TORONTO, April 28, 2003 -- Some of the country's leading black music experts and performers will gather at York University May 1-3 at a conference celebrating the history of black music in Canada and its unique contribution to Canadian culture.

The conference, Researching Black Canadian Musics and Black Music Cultures in Canada, will feature talks by prominent scholars, musicians, and filmmakers, complemented by live jazz, calypso, reggae, hip hop and R&B evening performances.

Among the performers are the Joe Sealy quartet, featuring blues/jazz singer Dianne Brooks, and jazz artist Archie Alleyne with his band Kollage (scheduled for Friday, May 2, 8:30-10:30 p.m.).

Conference speakers include: Norman "Otis" Richmond, a long time historian and observer of Toronto’s black music scene; Brainerd Blyden-Taylor, whose Nathaniel Dett Chorale brings Afro-centric music to stages across North America; Winston Smith, whose CKLN jazz show "Expressive Language" covered jazz ranging from the classical to the avant garde; and Rinaldo Walcott, scholar, cultural critic and commentator on contemporary urban music.

"Black music in Canada has an extremely rich and fascinating history, from hip hop and gospel to jazz and R&B," said York humanities professor and conference co-organizer Leslie Sanders. "The aim of this conference is to reveal this relatively unknown history and examine how black music in Canada is uniquely Canadian and not merely an extension of music from the U.S., Caribbean or continental Africa."

The conference and Friday evening performance are sponsored by CBC Radio. Bill Stunt, of CBC Radio's Bandwidth, will host the concert.

The conference will be held in York University's Founders College with performances held in Winters College dining hall, 4700 Keele Street. For a full conference schedule, visit: http://www.yorku.ca/aconline/music_conference/.

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