Northern, Bob

Hornist and educator. Robert Anthony Northern born May 21, 1934 in Kinston, North Carolina; died May 31, 2020 in Washington, D.C. Known since the early 1970s as Brother Ah.

Northern grew up in Bronx, New York. He began as a trumpeter and studied with Bennie Harris. He attended School of Performing Arts and Manhattan School of Music. Served in the U.S. Air Force (1953-1957). Performed in the orchestras of the Metropolitan Opera and Radio City Music Hall.

Worked with Gil Evans, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, John Coltrane. Member of Orchestra U.S.A. Avant garde associations with Sun Ra (1964-1974), Jazz Composers Orchestra, and Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra.

Taught at Dartmouth College and Brown University in the 1970s. Traveled annually to Africa for studies. Relocated to Washington, D.C. in 1982. Taught at Levine School of Music and hosted a long-running weekly radio show on WPFW-FM called “The Jazz Collectors.”

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