Speaking of: Bobby Bradford

In celebration of Jazz Appreciation Month, the Allendale Branch Library’s popular “Speaking Of” series features a discussion with one of our area’s great musical treasures: legendary jazz trumpeter, cornetist, bandleader, composer, and educator Bobby Bradford. An Altadena resident since the 1970s, Bradford grew up in the heart of the Mississippi Delta in the 1930s, settling in Los Angeles in 1964 after finishing college studies in Texas. Assimilating the musical language of such jazz greats as Louis Armstrong, Fats Navarro, and Charlie Parker, Bradford emerged as one of the most important jazz trumpeters in the 1960s and ‘70s, articulating a modern post-bebop, avant-garde sound while performing with Ornette Coleman, Eric Dolphy, and John Carter, and, in recent years, heading his own ensemble known as The Mo’tet. For over thirty years, Bradford taught jazz history and improvisation at Pasadena City College, and since 1974 he has been a lecturer and adjunct professor of music at Pomona College in Claremont. Both at PCC and Pomona College, he has inspired and mentored a generation of outstanding jazz musicians, including David Murray, James Newton, and Mark Dresser. Bradford, whose daughter Carmen is an accomplished jazz singer, received the Festival of New Trumpet Music’s Award of Recognition in 2009.
“Speaking Of: Bobby Bradford” will feature a discussion with Bradford about his extraordinary career as a musician and educator, including audience Q&A. The program will also feature an excerpt from Peter Bull’s 1980 documentary, The New Music: Bobby Bradford and John Carter. Light refreshments will be served.
For further information on this free program, contact the Allendale Branch Library at (626) 744-7260 or visit pasadenapubliclibrary.net.

-Courtesy Photo

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