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Arkansas Jazz Hall of Fame Remembers 9th Street
Few motorists driving down Ninth Street realize that it once claimed a reputation rivaling that of Memphis’ Beale Street or Kansas City’s Fifth and Vine. But as part of Arkansas’ Heritage Month, Little Rock’s “Main Street of Jazz” will soon receive its due.
The Arkansas Jazz Heritage Foundation, the Old State House Museum and the Old State House Museum Associates will host “Remembering 9th Street: A Night of Jazz,” Saturday, May 22 at 7 p.m. in the Old State House Museum at 300 W. Markham in downtown Little Rock. The event features guitarist Eddie Fisher, who will be inducted into Arkansas’s Jazz Heritage Hall of Fame along with Scott Joplin (posthumously) and a yet-to-be announced winner of the Foundation’s Author L. Porter Lifetime Achievement Award.
“Jazz has its roots in African music traditions, Negro spirituals, work songs and military brass bands. Jazz is such a broad term. A lot of things fit into what we call jazz,” Foundation President CeCe Rich says. “Jazz is the only American music. Everything else comes from somewhere else.”
Visitors will enjoy appetizers and libations prior to the festivities. After the ceremony, the award-winning exhibit “Send You Back to Arkansas: Our Own Sweet Sounds II” will remain open for visitors to tour. With limited seating for about 250 people, the $20 tickets are not expected to last long. Purchase tickets by calling Gerry Soltz, special events coordinator, at 501-324-8647.
Down On The Line
In its heyday, Little Rock’s Ninth Street hosted jazz luminaries including Duke Ellington and Count Basie, as well as Arkansas’ own Art Porter Sr. and Pharoah Sanders, among others. From the Dreamland Ballroom to The Diplomat, the reverberations wafted through the district running from High Street (now known as Martin Luther King Jr. Drive) to Broadway in the area known as “The Line.” Continue reading