Bill Bares, best known locally for his jazz piano performances at White Horse Black Mountain and Isis Restaurant and Music Hall, begins UNC Asheville’s spring Music Lecture Series with Jazz and the Sounds of Nature.
The lecture and performance begins at 7:00 pm on Tuesday, Jan. 24 in Karpen Hall in the Laurel Forum.
“While issues of ownership, race, and nation have long been focal points of jazz studies, recent environmental crises prompt a review of jazz history through the lens of ecocriticism,” said Bares. He will discuss and play samples of music that shows a strong current of environmentalism in jazz. Bares has directed UNC Asheville’s student EcoMusic ensemble and was coordinator for the international meeting of scholars and musicians hosted at the university, Ecomusics & Ecomusicologies 2014: Dialogues.
Bares is assistant professor of music and co-director of jazz studies at UNC Asheville. He earned his Ph.D. at Harvard University while researching European jazz and playing professionally on that continent. Bares is the author of numerous articles on transatlantic jazz and a forthcoming book, Eternal Triangle: American Jazz in Postmodern. Before coming to UNC Asheville, he taught at Harvard, Brown University, Berklee College of Music and the New England Conservatory.
This and the subsequent events in UNC Asheville’s Music Lecture Series are free and open to everyone, with talks taking place in Karpen Hall, Laurel Forum. Upcoming lectures include:
Rhythm in Science and Spirituality with percussionist Matthew Richmond, UNC Asheville lecturer in music – 7 p.m., Feb. 28.
Music Lecture Series keynote lecture by William Cheng, Dartmouth University assistant professor and author of Just Vibrations: The Purpose of Sounding Good – 7 p.m., April 25.
For more information, visit the Department of Music upcoming events page.