Montclair Public Library Celebrates Opening of The Peter Bodge & Seed Artists Jazz Library with Free Concert Featuring James Brandon Lewis
Montclair, NJ — September 10, 2025 — The Montclair Public Library (MPL) and Seed Artists are proud to announce The Peter Bodge & Seed Artists Jazz Library, a landmark cultural resource for the community and a platform for future programming. The opening celebration will take place on Sunday, October 12, at 4:00 pm, with a free outdoor concert on the library plaza—indoors in the event of rain.
The concert features an extraordinary trio: tenor saxophonist James Brandon Lewis, recently named DownBeat magazine’s Artist of the Year; Seed Artists founder and renowned drummer Pheeroan akLaff; and adventurous bassist Jeong Lim Yang.
Peter Bodge – Bio
He was a saving grace for any junior high kid that didn’t want to go hang with the mainstream at lunch or study hall. Always gave us a pass to come to the art room to work on art and listen to music. I learned about Marving Gaye and Duke Ellington through him…I have talked about him over the years to my kid and husband.
– Former student
Peter Bodge lived a vibrant life of creativity and curiosity. Educator, visual artist, self-taught drummer and jazz historian, exuberant lifelong learner. The Artful Bodger.
After earning a Bachelor of Arts from the University of New Hampshire, he served in the US Army, worked as a labor organizer, and then spent the better part of five decades as an educator, primarily teaching art in middle and high schools in California and Massachusetts. His classrooms were hubs of artistic expression and a safe haven for students who needed one. Peter also taught art history and jazz history to adults, art for non-artists, and creative thinking to educators. In the midst of which, he earned a Master’s degree at Cambridge College.
Jazz was a lifelong passion. As a child, inspired by his father, Peter taught himself to play drums and into his 70s, he moonlighted as a professional musician on the New England jazz circuit. As a visual artist, his work focused on his jazz heroes, from Billie Holiday and Duke Ellington to Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, and Eric Dolphy. His linoleum prints featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions, and seven portraits are housed in the National Museum of American History, in Washington, DC. A testament to his unique and compelling vision.
Peter’s connection to Montclair goes back nearly two decades, when his daughter and her family moved here. He hosted monthly listening sessions at the Montclair Public Library (MPL) for the arts nonprofit Seed Artists, created stunning artwork for their jazz festivals, and inspired Seed’s art programming for kids at the MPL. His donation of more than 600 jazz books establishes a permanent and free public resource, extends his legacy as an educator, and provides a platform for future jazz programming, from concerts to film screenings and projects for kids.
Peter died on September 5, 2025, age 87, at the hospital in Lawrence, Massachusetts, where he was born.
Seed Artists creates adventurous music and arts programming that enriches and broadens the cultural fabric; inspires the next generation to be curious, creative and self-confident; and builds community through collaboration.
