With Khari Allen Lee, New Orleans Jazz Comes to Goodwin Hall and Eighth & Rail (Oct 18-19, 2013)

Khari Allen Lee performing his composition "At-One-Ment." Auburn alum Victor "Red"/"Brother" Atkins, III, is on piano in the video.

New Orleans saxophonist and composer Khari Allen Lee will be appearing in Auburn/Opelika for two nights. For the first, Friday, October 18, he'll bring his band, the New Creative Collective, for a performance at Goodwin Recital Hall on campus at Auburn University. That band will include New Orleans heavies David Pulphus on bass, Geoff Clapp on drums and Meghan Swartz on piano. Joining them and creating live art during the performance will be artist and percussionist Marcus Akinlana. The concert will include Khari's own music and original music from his bandmates. Some is featured on his 2012 CD, Conscious Evolution. Tickets are $10, $5 for students.

Khari and the band will do a masterclass at Goodwin Friday at 2:00 pm. Akinlala will do a visual art masterclass in Biggin Hall, Room 326, also at 2:00 pm.

For the second date on Saturday, October 19, he'll conjure a New Creative Collective out of the local soil at 8th & Rail in Opelika. This date will feature music from jazz's standard repertoire and other tunes Khari knows will stir up the collective creativity of a group of friends from back in the day when he was at Auburn University and a member of the Auburn Knights. The Opelika show will feature Patrick Bruce on guitar, David Zuwiyya on drums and Jason DeBlanc on bass. $7 cover.

Check last Sunday's Opelika-Auburn News for a feature on Khari leading the Community/Arts section.

For more about Khari, go to http://khariallenlee.com/

In the interest of taking as little time as possible doing my posts, thereby hopefully getting more on the blog, I'm not going back to hyperlink the band members of the New Creative Collective to their websites, but you can search their names and find Grammy awards, pro-gear endorsements, African art installments, festival credits and more.

See you there!