October 3 — All Souls at Sundown:

Ron Blake, saxophone

The saxophonist of choice for such artists as Roy Hargrove, Christian McBride, and the late Art Farmer, Virgin Islands native Ron Blake was an award-winning classical player before entering the jazz scene in Chicago. After teaching jazz at the University of South Florida (and performing with the Florida Symphony), Blake moved to New York. He quickly became one of the most sought after jazz saxophonists, both on stage and in the recording studio (his discography lists 38 recordings). The critically acclaimed Ron Blake Quartet released the debut CD Up Front & Personal in 2000, and Blake released Lest We Forget in 2003.

“Ron Blake, a tenor saxophonist, is a swift and sure improviser, with a hint of Sonny Rollins in his style; when he leads bands, he is firmly in control.”

— Ben Ratliff, The New York Times

The poet for the Evening

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882) “deserves to be remembered as the native bard who gave mythic dimension to the country’s historical imagination, a national poet of epic sweep and solemn feeling who came along right at the moment when the emerging nation had the most need for one… No American poet of any era has been both as awesomely prolific and prodigiously popular.” (The Atlantic)