Honoring Jazz Legend Skipp Pearson
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COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) – South Carolina jazz legend Skipp “Pops” Pearson will be honored with the Order of the Palmetto this weekend. Ahead of the ceremony, Grace Joyal sat down with another prominent face in the Columbia jazz scene, international Trumpeter Mark Rapp.
The Order of the Palmetto is the state’s highest civilian honor, and is awarded to citizens for “extraordinary lifetime service and achievements of national or statewide significance.”
To celebrate the master jazz saxophonist, Pearson will be honored with multiple events in Columbia the weekend of January 13 through 15th.
The official ceremony will take place Saturday, January 14, at 7 p.m. at the Darla Moore School of Business. Admission is free, but the dress code is black tie. There are other events leading up to the ceremony.
Get registered for everything, here.
Pearson, 80, is a jazz institution across South Carolina. The Orangeburg native’s career in music spans over 65 years and includes collaborations with legends like Sam Cooke, Jimmy Heath, Art Pepper, Otis Redding, Drink Small, Severinsen, Wynton Marsalis and many, many more. He was named the Ambassador of Jazz Music by the South Carolina Senate and House.
Pearson started The Skipp Pearson Jazz Foundation to preserve live jazz and provide opportunities for young people to learn and share. This award comes as Pearson is in a fight for his life, courageously battling stage 4 bone cancer. Despite this, Pearson has not abandoned his ready smile, or his mission. He continues to perform and to mentor up-and-coming players in between rounds of chemo and surgeries, just as passionately as he always has.
