We’re sad to report that Chris White, retired chair of Bloomfield College’s Music Department and world renown Jazz bassist, has passed away. He is survived by his wife Laurena White, son, Christopher and Bashari, step daughters June and Alexandra and his grandchildren.
Born in Harlem, NY in 1936 and raised in Brooklyn, Christopher Wesley White began playing bass professionally at the age of 15. He has performed, recorded and toured with Nina Simone, Dizzy Gillespie, Billy Taylor, Duke Ellington, Sarah Vaughan, Carmen McRae, Chick Corea and Billy Cobham. White served as the first Executive Director of Jazzmobile, the acclaimed jazz concert and education program in New York City founded by Billy Taylor. Co-incidentally, he was the first Director of the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers University. He has also been the administrator for several jazz education programs including: The Newark Jazz Festival, Bennington Summers, Muse Jazz Workshop/Brooklyn Children’s Museum, “Celebrate Yourself”/a project of the New State Board of Migrant Education, and “Summer on Wheels”, a project of The New York State Council on the Arts. In 1985 he was the Director of Jazz Opportunities For Youth (Joy) at Montclair State University. In 1993, he started as a music professor at Bloomfield State College and became the chair of the Division of Creative Arts and Technology.
A memorial service for White will be held in January 2015.
Baristanet offers its heartfelt condolences to the White family and loved ones.
