FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (6/14/10)
Contact: Rev. Ronald V. Myers, Sr., M.D., Chairman
National Juneteenth Holiday Campaign
National Juneteenth Observance Foundation (NJOF)
National Juneteenth Christian Leadership Council (NJCLC)
662-247-1471 662-247-3364
e-mail: JuneteenthDOC@yahoo.com
web sites: www.njclc.com
www.JuneteenthJazz.com
www.ChristianJazz.net
Clark Jones
National Juneteenth Christian Leadership Council (NJCLC)
301-789-7592
e-mail: clarkjones88@gmail.com
web site: www.NationalJuneteenth.com
Washington Juneteenth Jazz & Arts Festival Features
Master Trombonist and Visual Artist Dick Griffin
National Association of Juneteenth Jazz Presenters (NAJJP)
Announces Celebration of Juneteenth Jazz During Black Music Month
(Washington, DC) – The Washington Juneteenth Jazz & Arts Fesival, honoring Washington, DC
native, Duke Ellington, will take place on Thursday, June 17th, at
Westminster Presbyterian Church, 400 I Street, S.W., beginning at 6:00pm. The festival is part of
the 11th Annual WASHINGTON JUNETEENTH National Holiday Observance.
The festival is sponsored by the National Association of Juneteenth Jazz
Presenters (NAJJP) and is a part of "June is Black
Music Month!" - CELEBRATING JUNETEENTH JAZZ - "Preserving Our African American Jazz Legacy!" concert
series. National Juneteenth Jazz Artist, Rev. Dr.
Ronald Myers, Sr., M.D., Founder & Chairman of the (NAJJP)
will be the featured artist at the festival.
"Jazz is African American classical music, created from the hearts, lives and souls of black folks in America,"
states Rev., Dr. Myers, also Founder and Chairman of the NAJJP,
the Fellowship of Creative Christian Jazz Musicians (FCCJM), the
National Juneteenth Christian Leadership Council (NJCLC) and the
National Juneteenth Holiday Campaign. "The preservation of our unique
African-American jazz music legacy is what Black Music Month
and the celebration of Juneteenth is all about."
Juneteenth, or the "19th of June", recognizes June 19, 1865, in Galveston, TX, when Union General
Gordon Granger announced freedom for all slaves in the Southwest. This was the last major vestige of slavery in the United
States following the end of the Civil War. This occurred more than two and a half years after the
Emancipation Proclamation was issued by President
Abraham Lincoln. Upon the reading of General Order #3 by
General Granger, the former slaves celebrated jubilantly, establishing America's second Independence Day Celebration and the
oldest African-American holiday observance. 36 states and the District of Columbia officially recognize
Juneteenth as a state holiday or state holiday observance.
Dr. Myers will be performing original compositions from his critically acclaimed jazz CD,
"Doctor’s Orders." The CD
includes popular original Mississippi Delta jazz compositions like "Song For Tchula," "Message From the
Country" and "Blues For Tchula."
Performing with Dr. Myers will be special guest artist
Dick Griffin, one of today's leading trombone players. In a career spanning over 40 years, he has performed with some of the biggest names in Jazz
and Soul, as well as appearing with several symphony orchestras. A short list of the luminaries Mr. Griffin has worked with includes: Duke Ellington, Count
Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Tito Puente, Art Blakey, Charles Mingus, Dizzy Gillespie, McCoy Tyner, Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson, Isaac Hayes, Dionne Warwick, and
Lionel Hampton.
Griffin has developed a highly personalized playing style which he calls "circularphonics". His ability to combine playing chords on the trombone with
circular breathing is unrivaled among Jazz trombonists. The expanded range of simultaneous sounds Griffin creates through his multiphonic technique sometimes
evokes the spirit of such experimental Jazz musicians as John Coltrane, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, and Sun Ra. Never a follower, Griffin has moved beyond the
course set by these pioneering giants to develop a unique style on and for an instrument which has hardly been the most widely used in modern Jazz.
Griffin, a world renowned painter and visual artist, will have several of his original paintings featured at the
Juneteenth Art Exhibit. He will also be
performing and exhibiting art work in Washington, DC for the first time.
Joining Myers and Griffin will be jazz saxophonist Todd Ledbetter.
Admission is free and donations are appreciated. For more information contact Clark Jones at 301-789-7592, e-mail:
clarkjones99@gmail.com or web site:
www.NationalJuneteenth.com or Dr. Myers at 662-247-3364 or 662-247-1471,
e-mail: JuneteenthDOC@yahoo.com or web site:
www.JuneteenthJazz.com.
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