Students have become accustomed to free entertainment from the John Brown Trio, the house band for Jazz at the Mary Lou. Sunday at 7 p.m. in Reynolds Theater, however, concert-goers will pay $25 to see the debut of the John Brown Jazz Orchestra-and the money will go to a good cause.
The concert benefits the Duke Cancer Patient Support Program, whose more than 100 volunteers offer support and counseling to patients and families.
Featuring special guest conductor Frank Foster, a tenor saxophonist who played with the Count Basie Band, the performance will showcase both old and new tunes.
"They are just superb, they are out of this world," said Lyn Lamont, administrative assistant at the Cancer Patient Support Program, of the 20-piece jazz ensemble. "I'm very excited about it."
Lamont said Brown, assistant professor of the practice of music and director of the Duke Jazz Program, approached the Support Program with the idea for the concert.
Lamont has high hopes for the benefit concert and its future.
"I hope it will be annual," she said. "Well, let's just say that it will be annual."
Documentary Studies showcases midwifery
The 1953 film All My Babies was commissioned by the Georgia Department of Public Health as an educational tool for improving the skills of black midwives. Cameraman Robert Galbraith captured this important American medical tradition in a series of still photographs.
Reclaiming Midwives, as the series is called, is on display at the Center for Documentary Studies until April 2. It explores black midwifery through the experiences of Mary Francis Hill Coley, the subject of All My Babies. There will also be a discussion with the curator and the photographer Jan. 18.
"It's a beautiful story," said Exhibitions Director Courtney Reid-Eaton. "One of the important things it talks about is that midwives were not, and I'll extend that to are not, just there to catch the baby."
The photographs show Miss Mary, as Coley was known, assisting families with many aspects of their lives.
"There was a more connective relationship between a midwife and the family," Reid-Eaton said. "They helped the family prepare, cleaned the house, suggested things they'd need for the new baby and even encouraged the mother to be healthy."
This strong, personal bond between midwife and family is seen in Galbraith's powerful photographs.
The film from whose set the photographs where taken, however, has been criticized as racist by contemporary critics.
"I struggle with it," Reid-Eaton said. "It is important to consider the critical perspective."
She added some have criticized the Aunt Jemima-like portrayal of Coley and that the certified-and therefore authoritative-doctors and nurses are all white.
Reid-Eaton said she hopes to screen the film at the Center, but for now Galbraith's photos stand alone as a powerful testament to the tradition of black midwifery.
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