The program schedule is now set for Maxine Gordon’s visit to Greater Madison, part of her 2013 world-wide tour to celebrate the life and music of the late great jazz saxophonist, Dexter Gordon, on the occasion of his 90th birthday. Under sponsorship of the new Greater Madison Jazz Consortium, Maxine will conduct the following programs during a four-day residency (3/11-3/14/13) in our community. (Note: Program schedule is subject to change. Check this site as the event dates draw near to verify the schedule, or email us at greatermadisonjazzconsortium@tds.net.)
• MONDAY, 3/11/13, 7:30-9:30 PM: “AN EVENING WITH MAXINE GORDON AND THE UW BLUE NOTE ENSEMBLE” (Location: Morphy Recital Hall, in the UW Humanities Building). One of the three student ensembles directed by UW Jazz Studies Professor Johannes Wallmann – the Blue Note Ensemble – will be learning Dexter’s music during the Spring semester. This evening, they will give a mini-concert of his music, interspersed with live on-stage interviews of Maxine by WORT-FM jazz hosts Steve Braunginn and Jane Reynolds and an audience Q&A. The audience will include members of all of Professor Wallmann’s student ensembles (Blue Note Ensemble, Contemporary Jazz Ensemble, and UW Jazz Orchestra) and students from Richard Davis’ Black Music Ensemble. Free and open to the public. http://www.music.wisc.edu/extensions/eventdetails.jsp?event_id=2496 
• TUESDAY, 3/12/13, 6:30–10:00 PM: “ROUND MIDNIGHT” (Location: Chazen Museum of Art). Dexter had the lead role in Bertrand Tavernier’s 1986 film, “Round Midnight,” the fictional story of an expatriate American jazz musician in Paris loosely based on the lives of jazz greats Lester Young and Bud Powell. He also won a Grammy for the film’s soundtrack, while Herbie Hancock won an Oscar for Best Original Score. Maxine Gordon will introduce the movie with her presentation, “The Making of Round Midnight,” and conduct a Q& A following the film showing. This program is free and open to the public.
• WEDNESDAY, 3/13/13, 6:00 – 9:30 PM: “ROUND MIDNIGHT” (Location: Urban League of Greater Madison, 2222 South Park Street, First Floor). This free event will be a repeat of Tuesday night’s program at the Chazen. Free and open to the public.
• THURSDAY, 3/14/13, 12:15 – 1:45 PM: “LUNCH WITH DEXTER” (Location: Goodman South Madison Public Library Branch, 2222 South Park Street). This free event includes a showing of the 1988 short film “Dexter on Vacation,” Dexter Gordon’s final public performance (with pianist Tommy Flanagan and trumpeter Clark Terry), along with a presentation by Maxine Gordon about Dexter’s life, music, times, and legacy. Audience Q&A/talk-back to follow the film. Free and open to the public.
• THURSDAY, 3/14/13, 3:00–4:00 PM: ON-AIR INTERVIEW ON WORT-FM. The co-hosts of WORT’s “Strictly Jazz Sounds,” Jane Reynolds and Steve Braunginn, will devote an hour of their weekly radio program to Dexter, interspersing his music with interview segments with Maxine.
While in our community, Maxine will also be making presentations to Professor Richard Davis’ Black Music History Class (which is focusing on the saxophone this semester), the UW “PLATO Jazz” continuing education class for elders, music and social studies classes at Sun Prairie High School (hosted by Steve Sveum, the outstanding director of Sun Prairie High School’s jazz program), and to the students of UW Professor Emily Auerbach’s award-winning Odyssey Project humanities class for adult students who face economic barriers to college.
YOU CAN HELP BRING THIS RARE AND OUTSTANDING PROGRAM TO GREATER MADISON WITH AN ONLINE GIFT TO THE GREATER MADISON JAZZ CONSORTIUM AT http://www.power2give.org/danearts/Project/Detail?projectId=1586. GIVE NOW AND YOUR GIFT WILL BE MATCHED BY THE DANE COUNTY CULTURAL AFFAIRS COMMISSION!
