Sheldon Jazz Concerts to Feature Pre-Show Talks from Dennis Owsley

The Sheldon Concert Hall has announced that jazz DJ, historian and photographer Dennis Owsley will present a series of pre-concert talks before each performance in their 2009-2010 jazz series. The talks will begin at 7:10 p.m. before each 8:00 p.m. concert, and are “designed to introduce new audiences to jazz and deepen the impact of the touring artists' appearances."

The Sheldon's 2009-10 jazz series concert dates, performers and lecture topics will be:

Saturday, October 3 - Dee Dee Bridgewater - “The Triumph of Billie Holiday"
Saturday, November 7 - Nicholas Payton - “The New Orleans and St. Louis Trumpet Tradition"
Saturday, January 23 - Eliane Elias - “The Lure of Latin Jazz"
Saturday, April 10 - Cyrus Chestnut - “Jazz Piano Giants"
Saturday, May 1 - Steve Tyrell - “The Great American Songbook"

Owsley's talks are funded through a new Mid-America Arts Alliance grant to support “Community Engagement with Touring Artists" (CETA). The grant will also fund visits by Owsley to visit three towns (yet to be selected) in Missouri and Illinois to give talks on jazz to community groups.