Leroy Jenkins, Free Jazz Composer & Violinist Honored

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If all goes well, "The Scientific Method" will be presenting a hour of Leroy Jenkin's music on Thursday, February 26, to mark the passing of Mr. Jenkin's on February 24, 2007.

The New York Times obituary by Ben Ratliff:


Leroy Jenkins, 74, Violinist Who Pushed Limits of Jazz, Dies

The violinist and composer Leroy Jenkins, one of the pre-eminent musicians of 1970s free jazz, who worked on and around the lines between jazz and classical music, died on Fridday in Manhattan. He was 74 and lived in Brooklyn.

The cause was complications of lung cancer, said his wife, Linda Harris.

Mr. Jenkins grew up on the South Side of Chicago. He started playing violin around age 7 and performed in recitals at St. Luke Church, one of the city’s biggest Baptist churches, accompanied by a young pianist named Ruth Jones, later known as the singer Dinah Washington. Mr. Jenkins subsequently joined the orchestra and choir at Ebenezer Baptist Church, directed by Dr. O. W. Frederick, who tutored him in the music of black composers like William Grant Still and Will Marion Cook.

At DuSable High School, Mr. Jenkins played alto saxophone under the band director Walter Dyett, a legendary figure in jazz education. He then attended Florida A & M University on a bassoon scholarship, though ultimately he played saxophone and clarinet in the concert band and studied the violin again.

After college, Mr. Jenkins spent four years as a violin teacher in Mobile, Ala. On returning to Chicago in 1964, he joined the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (A.A.C.M.) a cooperative for jazz musicians determined to follow through on the structural advances of Ornette Coleman, Cecil Taylor and others who were widening the jazz tradition. In time, he became one of the most visible members of the organization, which persists today.

SEE FULL ENTRY AT:
http://scientificmethodradio.blogspot.com/2009/02/leroy-jenkins-jazz-violinist-tribute.html


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