SUNDAY, March 26
Jazz Brunch with Aidan Levy & Film Screening of
Hello, Bookstore - Arts Quest, 101 Founder's Way, Bethlehem, PA
Join us in the Creativity Commons of Arts Quest at 9 am for a delightful morning with author Aiden Levy, Saxophone Colossus, jazz music by the Emma Bockrath Trio, and brunch items courtesy of the Lehigh Valley International Airport. The documentary film, Hello, Bookstore, will commence at 10 am in the Frank Banko Alehouse Cinema.
Special thanks to the Bethlehem Area Public Library for making this event possible!
The jazz brunch and screening of the film are included with the purchase of any featured book from the festival on Friday evening or Saturday (there will be a sign-up at checkout). You may also pre-order a copy of Aiden's book here, for pick up at the Sunday Jazz Brunch. If seats are available on Sunday, the purchase of Aidan's new book serves as a ticket. We will announce here, and on our social media channels if there is space available.
About the Author: Aidan Levy is the author of Saxophone Colossus: The Life and Music of Sonny Rollins and Dirty Blvd.: The Life and Music of Lou Reed, and editor of Patti Smith on Patti Smith: Interviews and Encounters. A former Leon Levy Center for Biography Fellow, his writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Village Voice, JazzTimes, The Nation, and elsewhere. He is a doctoral candidate at Columbia University in the Department of English and Comparative Literature, where he has served as co-convener of the African American Studies Colloquium and works with the Center for Jazz Studies. For ten years, he was the baritone saxophonist in the Stan Rubin Orchestra.
About the Book: **Longlisted for the PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award (2023)** Boston Globe, "Best Books of 2022" , "Jazz Lovers' Gift Guide" Sonny Rollins has long been considered an enigma. Known as the "Saxophone Colossus," he is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest jazz improvisers of all time, winning Grammys, the Austrian Cross of Honor, Sweden's Polar Music Prize and a National Medal of Arts. A bridge from bebop to the avant-garde, he is a lasting link to the golden age of jazz, pictured in the iconic "Great Day in Harlem" portrait. His seven-decade career has been well documented, but the backstage life of the man once called "the only jazz recluse" has gone largely untold--until now. Based on more than 200 interviews with Rollins himself, family members, friends, and collaborators, as well as Rollins' extensive personal archive, Saxophone Colossus is the comprehensive portrait of this legendary saxophonist and composer, civil rights activist and environmentalist. A child of the Harlem Renaissance, Rollins' precocious talent landed him on the bandstand and in the recording studio with Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie, or playing opposite Billie Holiday. An icon in his own right, he recorded Tenor Madness, featuring John Coltrane; Way Out West; Freedom Suite, the first civil rights-themed album of the hard bop era; A Night at the Village Vanguard; and the 1956 classic Saxophone Colossus.
About the film: In the shadow of the pandemic, a small town rallies to protect a beloved local bookstore in its hour of need. A landmark in Lenox, Massachusetts, The Bookstore is a magical, beatnik gem thanks to its owner, Matt Tannenbaum, whose passion for stories runs deep. Presiding at The Bookstore for over forty years, Matt is a true bard of the Berkshires and his shop is the kind of place to get lost in. This intimate portrait of The Bookstore and the family at its heart offers a journey through good times, hard times and the stories hidden on the shelves. View the trailer, here.
The Jazz Brunch is sponsored by the Lehigh Valley International Airport
This program is being funded in part with funding from the Hotel Tax Grant Program through the County of Northampton Department of Community Economic Development
