this evening, we will be honoring the life and work of (ancestor) dr. donald byrd... dr. byrd has been one of the few artists in jazz to openly advocate for the hip hop generation, as well as do collaborations. he is one of the 'unsung heroes' of 'guess who's coming to radio??!!' because of his support of intergenerationalism.
dr. byrd, who had a doctorate in education, did teach math and music education, and studied law. he also became the artistic director of the spectrum dance theatre. he spent much of his life encouraging youth to learn. he taught at howard (where the blackbyrds were formed), rutgers, cornell and other universities.
we will be presenting clips of interviews with dr. byrd, as well as making the many connections between dr. byrd and the jazz and pop worlds- including the blackbyrds, john coltrane, herbie hancock, art blackey, and guru (of gangstarr/jazzmatazz).
of course, we are going to take a little bit of time to add some sociopolitical commentary; however, we are going to spend the bulk of time honoring dr. byrd.
stay tuned on sunday, the 17th of february at 6:30 pm where DJ Sesqui will also be honoring dr. byrd on 'astral traveling'.