‘Stormy Weather’ Forecast for Lena Horne Tribute
Sept. 22 Tribute Includes Book-signing by James Gavin
Sept. 7, 2010 – Anyone who loves jazz, or Lena Horne, should mark Sept. 22 on their calendars, the date that the John Cotton Dana Library and the Rutgers University Alumni Association will host a tribute to the great singer. “Remembering Lena Horne” will include musical performances, a photo exhibit mounted by the Institute of Jazz Studies, and a talk and book-signing by Horne biographer James Gavin, author of Stormy Weather: The Life of Lena Horne. The free public program starts at 5 p.m. Sept. 22 in the John Cotton Dana Library, 185 University Ave., Newark, on the campus of Rutgers. The library is handicapped-accessible. The night is planned as a celebration of the life of the famed singer, actress, dancer and civil rights activist, who died in May at the age of 92. Her seven-decade career spanned live performances –including at Harlem’s Cotton Club and her Grammy Award-winning one-woman show, Lena Horne: The Lady and her Music –as well as movies, television, theater, and recordings. She sang the title song “Stormy Weather” in a 1943 MGM film, and it became her signature song.
Author James Gavin, who has written extensively about contemporary musical figures, wrote the highly praised Stormy Weather: The Life of Lena Horne, in 2009. Columnist Liz Smith called the book as “…magnificent, gripping, marvelously written;” the New York Times Book Review described it “a thorough and fluent biography” and USA Today praised it as “a fascinating study of a complicated woman and the complicated times that shaped her.”
The event will include a musical performance by pianist and singer Daryl Sherman.
The IJS photo exhibit will draw on an extensive collection of images and memorabilia pertaining to Horne. In addition, photos and information on Lena Horne’s decades-long career, as well as a radio interview with James Gavin by IJS Director Dan Morgenstern, are part of an online tribute to Lena Horne at http://newarkwww.rutgers.edu/IJS/LenaHorne/index.html.
To RSVP for the Sept. 22 program: http://www.newark.rutgers.edu/homecoming/.
GETTING TO RUTGERS UNIVERSITY IN NEWARK
BY MASS TRANSIT: Rutgers-Newark can be reached by New Jersey Transit buses and trains, the PATH train and Amtrak from New York City, and by the Newark Light Rail, Washington Street Station or Broad Street Station.
BY CAR: Rutgers-Newark can be reached by the Garden State Parkway, New Jersey Turnpike, Routes 95, 21, 78, and 280, and the Lincoln and Holland tunnels. Metered parking is available on University Avenue. Other parking: Rutgers-Newark’s parking garage (200 University Ave.) or the Bradley Hall Lot. Printable maps and driving directions at: www.newark.rutgers.edu/maps/index.php
Media Contact: Institute of Jazz Studies, 973 353-5595
