Vol. 19, No. 30

May 10, 2000

Gallery to feature works from jazz great's collection

Art from the collection of jazz legend Donald Byrd will be on display at the University Gallery from June 2 through Oct. 1. "Hear What I'm Seeing: Selected Works from the Art Collection of Donald Byrd," curated by students enrolled in the gallery's Curatorial Apprenticeship Program, pulls from the renowned musician's collection of African-American, African and Caribbean art amassed over several decades. Many of the images that will be on display have musical subject matter. The 1960s and 1970s are well represented in his collection by important works that underscore this critical era in African-American history and culture. Included in Byrd's holdings are important works by such significant 20th-century artists as Henry Ossawa Tanner, Richmond Barthé, Romare Bearden. Jacob Lawrence, Lois Mailou Jones, Ernest Crichlow, Charles White, James Lesesne Wells and Faith Ringgold. Also represented in his collection are paintings and mixed media works by noted artists Jeff Donaldson, Paul Goodnight and Tyree Guyton, whose controversial "Heidelberg Project," an open-air art installation in a Detroit neighborhood constructed of found objects, has been the subject of both international acclaim and community derision. A free public reception to honor Byrd and his wife, Yourna, will be held from 5-8 p.m., Friday, June 2, in the University Gallery in Old College. Educational and interpretive programs are being planned in conjunction with the exhibition and will take place over the summer and into the fall. In September, Byrd will give a free concert, performing music inspired by his art collection. The time and date are yet to be announced. Donaldson Toussaint L'Ouverture Byrd was born in 1932 and has worn many hats in his lifetime, sometimes two or three at the same time. As a musician, composer, scholar, educator and collector, he has touched lives and influenced the world of jazz for more than five decades. A native of Detroit, he began his career as a musician during the 1940s and became one of the most sought after artists of the hardbop era, playing and recording with such legendary names as Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane. Over the ensuing decades Byrd gained fame as a composer, arranger and bandleader, both in the United States and Europe, and he broke new musical ground in the early 1970s with his forays into "jazz fusion," a blend of jazz, funk and rhythm and blues. His group, the Blackbyrds, earned gold records and gained three Grammy Award nominations. In the 1990s, he continued his pioneering reputation by collaborating with the hiphop artist GURU on the latter's albums Jazzmatazz Volumes 1 and 2 and maintaining an active solo career. He has written scores for radio orchestras and movies and has more than 60 recordings to his credit. In 1998, he received the Mid Atlantic Foundation's Living Legacy Jazz Award "for his esteemed record as a musician and tireless work on behalf of jazz education." In 1999, he was recognized for his myriad contributions to music and education by the National Endowment of the Arts. Byrd holds numerous academic credentials, including two master's degrees and a doctorate in museum education, all from Columbia University. He has served on the faculty of numerous universities and colleges, including Queens College, Rutgers, Howard, North Carolina, Hampton and Cornell universities and the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. He also has been instrumental in founding jazz education programs at these institutions. He also holds special music workshops throughout the United States and, since 1995, has been band director and trumpet instructor for the Jazzmobile in New York City. In the mid-1990s, the Byrds moved to Delaware where Byrd was named Eminent Scholar/Artist in Residence at Delaware State University. He also has taught several courses at the University of Delaware, where he has been able to expose a new generation of jazz musicians to his rich and colorful history as a performing artist. Hours are 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Tuesday through Friday, and 1-5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. The gallery is closed on Mondays and all University holidays. All museum events are free to the public. For more information, call 831-8242, fax 831-8251, or TDD 831-4563 or visit the University Gallery on line at [http://seurat. art.udel.edu>http://seurat.art.udel.edu].