The Funn Band Celebrates Black Jazz Composers

Charles Funn & The Funn Band Celebrates The Music of Black Jazz Composers

Pioneering composers like Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Eubie Blake, Dizzy Gillespie, Charles Mingus, Louis Armstrong and Mary Lou Williams created enduring standards and helped define the genre of jazz. They fundamentally shaped American music, blending innovation with tradition to break social barriers. Essential figures include Billy Strayhorn, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Sonny Rollins, driving Bebop, Swing, and Modern jazz. Today were celebrate and honor these luminaries.

Charles Funn, a graduate of Morgan Stage College is a retired band instructor (44 years) with the BCPSS. In addition to being a music instructor, he was and is a practicing professional musician having played behind and with Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Sammy Davis Jr., Gladys Knight, The Temptations, The Four Tops, The Dells, Clark terry, Dizzy Gillespie, The Morgan State university Concert & Jazz Bands and The Howard University Jazz Ensemble.

Charles awards include numerous Mayoral Citations, Jazz Journalist’s Association Jazz Hero Award for 2015, The Benny Golson Jazz Masters Award for 2018 presented by Howard University and The Baltimore Jazz Alliance Award for 2022. He currently performs with Dr. Phil Butts Big Band, Bowie State University Community Jazz Ensemble, The New World Outreach Jazz Orchestra, The Clarence Knight Orchestra and The Funn Band. Funn started, trained and developed countless future musicians as he nurtured and guided the musical development of Baltimore’s youth.