The CAU Guild’s Jazz Under The Stars concert has raised over 3.2 million in scholarships for Clark Atlanta University students
Acclaimed, Grammy award winning singer-songwriter Gregory Porter will headline the 30th Annual Jazz Under The Stars concert to celebrate their 32nd anniversary at Clark Atlanta University’s Harkness Quadrangle on Friday, May 10, 2024, at 7:00 p.m.
Porter was raised in Bakersfield, California, and began singing in small jazz clubs in San Diego and later New York City, where his music career began to ascend with the release of his first two albums—Water (2010) and Be Good (2012). In 2013, he released his Blue Note debut Liquid Spirit which quickly grew into a global phenomenon, selling more than a million albums and earning Porter his first GRAMMY Award with NPR declaring him “America’s Next Great Jazz Singer.” His 2016 follow-up Take Me To The Alley won Porter his second GRAMMY for Best Vocal Jazz Album and firmly established him as his generation’s most soulful jazz singer-songwriter. In 2017, Porter released the heartfelt tribute album Nat King Cole & Me and in 2020 returned to his original songwriting on the uplifting ALL RISE. Porter has hosted the podcast The Hang, a conversation series featuring his famous friends, as well as his own cooking show The PorterHouse, in which the singer shared recipes inspired by his local community, experiences from touring the globe, and family cooking traditions from growing up with his mother and seven siblings.
Since the CAU Guild’s inception in 1992, this southeast region’s favorite and highly anticipated benefit concert has raised over 3.2 million dollars, providing financial assistance to Clark Atlanta University scholars pursuing degrees in the performing arts, music, creative writing, theatre, film, mass media arts television, and fashion. This year Jazz Under the Stars continues to receive sponsors who believe in the guild’s mission and all proceeds from the concert and auction will benefit the scholarship program. More information for sponsorship opportunities and tickets at https://cauguild.org or (https://www.classy.org/event/jazz-under-the-stars-2024/e548227).
About Clark Atlanta University
Clark Atlanta University was formed with the consolidation of Atlanta University and Clark College, both of which hold unique places in the annals of African American history. Atlanta University, established in 1865 by the American Missionary Association, was the nation’s first institution to award graduate degrees to African Americans. Clark College, established four years later in 1869, was the nation’s first four-year liberal arts college to serve a primarily African American student population. Today, with nearly 4,000 students, CAU is the largest of the four institutions (CAU, Morehouse College, Spelman College, and Morehouse School of Medicine) that compose the Atlanta University Center Consortium. It is also the largest of the 37-member UNCF institutions. Notable alumni include: James Weldon Johnson, American civil rights activist, poet, and songwriter (Lift Every Voice and Sing – “The Black National Anthem”; Ralph David Abernathy, Sr., American civil rights activist; Congressman Hank Johnson, Georgia District 4; Kenya Barris, American award-winning television and movie producer; Kenny Leon, Tony Award-winning Broadway Director; Jacque Reid, Emmy Award-winning Television Personality and Journalist; Brandon Thompson, Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion for NASCAR; Valeisha Butterfield Jones, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer at the Recording Academy. To learn more about Clark Atlanta University, visit www.cau.edu.