Provost Michael Bernstein with Thomas Manuel ’16, DMA
Jazz Artist in Residence Thomas Manuel may have been at a crossroads the year he completed his DMA at Stony Brook in 2016, if not for an unexpected intervention by the Ward Melville Heritage Organization in Stony Brook.
A Newsday article published in May of 2014 entitled, “Tom Manuel has a collection. Now all he needs is a museum,” brought them together, which led to Tom emerging as founding president of The Jazz Loft in Stony Brook Village that same year. It was serendipitous: Ward Melville Heritage Organization’s Gloria Rocchio saw the story and immediately called him to offer him space to start a museum and Jazz entertainment venue in an empty firehouse building in historic Stony Brook Village.
The rest, as they say, is history. In this podcast episode, ‘Beyond the Expected’ host Michael Bernstein will explore Tom’s trajectory as an endowed Jazz Artist in Residence at Stony Brook University, his work with young jazz musicians, and his contributions to this popular community hot spot. He may even convince Tom to smoke a jazz jam while he’s at it.
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