A freelance writer, Ian Patterson writes for the multiple award-winning webzine All About Jazz, contributing over 800 articles since 2006. He has interviewed some of the greats, including Hank Jones, Randy Weston, Ahmad Jamal, Abdullah Ibrahim, Steve Coleman and Carla Bley, but is equally dedicated to promoting young, up and coming artists - the future of the music. On his travels, Ian has covered festivals and concerts from South Korea to Borneo, from Azerbaijan to Svalbard, from Australia to the Palestinian Territories, and many points in between. How did I get here?, Ian often asks himself, and with no straightforward answer presenting itself, he instead marvels at the rich diversity of music on the planet.

Raised in Ireland, Ian has spent more than half his life living abroad, including ten years in Italy and Spain, and seven in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. These experiences have revealed the inter-connectivity of music and its potential for social inclusivity and equality. In Ireland, Ian writes on the arts in general for a number of publications, with interests, besides jazz, including folk music of the world, opera, and the works of Samuel Beckett. Ian goes to far too many gigs but has learned to live with his addiction.

In his lecture "Great Black Music: From Africa to Saturn and Beyond" Ian Patterson will cover The Art Ensemble of Chicago, Sun Ra Arkestra, the AACM and great black artists in general and their inter-connectivity and legacy.