'UnTill Emmett Till'

<i>DuSable Museum of African American History, March 27 </i><br><br>Chicago saxophonist-bandleader Ernest Dawkins has been refining his orchestral tone poem on the murder of Emmett Till for years, and on this afternoon he led the most galvanic rendition yet. With poet Khari B. telling the tragic story in hyper-emotional detail and singer Dee Alexander hauntingly playing Till's mother, ¿UnTill Emmett Till¿ amounted to a jazz opera, albeit one steeped in real-life tragedy. No book or documentary film could capture the searing power of this story with comparable urgency, which is why every school in Illinois ought to see and hear this piece.

DuSable Museum of African American History, March 27

Chicago saxophonist-bandleader Ernest Dawkins has been refining his orchestral tone poem on the murder of Emmett Till for years, and on this afternoon he led the most galvanic rendition yet. With poet Khari B. telling the tragic story in hyper-emotional detail and singer Dee Alexander hauntingly playing Till's mother, ¿UnTill Emmett Till¿ amounted to a jazz opera, albeit one steeped in real-life tragedy. No book or documentary film could capture the searing power of this story with comparable urgency, which is why every school in Illinois ought to see and hear this piece.

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