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Press Release
Contact: Carnegie Mellon's Center for the Arts in Society Launches Perspectives on the Arts Series With Peggy Gilbert Documentary
Pioneering jazz musician Peggy Gilbert in 1928 (left) and with actress Lily Tomlin at her 100th birthday party in 2005.
PITTSBURGH—The Center for the Arts in Society at Carnegie Mellon University will kick off its 2006-07 Perspectives on the Arts in Society series with a presentation by musicologist and composer Jeannie Pool, who will screen her feature-length documentary "Peggy Gilbert & Her All-Girl Band," Sept. 27-28. The event is co-sponsored by Pittsburgh Filmmakers.
On Wednesday, Sept. 27, Pool will present her film and give a talk at Pittsburgh Filmmakers, 477 Melwood Ave., in Oakland. The event will start with a reception at 6:30 p.m., followed by the screening at 7:30. There will be a second screening and discussion at 4:30 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 28 in Room A14 of Margaret Morrison Carnegie Hall on the Carnegie Mellon campus. All events in the Perspectives on the Arts in Society series are free and open to the public.
"Peggy Gilbert & Her All-Girl Band," narrated by Lily Tomlin, tells the story of pioneering jazz musician Peggy Gilbert, who turned 101 last January. As a performer on saxophone, clarinet, violin and vibes, as well as a singer, arranger and contractor for women musicians, Gilbert has been a one-woman support network and staunch advocate for women since the 1920s. A professional tenor saxophonist for more than 80 years, she has been an inspiration for several generations of musicians. Her last ensemble, "Peggy Gilbert and The Dixie Belles," played Dixieland jazz on national television, at jazz festivals and in concerts from 1974 to 1994. Even as octogenarians, appearances on "The Tonight Show," "The Golden Girls," "Ellen," "Simon & Simon" and other television shows made them famous from coast to coast. Gilbert herself continued to do television commercials well into her 90s.
"'Peggy Gilbert & Her All-Girl Band' is an inspiring, delightful and heartwarming portrait of an indomitable and ageless woman who broke through stereotypes and pioneered the way for women musicians everywhere," said composer Carol Worthey.
Directed, written and produced by Pool, the production was made possible with funding from the Silva Watson Moonwalk Foundation, the Schutrum-Piteo Foundation and private donors, in association with North Wind Quintet of Los Angeles. The film features performances of The Dixie Belles and includes an original score composed by Pool. It had its premiere screening this past May in Miami.
Pool is a composer, filmmaker, musicologist, film music consultant, producer and college instructor. She holds a Ph.D. in musicology from Claremont Graduate University and teaches at Mount Saint Mary's College in Los Angeles. She produced Gilbert's one and only commercially available recording, "Peggy Gilbert and The Dixie Belles: Dixieland Jazz," on the Cambria Master Recordings label.
Pool's compositions have been heard in California; Washington, D.C.; Florida; Ohio; Toronto; Beijing and Belgrade. She served as executive director of the Film Music Society from 1990 to 2002. She lectures and writes frequently on film music history and preservation, contemporary music and women in music. An award-winning radio producer, Pool specializes in contemporary music of the Americas and was heard weekly on KPFK-FM, Pacifica Radio, in Los Angeles between 1981 and 1996. She serves as an advisor to the Board of the International Alliance for Women in Music, which she helped to establish. In 1995, she was honored by the National Association of Composers, USA, for her work to promote American composers and music. She also serves as a music consultant to Paramount Pictures.
The Perspectives on the Arts in Society series continues with artist Ricardo Miranda Zuñiga on Nov. 28 and English professor, writer and editor Moustafa Bayoumi on Feb. 22, 2007.
Founded in 2000, the Center for the Arts in Society bridges Carnegie Mellon's College of Fine Arts and College of Humanities and Social Sciences, bringing artists and humanists together to inquire into the role of the arts in societies. Its three main agendas are: to host events and visiting scholars to reflect new inquiries into the role of the arts in societies; to support interdisciplinary research among faculty, students and the non-academic community; and to foster curricular innovation. For information call 412-268-3239 or visit www.hss.cmu.edu/CAS.
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