Jazz historian Stephanie Stein Crease will look at the life of the late Baltimore-born jazz drummer Chick Webb (1905-1939).   The charismatic bandleader was integral to the birth of the Swing Era and collaborated with the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Cab Calloway, and Duke Ellington to name just a few.   Stephanie Stein Crease will be joined in conversation by Johns Hopkins University English and history professor Lawrence P. Jackson. 

Stephanie Stein Crease is the author of biographies of Gil Evans and Duke Ellington. She is the former senior jazz coordinator for the Jazz Arts Program at the Manhattan School of Music.

Lawrence P. Jackson is the author of several books, including Shelter: A Black Tale of Homeland, Baltimore and Chester B. Himes: A Biography.  He is an English and history professor at Johns Hopkins University.   

• Free parking vouchers are available to program attendees who park at the Franklin Street Garage (15 W. Franklin Street) after 4pm.  Ask Pratt event staff for your parking voucher prior to or after the program.