As we mark the nation’s beginning this weekend, we wonder what freedom “from” or freedom “to” might mean to some whose stories are not yet included in the collective understanding of freedom.
The Midnight Special by Colin Asher tells just such a necessary and overlooked story about the criminal justice system’s impact on American musicians, explored through compelling portraits of five artists whose careers span the twentieth century.
Colin Asher gives a book talk Sunday, July 12 at 4 pm. at LTV Studios. Following the talk, jazz pianist Cyrus Chestnut gives a performance as part of Hampton JazzFest summer series. Come hear the stories, grab a copy of the book, then stick around for an amazing jazz piano concert at 6 pm. Your ticket provides entry to both very cool events on a warm summer evening.
The Midnight Special shows how music can affirm an individual’s sense of humanity even in dehumanizing circumstances. Opening with folk and blues artist Huddie “Lead Belly” Ledbetter, who was made to perform wearing prison clothes, Asher traces the intertwined histories of music and incarceration, from Southern prison farms of the Jim Crow era, through the heroin-driven mid-century drug wars that villanaized a generation of jazz artists, and to our present era of mass incarceration.
Join us at this summer special event in collaboration with LTV Studios and Hamptons JazzFest. Ticket are: $20 General Admission in advance / $25 at the door / $45 VIP Reserved Front Row includes complimentary drink ticket. Get tickets HERE.
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