LIVES

APPRECIATION

Unfinished Symphony

Too few Americans knew his name, and throughout his varied career, too few concert halls and recording studios reverberated with his music. But if, over the last 40 years, you have ever listened to the music of Max Roach or the scores of Marvin Gaye and Harry Belafonte; watched such vintage TV shows as Get Christie Love or Room 222, or tapped your foot along with the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater or Dance Theatre of Harlem, chances are you have heard the music of Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, who died on March 9 of cancer in Chicago at the age of 71.

Born in New York, Perkinson was an impeccably trained pianist, composer, conductor and arranger. He studied at the Manhattan School of Music and the Salzburg Mozarteum in Austria. He came on the professional music scene in the 1960s and '70s, when few opportunities for Blacks in classical music and writing scores for films existed. Yet armed with formidable talent, an enviable pedigree and the defiant courage of a young lion, Perkinson would not be denied; he succeeded on every level of composition, arranging and performance, and did so with dignity, confidence and grace.

Perkinson served as artistic director of performance for Columbia College's Center for Black Music Research in Chicago and in 1965, was a co-founder of the Symphony of the New World, a New York City-based orchestra of young Black professional musicians that serves as a training ensemble.

Two years ago in Detroit, the Sphinx Symphony, an orchestra of Black and Latino string players, commissioned a piece by Perkinson. With bold, lush brushstrokes, "Symphony of the Sphinx" set poignant, classically inspired lyricism against a landscape of African rhythm and pulse - a trademark of "Perk's" talent. The composer was in the audience to receive the generous accolades for yet another brilliant product of his pen.

That day, many of us learned for the first time of the breadth of his ability, his prolific output, his legacy of hard work and creative industry. His was a towering presence that, at once, inspired and challenged us. Most of all, as a fellow musician of color, he was a reminder of not only what possibilities lay before us, but of the level of genius that helped to pave our way.

Estelle Axton, 85, co-founder of Stax Records which featured Otis Redding and Isaac Hayes, died Feb. 24 in Memphis. Axton established Stax with her brother Jim Stewart in 1957.

Omar Blair, 85, a former Tuskegee Airman, died March 25 of congestive heart failure in Denver. Blair was the first Black school board president in Denver and oversaw the city's court-ordered busing in the 1970s.

Ruth Ellington Boatwright, 88, sister of jazz musician Duke Ellington, died March 6 in New York after a long illness. Boatwright was president of Tempo Music, which owned most of Ellington's musical compositions.

Johnny Bristol, 65, a producer, writer and singer, died March 21 in Howell, Mich. Bristol worked for Motown and recorded the song, "Someday We'll Be Together."

Jeff Donaldson, 71, artist and educator, died of prostate cancer Feb. 29 in Washington, D.C. Donaldson was one of the creators of the Wall of Respect in Chicago, a montage of more than 50 African American leaders and heroes.

Maxine Haynes, 85, a pioneer in nursing, died of pancreatic and liver canMarch 21 in Seattle.

Haynes, called the "Jackie Robinson" of the nursing community, was the first Black nurse at the former Providence Seattle Medical Center.

Nathan Heard, 67, author, died March 16 of complications from Parkinson's disease in Livingston, N.J. Heard wrote novels about street life while serving seven years for armed robbery in the New Jersey State prison.

John "J.J." Jackson, 62, an MTV dee-jay, died of a heart attack March 17 in Los Angeles. A longtime radio broadcaster, Jackson helped usher in the music video era as one of the first on-air personalities at MTV.

Mildred Jeffrey, 93, civil rights activist, died March 24 in Detroit. Jeffrey, the first woman to head a department at the United Auto Workers union, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2000.

Dullah Omar, 69, human rights lawyer, died March 13 of Hodgkin's disease in Cape Town, South Africa. Omar was the justice minister in South Africa's first Black-led government.

Pedro Pietri, 59, co-founder of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, died March 3 of renal failure in New York. Pietri is known for his 1973 poem, "Puerto Rican Obituary."

Paul Winfield, 62, actor, died March 7 of a heart attack in Los Angeles. Winfield, who earned an Academy Award nomination for his performance in the movie Sounder in 1972, is best known for his portrayal of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1978 miniseries King.

- Rosalyn Story, a violinist with the Fort Worth Symphony and Sphinx Symphony orchestras, is a freelance writer based in Dallas.

Copyright Crisis Publishing Company, Incorporated May/Jun 2004
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