Welcome to the Musical Arts Center

Transcription

1 Welcome to the Musical Arts Center It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the inaugural Indiana University Jacobs School of Music Jazz Celebration. The Jacobs School s Jazz Studies Department, one of the first of its kind in the nation, has grown into a program that is known and admired around the world. Over the course of many years, the venerable Big Band Extravaganza highlighted the excellence of the department s faculty and students. You will see and hear that this tradition of excellence continues among the distinguished faculty and talented students who perform this evening. Of course, alumni of Jacobs Jazz Studies are pillars in the field of jazz, working around the world as session musicians, solo artists, band members, composers, and arrangers. We are fortunate to be able to feature four superlative alumni of the department in tonight s Jazz Celebration. I trust that you will enjoy tonight s concert and that you will continue to enjoy the outstanding offerings of the Jacobs School of Music and its Jazz Studies Department in the years to come. Michael A. McRobbie President, Indiana University Welcome to the first-ever Indiana University Jacobs School of Music Jazz Celebration! After 30 years of the popular Big Band Extravaganza, we have re-envisioned the Jazz Studies Department s spring showcase in order to highlight the variety of ensembles in the department and bring world-class guest artists to perform with our students in the Musical Arts Center. We are very happy to present four distinguished alumni in concert with our student ensembles. With a dozen Grammy awards between them, Randy Brecker, Alan Pasqua, Robert Hurst, and Peter Erskine are among the most in-demand jazz musicians working today, and we are especially pleased that they are joining us in our inaugural Celebration.

2 You ve already heard the captivating sounds of the Brazilian Percussion Ensemble on the MAC lawn and the Aaron Bannerman Group in the lobby. In addition to our all-star quartet, the festivities continue with an additional student combo, the Latin Jazz Ensemble, and the David Baker Jazz Ensemble. Thank you for joining us, and we hope that you will continue to do so as the Jazz Celebration becomes an end-of-the-year tradition! Gwyn Richards, Dean Jacobs School of Music The David N. Baker Jazz Scholarship

3 One Thousand Twenty-Seventh Program of the Season Jazz Studies Department Jazz Celebration featuring MAC Lawn Brazilian Percussion Ensemble Michael Spiro, Director MAC Lobby Concert Aaron Bannerman, Trumpet Dan Rauscher, Tenor Saxophone Joshua Espinoza, Piano Robert Walker, Bass Mitch Shiner, Drums music.indiana.edu Musical Arts Center Saturday Evening April Twenty-First Eight O Clock

4 Student / Guest Artist Combo Blue Freeze... Robert Hurst (arr. Alyssa Mehnert) (born 1964) Jared Hall, Trumpet Hunter Diamond, Tenor Saxophone Alyssa Mehnert, Trombone David Linard, Piano Con Alma... Dizzy Gillespie (arr. Alan Pasqua) ( ) Nick Tucker, Bass Ben Lumsdaine, Drums Diminishing Returns... Alan Pasqua (born 1952) Hunter Diamond, Tenor Saxophone Jared Hall, Trumpet Michael D Angelo, Drums Latin Jazz Ensemble Michael Spiro, Director Blem Blem Blem... Chano Pozo (arr. Hilario Duran) ( ) Joel Tucker, Tres Justin Polyblank, Baritone Saxophone Jamaal Baptiste, Piano Esta Noche... Wayne Wallace (born 1952) Artie Black, Tenor Saxophone

5 Selections to be announced Intermission Guest Artist Quartet Sing, Sing, Sing... Louis Prima (arr. Jim McNeely) ( ) David Baker Jazz Ensemble David Baker, Director Guest Artist Biographies Peter Erskine has played drums since the age of four and is known for his versatility and love of working in different musical contexts. He appears on 600 albums and film scores, and has won two Grammy Awards plus an Honorary Doctorate from the Berklee School of Music. Over 30 albums have been released under his own name or as co-leader. He has played with the Stan Kenton and Maynard Ferguson big bands, Weather Report, Steps Ahead, Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan, Diana Krall, Kenny Wheeler, The Brecker Brothers, The Yellowjackets, Pat Metheny and Gary Burton, John Scofield, et al., and has appeared as a soloist with the London, Los Angeles, BBC Symphony, and Berlin Philharmonic orchestras. Erskine has been voted Best Jazz Drummer of the Year 10 times by the readers of the Modern Drummer magazine. He produces jazz recordings for his record label, Fuzzy Music, and is an active author, with several books and DVDs to his credit. His latest titles include Time Awareness for All Musicians, Essential Drum Fills and Everything I Know, a Work in Progress. Erskine graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan and studied at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music under George Gaber and David Baker ( and , respectively). Erskine is currently a professor of practice in jazz studies and the director of drumset studies at the University of Southern California.

6 Born in 1945 in Philadelphia to a musical family, Randy Brecker s musical talent was nurtured from an early age. He attended the IU Jacobs School of Music from 1963 to 1966 and later moved to New York City, where he landed gigs with such prominent jazz bands as Clark Terry s Big Band. Brecker also began his foray into jazz-rock by joining Blood, Sweat and Tears. He later joined the Horace Silver Quintet. In 1968, Brecker recorded his first Score, his first album that featured a young, then-unknown 19-year-old tenor saxophonist, his younger brother, Michael Brecker. In the early 1970s, Randy played with many prominent artists, such as Larry Coryell, Stevie Wonder, and Billy Cobham. By 1975, Randy and Michael were ready to front their own band, the Brecker Brothers. The band was to become a band of immeasurable influence and impact. They went on to record a total of six albums and garner seven Grammy nominations between 1975 and In 1992, exactly 10 years after they disbanded, Randy and Michael joined forces again, featuring a world tour and the triple-grammy nominated GRP recording, The Return of the Brecker Brothers. In the fall of 1994, the Brecker Brothers released the double- Grammy winning Out of the Loop. Randy released his CD for ESC, 34th n Lex, in 2003, and this CD also brought him his third Grammy for Best Contemporary Jazz Album. In 2007, he was awarded his fourth Grammy, for Randy Brecker Live with the WDR Big Band. In the same year, tragically, his brother Michael passed away on Jan 13. Randy s CD, Randy in Brazil, was recorded in Sao Paulo with a full complement of great Brazilian musicians and released in The CD won the Grammy for Best Contemporary Jazz Album, bringing Randy s Grammy total to five. His latest release, Jazz Ballad Songbook, with the Danish Radio Big Band and the Danish National Chamber Ensemble, garnered four Grammy nominations in As a composer, performer, and in-demand Yamaha clinician, Brecker continues to influence and inspire young musicians around the world. He feels like he is just starting out! Alan Pasqua, professor and chair of Jazz Studies at the University of Southern California, was born in New Jersey and began studying piano at the age of seven, playing both classical and jazz. He attended the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and received his bachelor s degree in jazz studies from the New England Conservatory. While performing a concert at Carnegie Hall, Pasqua met the legendary drummer Tony Williams. Pasqua was asked to join The New Tony Williams Lifetime along with guitarist Allan Holdsworth. After recording two Lifetime albums for Columbia Records, Pasqua relocated in Los Angeles. His career in L.A. broadened as he started playing with more rock and pop artists. He has been a member of the bands of Bob Dylan and Santana. Some of his other pop album and touring credits include projects with Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Elton John, and Queen Latifah. In addition, he has worked with composers John Williams, Quincy Jones, Dave Grusin, Jerry Goldsmith, and Henry Mancini, and on motion picture soundtracks. In addition, Pasqua composed

7 the soundtrack for Disney s hit movie The Waterboy, starring Adam Sandler. In the jazz world, Pasqua has played and recorded with Jack Dejohnette, Paul Motion, Dave Holland, Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, Joe Henderson, Stanley Clarke, Gary Burton, James Moody, Gary Peacock, Gary Bartz, Reggie Workman, The Thad Jones/ Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra, Sheila Jordan, and Joe Williams. Aside from his many critically acclaimed recordings as a leader, in 2008, Pasqua joined forces with Peter Erskine and Dave Carpenter, arranging, co-producing, and playing on the Grammy Award-nominated trio album Standards. His latest release, Twin Bill, features Pasqua on two pianos and focuses on the music of Bill Evans. Twin Bill has achieved critical acclaim, including a four-star DownBeat review. Robert L. Hurst III, also known as Bob Hurst, an alumnus of the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, is refining a musician in motion. He is making music, making beats, making movies, and making lesson plans. He is a highly respected and well-recognized composer, bassist, educator, recording artist, and business man. His cultivation into a membership of talented musicians from around the world was fostered by lengthy tours and Grammy Award-winning recordings featuring Charles Lloyd, Wynton Marsalis, Branford Marsalis, Dave Brubeck, Harry Connick Jr., Terrence Blanchard, Tony Williams, Nicholas Payton, Sting, Carl Allen, the Pharaoh Sanders, Barbara Streisand, Willie Nelson, Chris Botti, and Diana Krall. To date, Hurst has won six Grammy Awards, performed on several RIAA-Platinum and Gold recordings, and has received Top Ten- and Five Star-recognition around the globe. You may recognize Hurst as the bassist in the house band of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno for eight seasons, from 1992 to His work in performing, directing, arranging, and composing on the NBC program were highlighted with four Emmy Awards in 1995, 1996, 1997, and Hurst has scored original music for The Wood (MTV/ Paramount Productions) and Brown Sugar (Fox Films), has performed music for Ocean s Eleven, Ocean s Twelve, Ocean s Thirteen, and Good Night, and Good Luck the soundtrack, featuring Dianne Reeves. During the 80s, Hurst s ascension was already being tracked as a recipient of the National Endowment of the Arts Presidential Scholarship Award. He has conducted multiple master classes at The Julliard School of Music, the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, The Brubeck Institute, California State University at Northridge, the Stanford Jazz Workshop and Festival, and Michigan State University. Hurst loves teaching and recognizes the importance and rewards of giving back to young people and is an associate professor of music, with tenure, in the Department of Jazz and Improvisation at the University of Michigan s School of Music, Theatre & Dance. He also serves on the board of directors for the John Coltrane Foundation. Hurst s newest releases on the Bebob Records label include Bob Ya Head an organically grown decorative quilt of compositions, stitched together with vibrant patches of grooves, electronics, and spoken word that peaked at number nine on the CMJ Radio Charts and Unrehurst Vol. 2, a delightfully unscripted and unrehearsed live-trio recording recently polled as a Top Ten Jazz CD for Recent releases of Hurst may be heard at

8 Trumpet Jordan Fredrick Jared Hall Aaron Bannerman Trombone Victor Ribadeneyra Michael Nearpass Brennan Johns Saxophone Amanda Gardier, Alto 1 David Carter, Alto 2 Latin Jazz Ensemble Saxophone (cont.) Artie Black, Tenor 1 Bryan Guisto, Tenor 2 Justin Polyblank, Baritone Piano Jamaal Baptiste John Weisiger Guitar Joel Tucker Bass Sean Francois John Nadel Drums Arianna Fanning Nick Goergen Percussion Nick Taylor Zach Compston Rod Kosterman Erin Jeter Taylor Haun David Baker Jazz Ensemble Saxophone Justin Polyblank, Alto 1 Connor Carroll, Alto 2 Hunter Diamond, Tenor 1 Artie Black, Tenor 2 Elissa Menendez, Baritone Trumpet Jesse Van Dam, Lead Jared Hall Aaron Bannerman Geoff Wood Christine Hannan Trombone Victor Ribadeneyra Alyssa Mehnert Trombone (cont.) Michael Nearpass Phil Bessette, Bass Trombone Matt Hightower, Tuba Rhythm Section David Linard, Piano John Wiesiger, Piano Joel Tucker, Guitar John Warner, Guitar Nick Tucker, Bass Michael D Angelo, Drums Ben Lumsdaine, Drums Bass Ashley Summers