neighbors
18
the Park Street YMCA sorting used
books with other volunteers for the
College Women’s Club of Montclair’s
spring and fall sales; proceeds fund
scholarships for Montclair kids.
“There are tens of thousands of
books there, all alphabetized and
organized by section,” he says.
“It’s amazing. It’s Montclair’s
Strand (Book Store).”
Boxes of used books also occupy
a sizable corner of Napierala’s office.
His work with the Montclair book
sale has spilled over, literally, into
his day job — he’s supplied enough
books to create a library at a Harlem
criminal justice reentry nonprofit
called GOSO (Get Out and Stay
Out). Employees there, he says, bring
books from the library to young
people on Rikers Island, and their
siblings. and akLaff reached out to the
great jazz flutist James Newton,
a friend of aKlaff’s living in
California, to ask if he’d help
out. Newton agreed, and told
them that, by the way, he had
a box of Dolphy’s personal
papers, including some never-
before-heard works, that had been
sitting untouched for 50 years.
At the 2014 festival, they debuted
several Dolphy compositions, with
Newton conducting.
“We had a ridiculous lineup,”
says Napierala. “Richard Davis, the
jazz master who played on Dolphy’s
iconic album “Out to Lunch!”, per-
formed; Gunther Schuller, one of
the most important music figures in
the 20th Century, spoke on a panel.
We had dance, we had poetry. It was
really special.”
HE HELPED UNEARTH A PREVIOUSLY-
UNHEARD ERIC DOLPHY
COMPOSITION, NOW IN THE
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
During preparations for the
Eric Dolphy tribute concert, he THE WORLD’S FIRST “JAZZ
LAUREATE” WILL BE HONORED AT
THE MAY FESTIVAL
Seed Artists recently announced
a new initiative: naming longtime
Montclair resident Andrew Cyrille
MAY 2019 MONTCLAIR MAGAZINE
the world’s first “Jazz Laureate.”
“Andrew is one of the most influ-
ential and important modern jazz
drummers,” says Napierala. “He
worked for years with the Cecil
Taylor Unit and has put out tons
of influential albums. He’s having a
remarkable artistic run and repre-
sents adventurousness in music.”
He also represents the “embarrass-
ment of jazz riches we have here,”
says Napierala. At the percussion
festival, he will perform with fellow
Montclair drumming greats akLaff
and Billy Hart, who will do musical
storytelling at their drum kits.
Each laureate, Napierala says, will
serve a one-year term, produce a
commissioned work that will debut at
a free concert, and help curate jazz
programming at the library.
COURTESY
SUMMER CONCERT ON THE PLAZA Pheeroan akLaff, who runs Seed Artists with Chris
Napierala, plays percussion with Oscar Noriega on reeds and Trevor Dunn on bass in front of
the Montclair Public Libary in July, 2017. (Right) Nishuane School kids get creative about jazz.