This program features the history and lineage of Walter Henri Dyett, or “Captain Dyett”, who was an instrumental figure in the development of jazz and black music in Chicago. As the band instructor of Bronzeville’s DuSable High School, Dyett built a powerhouse music program that produced iconic singers such as Nat King Cole, Dinah Washington, Ella Jenkins, and Johnny Hartman. His program also produced many great instrumentalists including Richard Davis, Dorothy Donegan, Muhal Richard Abrams, Julian Priester, Joseph Jarman, and the Chicago tenor saxophonists Gene Ammons, Von Freeman, Johnny Griffin, Eddie Harris, Clifford Jordan and Ari Brown. Dyett's students took the Chicago jazz sound across the globe. This is a live jazz quartet performance by the Charles Heath Quartet featuring Charles Heath on drums, Jeremiah Hunt on bass, Theodis Rodgers on piano, with tenor saxophonist James Perkins. This event celebrates Chicago hosting the 2026 International Jazz Day with a brief 15-minute history of Capt. Walter Dyett by Dr. Traci Lombre, followed by a 45-minute jazz quartet performance of the sounds of Dyett’s internationally renowned tenor saxophone student Eddie Harris.

Chicago Public Library
Whitney M. Young Jr. Branch
415 E. 79th Street
Chicago IL 60619
Admission: FREE - open to the public

This program, presented as part of the Chicago Public Library's Renaissance Project, is made possible with support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to the Chicago Public Library Foundation.