A Denver jazz legend, Charlie Burrell joined the Denver Symphony in 1949 as the first person of color under contract with a major orchestra. In 1959 he moved to San Francisco to become the first person of color in the San Francisco Orchestra. In his more than 60 years as a professional musician, he played for conductors including Arthur Fiedler and Pierre Monteux, and worked with a who’s who of jazz greats – appearing on stage with the likes of Billie Holiday, Charlie Parker, and Lionel Hampton.
Author Mitch Handelsman is currently professor of psychology and a CU President’s Teaching Scholar at the University of Colorado Denver and a trumpet player who plays jazz and blues in the Denver area. Burrell and Handelsman read from and discuss and their new book The Life of Charlie Burrell: Breaking the Color Barrier in Classical Music.
($19.99) Createspace ISBN # 9781502896452.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed