pm: Screening of the documentary Keeping the Time: The Life, Music and Photographs of Milt Hinton, introduced by director/producers David Berger and Holly Maxson. Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle St., Cambridge. Admission free.
Friday, November 5, 3 pm: “A Conversation with Cecil McBee.” A Grammy Award winner and recipient of two National Endowment for the Arts composition grants, Cecil McBee has been described by the Guinness Who's Who of Jazz as “a full-toned bassist who creates rich, singing phrases in a wide range of contemporary jazz contexts.” Moderated by Tom Everett, Director, Harvard Jazz Bands. New College Theatre Rehearsal Studio, 10-12 Holyoke St. Admission free.
Friday, November 5, 5 pm: Opening reception for "Witnessing Jazz: Photographs by Milt Hinton," sponsored by Harvard Real Estate. Holyoke Center Arcade Exhibition Space (exhibit continues through December 8).
Saturday, November 6, 8 pm: “Walking the Bass Line: A Tribute to Milt Hinton,” concert featuring the Harvard Jazz Bands with guest artist Cecil McBee. Lowell Hall, Kirkland and Oxford Streets. Tickets $10, students and seniors $8, available through the Harvard Box Office, 617.496.2222 (TTY 617.495.1642).
For more information, call the OFA at 617.495.8676, contact Director of Harvard bands Tom Everett, 617.496.2263, or visit www.hcs.harvard.edu/jazz.
