Jazz string pioneer Akua Dixon’s contributions to bowed jazz cannot be overstated. She rose to prominence during the early 1970s through her involvement in the String Reunion, a 30-piece orchestra founded by Noel Pointer. Concurrently, she launched her own quartet, Quartette Indigo, which made its big-league debut at the Village Gate with her sister Gayle Dixon, Maxine Roach, and John Blake Jr. Dixon collaborated, performed and/or recorded with jazz giants Max Roach, Archie Shepp, Don Cherry, Carmen McRae, Dizzy Gillespie, Abbey Lincoln, Steve Turre, Buster Williams, and Tom Harrell.

Dedicated to educating young string players she has been on the roster of Carnegie Hall’s Educational series for more than eight years. Akua has received several awards from The National Endowment for the Arts and the Rockefeller Foundation. She has lectured at the Smithsonian and is the 1998 recipient of the African American Classical Music Award.

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