Southeastern Community College will host a jazz concert on Monday, January 16, to pay tribute to the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
“We’re going to intersperse each piece of music with Martin Luther King’s words,” said Dr. Daniel Pappas, SCC’s Music Program Coordinator and the organizer of the event.
“I think music is a great way to celebrate the life and the legacy of Martin Luther King.”
The concert begins at 11 a.m. in the Murray Art Gallery on SCC’s West Burlington campus. It’s free and open to the public.
Pappas said they’re bringing in a couple of special guests for the event -- drummer Anthony Russell and keyboard player Landon Oliver of the North Carolina-based All-American Jazz Collective.
Pappas and a number of musicians from this area will also perform. He said the music will all be jazz-influenced and relevant to the structure of this performance. It will include songs by the likes of Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Oscar Peterson, Nina Simone, and McCoy Tyner.
“What I want people to walk away with is a renewed sense of hope and joy and a celebration of the life that’s been lived and the legacy that’s continued,” he said.
Pappas said SCC cares deeply about King’s legacy and wants to make sure they honor him and take time to celebrate his life.
Pappas helped found the All-American Jazz Collective when he taught in North Carolina, and he said the musicians will also perform during a couple other free concerts this weekend in southeast Iowa.
They will be at Elliott Test Kitchen in Fort Madison at 7 p.m. Friday, January 13 and at the Art Center of Burlington at 6 p.m. on Saturday, January 14.
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