Education package
the multicultural, multidisciplinary, music program
A 60 minutes multimedia and conversation about my books describing the West African Cultural Roots of the Blues with a 30 minutes Q&A
(90 minutes total)
Dr. Pascal Bokar THIAM, Guitarist / Vocalist / Composer, is a faculty with dual appointments in the Music Departments of the University of San Francisco (USF), and San Francisco City College (CCSF), CA, where he directs the USF Jazz Band and teaches a number of courses such as Jazz History, African Music & Societies History, and various Guitar courses. Dr. Pascal Bokar THIAM is originally from West Africa, Mali / Senegal. He is the recipient of the Jim Hall Jazz Master Award of the Berklee College of Music, the recipient of the Outstanding Jazz Soloist Award from Dizzy Gillespie and the recipient of the 2021 Jazz Road Award from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the Doris Duke Charitable Fondation, the W. Mellon Fondation, and South Arts. For the last two decades, Dr. Pascal Bokar has performed as a headliner at Jazz festivals nationwide and abroad including the prestigious Aspen SnowmassMusic Series, in Aspen, CO.
His 2015 recording entitled "Guitar Balafonics" received a four star review in Downbeat Magazine and the " One of the Best Jazz Recordings of the Year" distinction.
Dr. Pascal Bokar THIAM has written several books on West African musical aesthetics and their transfer to the American Southern plantations through the period of the Atlantic Slave Trade. His books received praises from eminent historians and faculty in US colleges and universities including Dr. Robin D.G. Kelly from UCLA.
Dr. Pascal Bokar THIAM's book entitled From Timbuktu to the Mississipi Delta and its updated version entitled The Banjo is From West Africa included a foreword by the celebrated NEA Jazz Master, Composer, Pianist Randy WESTON.
Dr. Pascal Bokar THIAM is offering to Performing Arts Centers, Festivals, Schools, Colleges, Universities, and Special Events a Multidisciplinary, Music Program (MMMP) consisting of the following and depending on budget:
1 A multimedia Conversation on West African music and culture and its relationship to the early Music and Culture of the American South with a Q & A.
2 A concert with Pascal Bokar AfroBlueGrazz Band.
3 A Masterclass on West African Sabar drums and dance.