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Duke Arts Presents

Moonchild: Celebrating the Life & Music Of Yusuf Salim, Evening 2

Saturday, October 28, 2023 | 8:00 pm

Hayti Heritage Center


Featuring Frankie Alexander, Eve Cornelious, Lois Deloatch, Nnenna Freelon and Adia Ledbetter

Jazz pianist, composer, and mentor Yusuf Salim — known by the community as Brother Yusuf — was born in Baltimore, immersed in the booming jazz scene there and spent the last three decades of his life transforming the musical landscape in Durham, NC. In his adopted hometown, Brother Yusuf became a cultural catalyst and community builder, helping to establish a thriving, nationally visible jazz scene by nurturing and launching the careers of many younger vocalists and musicians in his orbit.

This special two-day celebration of Brother Yusuf’s life and legacy continues at Durham’s historic Hayti Heritage Center on Saturday, October 28 with a focus on Brother Yusuf’s role in cultivating and mentoring jazz vocalists. This evening is an intimate set featuring five leading vocalists Yusuf mentored — Frankie Alexander, Eve Cornelious, Lois Deloatch, Nnenna Freelon, and Adia Ledbetter — spotlighting the lyrical explorations of his music and the jazz standards that linked Brother Yusuf with these women vocalists.

Part of the Building Bridges: Muslims in America series at Duke University, this two-day celebration begins on Friday, October 27 and features two additional events, including Moonchild: Celebrating the Life & Music Of Yusuf Salim, Evening 1, a concert featuring an all-star big band with renowned jazz musicians and friends of Brother Yusuf, and Moonchild: Free Panel Discussion and Documentary Preview.

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Presented as part of the Building Bridges Initiative at Duke University, funded, in part, by the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art & the National Endowment for the Arts, & co-sponsored by the Duke Islamic Studies Center. In partnership with the Duke Middle East Studies Center.