Hammonds House Digital invites you to join us for Conversations about Jazz & Other Distractions hosted by former jazz radio host and founder of Notorious Jazz, Carl Anthony. Every other Thursday, Carl takes audiences on a unique journey through the world of jazz music with artist talks, workshops, and listening sessions.

On October 29 at 7:30 pm (EST), Conversations about Jazz features some of the world’s most talented jazz vocalists. Carl’s guests will be Carmen Bradford, Kathleen Bertrand, & Lenora Zenzalai Helm. This program is for the jazz novice and jazz head alike. It is free, and will stream live on Hammonds House Museum’s Facebook and YouTube.

2019 Grammy Nominee, Carmen Bradford, was born in Austin, Texas and raised in Altadena, California. She is jazz royalty being the daughter of legendary coronetist/composer Bobby Bradford and world-renowned jazz vocalist/composer/author Melba Joyce. Her grandfather Melvin Moore sang with Dizzy Gillespie’s Big Band in the 1940’s and with the Ink Spots, making Bradford the third generation of incredible musicians. At the age of 22, she was discovered and hired by William “Count” Basie and became the featured vocalist in the legendary Count Basie Orchestra. She has since performed and/or recorded with artists and musicians including Wynton Marsalis, Nancy Wilson, Lena Horne, Tony Bennett, James Brown, and Frank Sinatra. Most recently she was featured on the 2019 “All About Basie” album, along with Stevie Wonder, Kurt Elling and Wycliff Gordon. Currently Bradford is a Roots, Jazz, and American Music faculty member at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. More info HERE.

Multifaceted recording artist and writer Kathleen Bertrand is a native Atlantan and Spelman College graduate, whose performances have ranged from two Olympic Games to performances before two presidents, as well as appearances at jazz festivals world-wide. Bertrand toured and recorded as vocalist with jazz vibraphonist Roy Ayers. This three-octave vocal artist has performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland on three occasions and has made multiple appearances at the Atlanta Jazz Festival, including as headliner in 2012. She has opened for many of America’s finest artists, including Ray Charles, Will Downing, Rachelle Ferrell, Najee, Roy Ayers, and Kenny G. Her fan base includes radio and internet listeners across the globe. Bertrand’s most recent CD, 2017’s It’s Time To Love, has received international airplay. More details HERE.

Throughout her 30+-year span of musical achievements as a Jazz Vocal Musician specializing in classic, traditional standard jazz, Lenora Zenzalai Helm has toured, recorded, and performed with renowned artists around the world. A 2018 inaugural Javett International Scholar in Jazz for the University of Pretoria, she has also earned recognition as a quarter-finalist for the Grammy Music Educator of the Year Award, a Salzburg Global Citizenship Fellow, a UNC Global Educator Fellow, a Fulbright Senior Music Specialist, and is the former US Jazz Ambassador under the State Department and Kennedy Center. She is jazz clinician and vocal musicianship coach, with six solo recordings, including her latest CD, For the Love of Big Band. Helm currently serves as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Music and Jazz Studies Program for the College of Arts and Sciences at North Carolina University (NCCU). More information HERE.