Art Porter, Sr.

Arthur Lee "Art " Porter Sr. ( born February 8, 1934 in Little Rock, Arkansas; † July 22, 1993 ) was an American jazz musician (piano, organ) and music teacher.

Life and work

Art Porter graduated in 1950 at Dunbar High School and then attended AM & N College in Pine Bluff, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in 1954 in Music Education, 1975 Master of Science degree from Henderson State University. He taught at the Mississippi Valley College, Horace Mann High School, Parkview High School and at Philander Smith College. Porter received an honorary doctorate of Shorter College and was also a pianist, organist and choir director at Bethel AME Church in Little Rock.

In 1962 he founded the Art Porter Trio, with whom he performed in Little Rock and Arkansas until 1993. Furthermore, he formed in 1976 Art Porter Singers and served as musical mentor and friend of U.S. President Bill Clinton, in his inauguration ceremony in 1993 he appeared. In 1977, he guested in Lagos on the FESTAC 77 ( the World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture ) and in 1991 with his son, saxophonist Art Porter Jr. at various European Jazz festivals in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands.

Porter produced two television program series for the Arkansas Educational Television Network, The Minor Key, a weekly series, which introduced the African American culture in Arkansas, and porterhouse cuts, a series of ten shows. He also put several albums such as Little Rock AM and Something Else ago. Shortly before his death he took on Portrait of Art, which was published posthumously in 1994. Throughout his career, he has also performed with artists such as Pharoah Sanders, Steve Allen, OC Smith, James Leary, Al Hibbler, Carmen McRae, John Stubblefield, the Northwest Arkansas Symphony Orchestra and the Little Rock Jazz Machine. Porter in 1993 was the first winner of the donated by the Arkansas Jazz and Heritage Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. 1996 DVD Art Porter, Sr. seemed - A Music Treasure with Ramsey Lewis as target languages ​​. The deceased from lung cancer Porter was buried in the " National Cemetery " in Little Rock.

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