Joe Bonner emerged in the 1970s as one of the most exciting and in-demand pianists in jazz. Beginning in 1970, when Roy Haynes asked him to replace Chick Corea in his ensemble, Bonner spent a decade playing in some of the most exciting bands of the time. The late trumpet great, Freddie Hubbard, hired Bonner from 1971-1972, when the pianist joined saxophonist Pharoah Sanders’ band and anchored an ensemble which was arguably the best in Sanders’ career—featuring Stanley Clarke, Cecil McBee, Billy Hart, Hannibal Marvin Peterson and Carlos Garnett, among others. Bonner can be found on six Impulse! Recordings, including Black Unity, Village of the Pharoahs and Live At The East. Later in the decade, Bonner performed with saxophone great Billy Harper. Born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, he earned a Bachelor's Degree in Classical Music from Virginia State, before his travels took him to New York and around the world. He lived for 12 years in Europe, mostly in Copenhagen, where he accompanied traveling jazz artists and made a dozen highly regarded recordings on the Steeplechase label. Since the 1980s, Bonner has made his home in Denver, where he leads The Bonner Party.

Tickets are available at AJ Hastings in Amherst, and at State Street Fruit Store and the Center for the Arts in Northampton and are $15/general public ($40 for entire series); $12 for students and seniors over 65. A World of Piano is made possible by grants from the Meet the Composer program of the New England Foundation for the Arts.