Avon Public Library Hosting Jazz Legend Tribute Concert

The Avon Public Library will host The Paul Brown Tribute Band on Saturday, May 7 at 2 p.m.

The performance will be a special musical salute to Connecticut jazz legend Paul Brown featuring Norman Gage on baritone sax, Kenny Reed on trumpet, Alex Nakhimovsky on piano, Norman Johnson on guitar, James Daggs on bass, and Michael Scott on drums.

Paul Brown founded the Monday Night Jazz series in 1967, and produced it almost single-handedly for 40 years. The Library of Congress recognized the Monday Night Jazz Series as the oldest, free, continuously run jazz festival in the nation. He also founded the Greater Hartford Festival of Jazz in 1992, and was a co-founder of the Artists Collective in 1970. He brought jazz performances and jazz education to neighborhoods and schools through the Garden Area Neighborhood Council of the Community Renewal Team. He has taught and mentored jazz students at the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts for nearly 20 years. He has received numerous awards for his achievements, including the J.C. Penny' Golden Rule Award in 2001, the New England Jazz Alliance Unsung Heroes Award in 2003, the Heartbeat Ensemble Street Performance Award and Latter Rain Christian Fellowship Appreciation Award in 2006, and the Greater Hartford Festival Of Jazz Community Award in 2007. As a bassist, he has backed such jazz luminaries as Dexter Gordon, Junior Cook, Bill Hardman, Al Haig and Barry Harris ("Paul's a real good bass player whose real strength is his groove"), and has performed with Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan, Nina Simone and Betty Carter. He is a much sought-after bassist and performs in his own groups and as a sideman all over the world.

The one-hour performance is free and open to the public. Held in the Library’s Community Room, doors open at 1:30 p.m. The library is located at 281 Country Club Road. Light refreshments after the performance will be provided by the Friends of the Avon Library. No reservations are required.