Examining the Great American Songbook

The PLNU Honors Program will host Examining the Great American Songbook, featuring jazz trumpet player and educator Dr. John Reynolds, for a night of jazz and cultural reflection. The event will feature live music from the John Reynolds Jazz Quintet with selections from the Great American Songbook and will also include a presentation from Dr. Karl Martin on the social and cultural implications of the music included in the songbook.

"The 'Great American Songbook' is the canon of the most important and influential American popular songs and jazz standards from the early 20th century that have stood the test of time in their life and legacy. Often referred to as 'American Standards,' the songs published during the Golden Age of this genre include those popular and enduring tunes from the 1920s to the 1960s that were created for Broadway theatre, musical theatre, and Hollywood musical film." (thesongbook.org)

Dr. John Reynolds is an educator, clinician, and trumpeter. He is the Director of Instrumental Music Conservatory, The Garn Family Jazz Studies Program, and Frederick Fennell Wind Studies Program at the Orange County School for Performing Arts. He holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Jazz Studies from USC as well as degrees from San Diego State University and Point Loma Nazarene University. Reynolds created and directed the jazz studies program at San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts. Dr. Reynolds is a consultant for Jazz at Lincoln Center, where he serves as a guest artist, clinician, and adjudicator for regional Essentially Ellington festivals across the country. Reynolds performs with the John Reynolds Jazz Quintet and the Gaslamp Quarter Jazz Orchestra. He has performed with jazz legends including John Clayton, Jeff Hamilton, Gerald Clayton, Rickey Woodard, Graham Dechter, Jackie Ryan, Bob Mintzer, Peter Erskine, Bobby Shew, Frank Mantooth, Gilbert Castellanos, Marshall Hawkins, and many others.

Dr. Karl Martin is a professor of American Literature at Point Loma Nazarene University. He teaches all eras of American literature and has long taught African American literature as well as the literatures of other under-represented traditions in American literature. He has research interests in various aspects of American culture such as American religion, music, film, and popular culture as well as American literature.

The PLNU Honors Program is a community of merit scholars engaged in a rigorous interdisciplinary academic program grounded in Christian thought and Wesleyan heritage. Honors Program courses are uniquely crafted to examine the human academic traditions of self-reflection and creativity in the context of biblical wisdom and piety, including history, literature, and philosophy. The Honors Program also coordinates co-curricular events to build deeper cultural, historical, and social connections. For more info: pointloma.edu/honors

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