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September 22, 2024 4:00 – 6:00 PM Highfield Hall & Gardens welcomes award-winning author Bill Milkowski for Jive Chronicles: Resurrecting Jazz's Forgotten Entertainers, a journey through jazz history as he uncovers often overlooked entertainers who brought ebullience and humor to the stage. From the 1920s to the 1940s, musicians like Cab Calloway, Fats Waller, Slim Gaillard, and Louis Jordan captivated audiences with their lively performances, yet their contributions to jazz have been minimized by critics and historians. The emergence of a more "serious" aesthetic in the 1950s, exemplified by Miles Davis's innovative approach, marginalized these entertainers, dismissing them as outdated. Drawing from his book "Swing It! An Annotated History of Jive," Bill will delve into their lives and stories, highlighting their enduring charm, significance, and lasting impact on jazz. Accompanied by video and wrapped in engaging Q&A, Bill will engage the audience in a journey back in jazz! This program is offered in collaboration with Falmouth Jazz. Bill Milkowski is a noted jazz journalist, prolific liner note writer and contributor to Downbeat, Jazziz, Guitar Player, Absolute Sound and Germany's Jazzthing. Milkowski is the Author of eight music books, including the acclaimed "JACO: The Extraordinary and Tragic Life of Jaco Pastorius" and "Here And Now! The Autobiography of Pat Martino." Milkowski has been a prominent figure in the jazz scene since the 1970s, receiving prestigious awards like the Jazz Journalist Association's Lifetime Achievement Award and the Bruce Lundvall Award from the Montreal Jazz Festival. Born in Milwaukee, he attended the University of Wisconsin, where he served as editor of the campus newspaper, the UWM Post. His internship at The Milwaukee Journal in 1976 led to a part-time freelance opportunity in The Journal feature department, where he began writing music reviews and feature stories. After brief stints as editor of Milwaukee Magazine and Milwaukee Impressions, he moved to New York in 1980 to become managing editor of Good Times magazine on Long Island. Milkowski has been an independent freelance writer since 1983. After living in New York City for nearly 40 years (with a three-year sabbatical from 1993 to 1996 in New Orleans, where his daughter Sophie was born and where he hosted the late-night "Milkman's Matinee" radio show on WWOZ), Milkowski moved in 2018 to Connecticut, where he currently resides with his wife, artist Lauren Zarambo. Registration is required for this event. Tickets are $20 and available at www.highfieldhallandgardens.org GALLERY HOURS: Tuesday – Friday, 10 am – 4 pm Saturday, Sunday 10 am – 2 pm Grounds open daily, year-round from dawn to dusk. About Highfield Hall & Gardens The house is a rare surviving example of transitional Stick Style architecture, containing beautiful gardens located in the heart of Falmouth, Massachusetts. It is a unique combination of a historic house, expansive gardens and trails, and a vibrant cultural center. Built in 1878 as the summer home for Boston's Beebe family, the house sits on 5.5 pristine acres surrounded by nearly 400 acres of conservation land and public walking trails. Highfield Hall & Gardens is not your typical historic estate. It is an example of a historic building saved by grassroots community organizing. An effort of tenacity and vision that continues as new research on the structure and its story of the people who lived here add to the building's significance. It offers world-class music, international art exhibitions, culinary classes, family programs, and year- round special events. For more information, visit www.highfieldhallandgardens.org.