Media Contact: Bennetta Jules-Rosette, (858) 534-4790, or
                         Jan Jennings, (858) 822-1684 

MUSICS OF BORDER CROSSING WILL BE EXPLORED IN WORKSHOP AND PERFORMANCE BY CLARINETIST DON BYRON FEB. 21 AT UCSD

Internationally acclaimed composer and musician Don Byron – the innovative "dredlock-and-T-shirt" clad clarinetist who gravitates to "whoever is playing the trickest, outest stuff" – will convene a workshop on the musics and cultures of border crossing and perform in concert Feb. 21 in the Price Center at the University of California, San Diego. Both events are free and open to the public.

Byron will present his lecture/performance, The Musics of Border Crossing, at 7 p.m. in the Price Center Theatre. He will convene the Borderland Beats Music Workshop that afternoon beginning at 12:30 in the Price Center’s Galleries A and B.

The workshop, Byron’s performance and a special Youth Forum are part of Borders, Boundaries, and New Frontiers, an ongoing research project with public events sponsored by UCSD’s African and African-American Studies Research Project (AAASRP) in conjunction with Black History month. UCSD sociologist Bennetta Jules-Rosette is AAASRP coordinator.

"Byron’s clarinet has skronked (his word) and sang and wailed and whispered through some of the more innovative and memorable musical ventures to be found coming from the American avant-garde," writes Massachusetts’ Valley Advocate. "Via his own recordings alone, you can hear Byron’s licorice stick take on the music of Jimi Hendrix, klezmer legend Mickey Katz, ’30s chamber jazz composer Raymond Scott, ’70s funkateers Mandrill, big band arrangements of Duke Ellington and John Kirby, as well as a lieder by Robert Schumann.

"And that’s setting aside the entire catalog of Byron’s own invention, material that draws inspiration from individuals, compositions and ideas from across the modern era."

UCSD’s Jules-Rosette says "Byron epitomizes our border-crossing theme … for him, music knows no limits or borders. Clarinet in hand, he explores the musics of diverse cultures while creating and maintaining his own distinctive sound."

Byron’s first solo album, Tuskegee Experiments, won the 1992 Jazz Artist of the Year award from Downbeat Magazine and since then, Byron has won multiple Downbeat jazz clarinetist of the year critics’ polls and readers’ polls.

"Byron’s phenomenal technique and tangy-sweet tone are reason enough to pay attention," writes the Washington Post, "but it is his fabulously eclectic taste and talent as a composer and arranger that have put him on the map."

The New York Times says "Byron has not only single-handedly revived an instrument that was pronounced moribund with the swing era … he has also taken a scholarly approach to jazz."

Born and raised in New York, Byron began playing clarinet at age seven. Though not professional musicians, his father played bass in a calypso band, his mother was a pianist – and both loved jazz. Byron studied at the Music and Arts High School, the Manhattan School of Music and graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music. He studied classical music, became involved with salsa bands, took a strong turn toward jazz at the New England Conservatory, and has continued to explore all manner of music performance.

"As far as I’m concerned," says Byron, "I’m only interested in music that is moving. It’s about growth … whether it’s klezmer, jazz, big band, or improvisation, I tend to gravitate to whoever is playing the trickest, outest stuff, and that’s where I live."

Over the past decade, Byron has made solo albums, engaged in numerous musical collaborations, written film and theatrical scores, and curated the Next Wave Music Series at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. "It is difficult to do justice to the richness and complexity of Byron’s far-ranging body of work," Jules-Rosette says.

In addition to his lecture/performance, Byron, a UCSD Regents’ Lecturer, will convene the Borderland Beats Music Workshop and will conduct a Youth Forum, a community outreach program for students from the Boys and Girls Clubs of San Diego (B&GCSD), the Sojourner Truth Academy of San Diego and the Preuss School at UCSD.

The Borderland Beats Music Workshop will examine identity, cultural change, and migration with an emphasis on how social issues are reflected in music and art. Participants include ethnomusicologist and performer Paul Berliner, Northwestern University, and Byron, who will discuss and perform in multiple genres, including jazz and world beat.

The workshop will conclude with a roundtable where AAASRP board members, faculty and students will discuss the impact of border crossings on their own research.

The students participating in the Youth Forum have been preparing and writing essays on Sharing Cultures and Family Heritage since November under the direction of Sallie Bayless, AAASRP board member and community liaison, and Bobby J. Hearns of the African-American Writers and Artists of San Diego. Byron will review the essays, share his background as a composer and musician and perform for the students Feb. 14 at the Preuss School and Feb. 22 at Sweetwater High School Center for Performing Arts.

The goal of the Youth Forum is to expose San Diego’s inner-city youth to the exciting possibilities of higher education and advanced research.

Byron’s Regents’ Lecturer-in-Residence program is co-sponsored by UCSD’s Departments of Ethnic Studies, Sociology, and Music. While at UCSD, Byron will meet with students, scholars and artists and present five additional lecture/performances in UCSD classes.

"These activities support AAASRP’s three-fold focus on research, instruction, and community outreach," says Jules-Rosette. "Our program will expose a broad spectrum of UCSD students to Don Byron’s cutting-edge musical innovations and performances."

The AAASRP’s mission is to promote research and intellectual understanding of the issues that face African-Americans and the African disapora populations today from the perspectives of the humanities and the social sciences. The project sponsors public events that bring diverse groups of people together, both to foster a comparative and interdisciplinary environment and to share information and exchange scholarly ideas.

For further information on Byron’s lecture/performance or the Borderland Beats Music Workshop call Jules-Rosette at (858) 534-4790 or J.R. Osborn at (858) 822-0265.