caption movement birth_place nationality birth_date period genre image article_title name occupation
a. b. spellman -lrb- right -rrb- with gunther schuller black arts movement nixonton , north carolina , u.s. american 12 august 1935 1965 -- present poetry , music criticism gunther schuller and a.b. spellman.jpg a. b. spellman
 a. b. spellman poet , jazz critic , arts administrator
a. b. spellman

alfred b. spellman -lrb- born august 12 , 1935 -rrb- , is an african-american poet , music critic , music historian , arts administrator , and author .
he first garnered attention for his 1964 book of poems entitled `` the beautiful days '' .
in 1966 he published a highly influential book on the history of african-american music entitled `` four lives in the bebop business '' -lrb- aka `` black music : four lives '' ; random house -rrb- .
from 1975 to 2005 he worked as an arts administrator for the national endowment for the arts .
he has been particularly instrumental in supporting and forwarding jazz music within the united states .
