The Music of Bluiett
at the Metropolitan Gallery
Saturday, December 3, 2011The Nu-Art Series is proud to present The Music of Bluiett performed by The East St. Louis Senior High School Music Department with the Woodwind Ensemble, Percussion Ensemble, Jazz Orchestra and Combo, under the direction of composer/musician Hamiet Bluiett on Saturday, December 3, 2011, from 3 to 6 p.m. The performance is part of our ongoing Jazz and the Visual Arts Series and takes place at The Nu-Art Series' Metropolitan Gallery, 2936 Locust Street, St. Louis MO 63103. Doors open at 2 p.m.; Admission is $10.00. Open seating.
Hamiet Bluiett
Hamiet Bluiett is recognized as one of the finest baritone saxophonists of the modern era, and his recordings during the 1970s and 1980s led to the instrument's resurgence in jazz. Bluiett began his musical career by playing clarinet for barrelhouse dances in his native Brooklyn, Ill., before joining the Navy band in 1961, where he developed his astonishingly high register by playing alto parts on the baritone. He returned to the St. Louis area in the mid-1960s and led the Black Artists' Group big band during 1968 and 1969. After moving to New York in fall 1969, Bluiett performed with a host of jazz greats as a member of groups such as the Charles Mingus Quintet and the Sam Rivers large ensemble. He released several critically acclaimed solo saxophone albums in the late 1970s and co-founded the World Saxophone Quartet along with fellow BAG alumni Oliver Lake and Julius Hemphill. Soon leading jazz publications such as Down Beat had dubbed Bluiett "the most important baritone player to come along since Harry Carney, the illustrious Ellington band member who had pioneered the instrument's use. He has since formed several other single-instrument ensembles, including the Clarinet Family and Baritone Nation. During the 1990s, Bluiett began recording and supervising sessions for Mapleshade Records. He returned to his hometown of Brooklyn in 2002.
The Nu-Art Series is a Not-for-Profit Arts Organization.
