Noted Jazz Bassist Marcus Shelby To Lead Concert and Discussion

DePaul University will celebrate the life and work of Harriet Tubman, one of history’s most celebrated abolitionists, with selections from a musical tribute written by jazz musician Marcus Shelby at 7 p.m., April 5 at the DePaul Concert Hall, 800 W. Belden Ave. A discussion of Tubman’s life, and how Shelby was able to illustrate it through music, also will be included in the program. The event, which is co-sponsored by DePaul’s Center for Spirituality & Values in Practice, Office of Diversity and DePaul Women in Leadership, is open to the public and the cost is $5.

Tubman was born a slave in Maryland in 1820. She was able to escape her life of servitude by running away from the plantation and following the North Star by night until she made her way to Pennsylvania where she was able to find work. Once established, Tubman returned to the South an estimated 19 times to lead more than 300 slaves to freedom.

Tubman’s fearless spirit and dedication to abolishing slavery have been captured by Shelby in “Harriet Tubman: Bound for the Promised Land.” In this work, Shelby employs his mastery of jazz and the acoustic bass to convert Tubman’s heroic life into music. He will lead a quartet and vocalist as they perform selections from his musical tribute to Tubman. Shelby also will discuss the ideas that inspired him to compose the production and the process he used to create individual “voices” for the instruments used to present the music.

Shelby was inspired to honor Tubman’s accomplishments through music because he said that her life served as a “powerful metaphor for jazz.” Rooted in blues and the folk music of slaves, and influenced by West African culture and music as black musicians migrated from the deep South to cities, jazz is said to be defined by musical improvisation. It has been expressed in many forms throughout its history including the Ragtime and Dixieland styles of jazz.

A former bandleader at Columbia Records and GRP Impuse!, and the current artistic director and leader of the Marcus Shelby Jazz Orchestra, The Marcus Shelby Septet and the Marcus Shelby Trio, Shelby teaches at the Berkeley Young Musician Program at San Francisco State University, the Stanford Jazz Workshop at Stanford University and in the San Francisco State University Jazz Studies Program.

Shelby studied under classical jazz flutist and composer James Newton and legendary bassist Charlie Haden. In 2005 he was named one of the Top Ten Most Influential African Americans in the Bay Area by City Flight Magazine.

Shelby’s performance marks DePaul’s second annual Louise de Marillac Series, which honors women, spirit and action as part of Women’s History Month. A spiritual guide for laywomen’s groups, de Marillac’s ill-health prevented her from joining a holy order. After becoming a spiritual student of St. Vincent de Paul, she founded the Daughters of Charity with him in 1642. She also founded the Sisters of Charity, a federation comprised of women’s religious congregations, and served as its superior until her death in 1660. Canonized in 1934, de Marillac is the patron saint of, among other things, people rejected by religious orders.

To purchase tickets for the concert, or for additional information, contact Emily Bauman at 312/362-6638 or ebauman@depaul.edu.