AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSICAL HERITAGE

About the Book

LENARD C. BOWIE, DMA ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF MUSIC, RETIRED THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH FLORIDA JACKSONVILLE , FLORIDA Dr. Lenard C. Bowie has developed an enviable reputation as a consummate musician. He is a classical trumpet artist, accomplished band director, effective music administrator, skilled lecturer and publi shed author. As an author, Bowie's expertise in several fields of endeavor has been documented through the following subjects, as published in the professional music journals indicated: "Solving Problems of Young Trumpet Players, " published in the Music Educators National Journal (December, J979) , a critical review of "Black University Marching Bands in the 80's." published by The Marching Band (January, 198 1), and the Proceedings of an Informal Research Conference whose mission was to document the extent to which African American music courses were offered in Florida's Public Schools was published by the Florida Music Educator (June, 2002). As an undergraduate, Bowie was plagued bymany questions concerning the absence of formal instruction in the music of his people, especially when considering the fact that there were only two authentic types of American music -- that of the American Indians and that of African Americans, with African American Music being the most important of the two. Bowie's search for answers to his probing questions began when he enrolled in Professor Willie Ruffs course in Black Music as a graduate student at Yale University in 1974. This course opened Bowie's eyes, ears and mind to many of his here-to-fore unanswered questions; including the extent to which African music traditions are practiced in African American Music today, and the impact that African American Music has made on the social, political, economic, and religious climates of modern American Society. After graduating from Yale with a Master of Musical Arts Degree in 1976, Bowie struck out on a mission to enlarge on what he had learned about African American Music.This mission brought him in contact with a wealth of information through independent study of numerous publications and documentaries; lectures, festivals, concerts; and personal contacts with scholars who were, or have become, major players in the research, dissemination, performance and composition of African American Music. Some of these scholars include former colleagues Dr.Oily W. Wilson, composer and Chair of Composition at UCLA , Berkeley, Samuel Floyd, Founder and Director of the Center for Black Music Research, found at Fisk University, now housed at ColumbiaCollege,Chicago,Dr. AaronHorne,AfricanAmericanMusic Biographer and Dean of Fine Arts, Winston Salem Unive rsity, North Caro lina, Aramentha Adams - Hummings, Founder and Director ofthe Gateways Music Festival , initiated at the North Carolina School of the Arts, now housed at the East man School of Music in Rochester,New York, Operatic Tenor and Music Educator, the late Dr. William A, Brown. Others include Dr. Portia Maultsby, Professor of Music at Indiana University, Dr. Dena Epstein, Retired Music Librarian, Archival Researcher and Author, Chicago, Dr. Rene Boyer-White, Professor of Music Education, College-Conservatory of Music, The University of Cincinnati, and Dr. John Smith, Dean of Fine Arts, The Univers ity of South Florida at Tampa. During the first of Dr. Bowie's two terms as Music Department Chair at The University of North Florida, he was afforded an opportunity to apply and distribute his long sought know ledge. The opportunity came in the form ofa Mill ion Dollar Endowment from the Koger Company to develop programs of study in American Music. The response of the faculty to the endowmentwas to institute two programs: a Jazz Studies Program and a program in African American Music. The Jazz Studies Program has become nationally recognized for outstanding achievements in jazz theory, history and performance. The latter program , designed and developed by Bowie, was chall

About the Author

Meet DR. LENARD C. BOWIE, Associate Professor of Trumpet Emeritus The University of North Florida Jacksonville, Florida Dr. Lenard C. Bowie served as a professor in the State University System of Florida for 46 years – 22 years at Florida A and M University as Trumpet teacher and Associate Director of Bands and 22 years at the University of North Florida as Trumpet Teacher, Founding Director of Instrumental Music and Director of the African American Music Program. He also served the University of North Florida as Chair of the Departments of Fine Arts and Music for two terms. During the last thirty years, Bowie has maintained a high degree of visibility as a respected and influential figure in Jacksonville’s music community. He has performed with the Jacksonville Symphony, and was a charter member, Assistant Principal Trumpet and Soloist with the St. Johns River City Band. As a member of the St. Johns River City Band, Bowie performed with a number of major artists, including Rich Matteson, Dave Brubeck, Lionel Hampton, Henry Butler, Danny Davis (Nashville Brass), Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, Chet Atkins, Al Hurt and Dizzy Gillespie. The St. Johns River City Band has performed throughout the State of Florida and made a triumphant performance at New York’s Carnegie Hall. It could be said that Bowie’s music specialty is the brass quintet, owing to the fact that he has provided leadership to five such organizations, including the University of North Florida Brass Quintet, the River City Brass Quintet, the St. Johns River City Band Brass Quintet, Gabriel’s Brass, (resident ensemble of the Bethel Baptist Institutional Church), and currently with the Jacksonville Chamber Brass Players. Bowie has performed and/or conducted pit bands for local musical theatrical productions of “Purlie”, “Little Shop of Horrors”, “The Barber of Fleet Street”, “Ain’t Misbehavin’”, and “Jesus Christ, Super Star”. He has given of his time and service as Founding Director of the University of North Florida Community Band, Associate Director of the Jacksonville Community Band and Guest Conductor of the Northeast Florida Music Conservatory Community Band. On a broader scale, Bowie has performed with the West Side Symphony of New York city, the Yale University Music Theatre Orchestra, the New Haven (Connecticut) Opera Theater Orchestra, and the Bi-Centennial Festival Orchestra of New England. He has engaged in freelance performances with the Ringling Brothers - Barnum and Bailey Circus Bands, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Isaac Hayes and the Movement, Johnny Taylor, and matinee performances with Danny Kaye and Bob Hope. Dr. Bowie is also a published author, having written four articles for professional music journals and four textbooks, two of which are Trumpet Method Books, -- PHYSICAL THERAPIES FOR THE NOVICE TRUMPET STUDENT, a handbook of solutions to common performance problems, and THE CYCLIC SYSTEM OF TRUMPET TRANSPOSITION, Bowie’s original system and approach to orchestral transposition for trumpet. Bowie holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Music Education from Florida A&M University, a Master of Music Degree in Trumpet Performance from the Manhattan School of Music, and an advanced Master of Musical Arts and Doctor of Musical Arts Degrees from Yale University. He has studied the trumpet professionally with Edward Treutle, of the Hudson Studios of Englewood, New Jersey; Nathan Prager, of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, and Robert Nagle, Leader of the New York Brass Quintet and Trumpet Professor of Yale University. Although retired from full-time university teaching, Bowie is still active as a private trumpet teacher, performer and clinician. He also avails himself as a lecturer in African American Music and Marching Band Techniques. He has also served as a part-time instructor of Music Theory and Applied Trumpet at Edward Waters College and Albany State University, respectively.