Piece Description

In 1961 pianist Horace Tapscott turned down a chance to have a high-profile career with the Lionel Hampton band and spent the next several decades in Los Angeles, leading several community-jazz bands and doing his best to extend the mentoring and teaching tradition that he had experienced growing up during the glory days of L.A.'s Central Avenue era. The underground jazz scene that he helped to create and sustain - a vibrant, multi-arts mix of culture, politics, and African-American values - has now been documented in L.A. jazz historian Steven Isoardi's new book, The Dark Tree: Jazz and the Community Arts in Los Angeles. Isoardi joins us for this program in which we also hear some previously unissued music by Tapscott and UGMAA (Union of God's Musician and Artists Ascension) and the Pan-Afrikan People's Arkestra, along with solo and trio Tapscott piano recordings and a collaboration with Black Panther activist Elaine Brown. Night Lights is available as a weekly series. If your station is interested in carrying Night Lights, please contact: cboyce@indiana.edu for more information.