Past Events
November 9, 2006 - Benny Powell  

Benny Powell, one of the most versatile trombonists and jazz lecturers on the contemporary music scene, was the special guest on November 9, 2006. Of Powell, jazz critic Nat Hentoff has written: "Benny Powell's playing has always had a flowing coherence. The stories he tells are not fragmentary; they're complete . . . his tool is writing and arranging."

Powell kept the audience at rapt attention for over two and half hours, with stories of his native New Orleans, his induction into the name-band big leagues with Lionel Hampton and then of course his 13 years with Count Basie. Especially fascinating were his memories of Lester Young when they toured together. His later years in the recording studios in NY and LA, as well as the Broadway Theater made for a historical mosaic and a thoroughly human story all at once.

Powell now devotes a large portion of his time to a broad range of educational endeavors. He regularly presents an oral/musical history of African American music, “J.11 Stories”; has taught at Barry Harris' Jazz Cultural Theatre, Jazzmobile, and Long Island University; and is currently a professor at The New School. Powell is also a committed activist on behalf of jazz related causes. In 1978, he founded the non-profit Los Angeles Committee on jazz, and has served on panels for the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, and Local 802 of the American Federation of Musicians.