By OWEN MCNALLY
Besides being a gifted pianist, composer, bandleader, educator and co-writer of imaginative jazz musicals for children, New York City musical maven Eli Yamin is a devout, globetrotting evangelist for jazz and blues as a universally healing and unifying communal catalyst, an inspiring historical and cultural force that he calls “the heartbeat of the American experience.”
Practicing what he preaches about his profound faith in the power and the glory of jazz and blues, he has spread the jazz and blues gospel by performing and proselytizing (in the friendliest manner) everywhere from India to China, from premier concert halls and clubs to command performances at the Obama White House. “I learned from my mentors that the purpose of jazz and blues is to make people feel better, to be a healing balm for the struggles that everybody goes through in life,” Yamin said of how his beliefs came to be formed.
“Delving into history,” he said from his home in Manhattan, “you see that the music comes from the black American experience, and how it was always a tool to deal with really horrendous things. Because that’s where the music came from, it has the capacity to really help heal what ails you, whatever your background is.”
read more: http://wnpr.org/post/hartford-public-library-opens-new-season-free-sunday-matinee-jazz-concerts?utm_source=Happy+New+Year%21&utm_campaign=January+6%2C+2015&utm_medium=email
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