UMS Concert Program, February 15, 1994: University Musical Society -- Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra

Season: 115th
Concert: Thirty-ninth
Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan

University Musical Society
Office of Major Events
Present
Return of the Swing
Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra
Marcus Roberts, Music Director Robert Sadin, Conductor
Jon Faddis, trumpet
Ryan Kisor, trumpet
Nicholas Pay ton, trumpet
Marcus Printup, trumpet
Art Baron, trombone
Jamal Haynes, trombone
Ronald Westray, trombone
Robert Barics, clarinet
Jesse Davis, alto saxophone
Bill Easley, clarinet,
tenor saxophone, flute
Joshua Redman, tenor and
soprano saxophone Jerry Dodgion, alto and soprano saxophone,
clarinet, piccolo Joe Temperley, baritone saxophone,
bass clarinet Marcus Roberts, piano Chris Thomas, bass Lewis Nash drums Adonis Rose, drums Milt Grayson, vocals
Tuesday Evening, February 15, 1994, at 8:00 Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan
PROGRAM Amad Duke Ellington
Doggin' Around Herschel Evans (for Count Basie)
Upper and Outest Duke Ellington
"The Coltane Legacy" (TBA)
"Intimate Intentions" (TBA)
Ragtime Wynton Marsalis
"It's Monk Time" (TBA)
Day In Day Out Duke Ellington
Things To Come Dizzy Gillespie
INTERMISSION
Moten Swing Count Basie (for Bennie Moten)
Sunset and the Mocking Bird Duke Ellington
Feel The Spirit Of The Groove Marcus Roberts
"Surprise" (TBA)
Jungle Blues Jelly Roll Morton
Blues Connotation Ornette Coleman
Why Was I Born Duke Ellington
Second Line Duke Ellington
"All In Stride" (TBA)
The Tattooed Bride Duke Ellington
Large print programs are available upon request from your usher.
With this concert, UMS and MEO honor the life of Morris J. Lawrence, Jr. who has inspired music and warm friendship. His loving and exuberant spirit brought out the best in everyone he touched.
Special thanks to Jeffrey Magee, Executive Director Editor of MUSA and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Music, for this evening's Philips Educational Presentation
Thirty-ninth concert of the 115th Season
23rd Annual Choice Series
Program Notes
LOUIS ARMSTRONG
DUKE ELLINGTON
THELONIUS MONK JELLY ROLL MORTON
In 1947, the great pianist and composer James P. Johnson said "the most important point I can see is that the jazz musician of the future will have to be able to play all different kinds of jazz in all its treatments just like the classical musician who, in one concert, might range from Bach to Copland." Nearly half a century later, this notion is being realized by a multitude of jazz musicians who have surveyed this great music in its many extensions, elaborations and refinements.
This winter tour of the United States by the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra presents great jazz masterworks performed by some of the best musicians of our time. Compositions by some of the twentieth-century's most important musical figures including Jelly Roll Morton, Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, John Coltrane and others are
showcased along with recent compositions by today's finest artists. The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra is not a repertory orchestra much of the music is improvised. Tonight you will hear blues, stride, Kansas City 44 swing, New Orleans polyphony, romantic ballads, and orchestral suites, all performed by a living breathing orchestra that plays every single night with the same objective: to swing as hard as possible at all times.
The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra is a project of Jazz at Lincoln Center, a year-round series of concerts, lectures, films, recordings, radio broadcasts, and educational programs for adults and children based at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. Under the artistic leadership of Wynton Marsalis, this program has risen to national prominence from its inception as the summer concert series, Classicaljazz in 1987. In 1991, Lincoln Center announced the formation of a year-round department, the first of its kind at a major performing arts institution. The department, under the banner of Jazz at Lincoln Center, aims to establish the value of jazz as fine art in the context of America's premier performing arts center. Its primary goals are the enriching challenge of producing first class programming of the highest caliber and showcasing the rich canon of jazz masterworks that exist in hopes of making more people aware of this great American art form and the wealth of contributions that have been made by musicians across this century from every corner of the nation. Jazz at Lincoln Center pursues curatorial, educational, and archival objectives by presenting jazz performances of the highest quality, teaching adults and children about jazz and its relationship to other art forms, and developing a world-class database to provide intellectual and historical frames of reference for current and future generations of artists, scholars and patrons. In April, Jazz at Lincoln Center will begin broadcasting its own radio program Jazz From Lincoln Center -over the airwaves of National Public Radio so that hundreds of thousands of people across the country can hear and benefit from the many wonderful performances recorded live in concert.
Jazz music is first and foremost about swinging. To swing is to enjoy a constant state of choice, and choice is freedom's first name. That this freedom be used to make adjustments for the common good is the central proposition of swinging. In jazz, making adjustments is not considered a problem. The act of adjusting, in high style and playful action, is the substance of the art itself. The music is about a celebration of the triumph of reason over immediacy. It is capable of telling us who we are, where we are, where we have been and what we must do in order to be where we want to be.
About The Artists
Robert Barics (clarinet, tenor saxophone)
Born December 30, 1973, in San Jose, California, Robert Barics became interested in music at an early age and started playing the clarinet in elementary school. He played in his school band and studied privately with one of his major musical influences, Jeff Sanford. His interest in jazz began when in high school he stumbled upon some Duke Ellington albums, and shortly thereafter he began playing jazz around town in the Palo Alto area. Since then he has been performing regularly with Clint Baker's New Orleans Jazz Band while attending college at California State University (Hayward) where he continues his music studies. When musician and educator Dr. Michael White (a major influence on Barics' music) came to town on tour, he heard Barics play with Clint Baker's band at the Preservation Hall reception in 1990 and in 1992. White invited Clint Baker's band to New Orleans for the annual Jazz and Heritage Festival. While in New Orleans, Dr. White invited Barics to join him at a high school clinic being given by Wynton Marsalis. After Marsalis heard Barics play he invited him to perform with his Septet at his Jazz for Young People series at Lincoln Center. Barics is currently completing his studies at Cal State (Hayward).
Art Baron (trombone)
Art Baron is a composer, arranger and performer, and plays a wide variety of instruments. He played trombone in Duke Ellington's Orchestra in the final year of the Ellington's life, during which time he was able to study firsthand Duke's compositions. This experience led Art to form "The Duke's Men," a group of former members of the Ellington Orchestra. He has also performed with many jazz groups, including Roswell Rudd, Olympia Brass Band of New Orleans, Sahib Sarviv, Jane Ira Bloom, and the George Gruntz Concert Jazz Band. Art regularly does studio and ensemble work in the New York area, including the Broadway shows Dancin, Reggae, and Sophisticated Ladies. He has recorded with Illinsois Jacquet, Duke Ellington and Stevie Wonder. His broad range of experience goes from playing wash-tub bass with the Rooster River Boys to performing new compositions with the MOB1 New Music Ensemble. Mr. Baron lives in New York where he performs, composes and teaches.
Jesse Davis (alto saxophone)
Born in New Orleans on September 11, 1965, Jesse Davis began playing the saxophone at age 11. He was influenced by his brother, tuba player Roger Davis, who taught him the basics of music, including the saxophone. Jesse played the saxophone in his high school bands, where he became acquainted with jazz. He studied at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCA) under the tutelage of Ellis Marsalis and later attended Northeastern University in Chicago while performing around the windy city at various gigs with such veterans as Von Freeman. Jesse transferred to William Patterson College in New Jersey, and in 1987, he toured with Illinois Jacquet's Big Band throughout Europe. Upon returning, Jesse moved into New York City and continued performing with Illinois Jacquet from 1987 through 1990. In 1992 Jesse toured the world with the Phillip Morris Big Band. He has also performed with Clark Terry, Ray Brown, Sir Roland Hanna, Alan Dawson, Milt Hinton, Benny Carter, Charles McPherson, Red Rodney and Barry Harris. He is also a regular performer on the New York club circuit. He has released three albums under his name for Concord Records, and he has also recorded with Cedar Walton and Rufus Reid.
Jerry Dodgion (alto and soprano saxophone, clarinet, piccolo)
California-born, Jerry Dodgion learned his craft under such immortals as Benny Carter, Billie Holiday and Red Norvo. Upon moving to New York in 1961, he soon became a top freelancer working with such singers as Ella Fitzgerald, Betty Carter, Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughan, Frank Sinatra and Peggy Lee and in recording studios with Quincey Jones and Oliver Nelson. He participated in Benny Goodman's landmark tour of the Soviet Union and he was a founding member of the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra, for which he also created original compositions and arrangements. He has appeared on records with artists as diverse as Count Basie, Herbie Hancock, Charles Mingus, Mercer Tyner, Ron Carter and
Tadd Dameron. He is one of the most called-upon players in jazz today, and his recent big band work has included the Toshiko Akiyoshi Big Band, the Philip Morris Superband, the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band.
Bill Easley (clarinet, tenor and soprano saxophone, flute)
Born in Olean, New York (near Buffalo) on January 13, 1946, Bill Easley took up clarinet at age 10 after seeing The Bennji Goodman Story and began playing with their band when he was 13. His primary musical influences were his drummer father, Robert Easley, and his pianist mother, Lois Easley. Easley moved to New York City in 1964 to study at Juilliard, but was drafted the following year. Upon his return, he joined the George Benson quartet, touring the country with the guitarist between 1968 and 1970. He moved to Memphis in 1971, and during his nine years there he was a member of the Isaac Hayes Movement, played on recording sessions for such other rhythm and blues stars as Al Green and Albert King, and resumed his studies at Memphis State University. Also during that period he met James Williams and made his first of two tours with the Duke Ellington Orchestra under the direction of Mercer Ellington. Returning to New York in 1980, Easley initially turned down offers from Art Blakey and Horace Silver so that he could spend time with his family, and for the past two decades has enjoyed the prestige and security of being a first-call theater musician, playing almost every woodwind instrument. Bill Easley's mastery of the woodwind family of instruments and his adaptability to a wide range of jazz and popular music styles have made him a first-call musician for the past two decades. Besides having played in the reed sections of the Duke Ellington Orchestra and Illinois Jacquet's Big Band, Bill has also performed for such hit Broadway musicals as Sophisticated Ladies and Block and Blue. Bill Easley has also been the first choice of such artists as Mercer Illenton, Jimmy McGriff, James Williams, and Ruth Brown for touring andor recording. His latest recording is aptly titled First Call (Music Records).
Jon Faddis (trumpet)
Born in Oakland, California, on July 24, 1953, Jon began playing trumpet at age eight, inspired by an appearance of Louis Armstrong on the Ed Sullivan Show. Three years later, he heard the music of Dizzy Gillespie, and by his mid-teens Jon was performing with Dizzy, the man who would become his mentor. During high school in Oakland, Jon played with local R & B combos and big bands. Upon graduating in 1971, he joined Lionel Hampton's band as a featured soloist. He was soon appearing in the company of Roy Eldridge, a featured soloist. He was soon appearing in the company of Roy Eldridge, Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich, Mel Torme and other jazz greats many years his senior. That same year, Jon began a four-year association with the Thad JonesMel Lewis Big Band, during which time he was also touring abroad with Charles Mingus' small group and recording on the Pablo label with Dizzy and Oscar Peterson. By the age of 20, Jon opted for the sequestered life of the studio musician, admitting that it provided considerably more security than did the gig-to-gig existence of the jazz life. Those studio years ultimately proved significant in his artistic development and the exposure to a diverse spectrum of music helped shape him into the broad-based interpreter and creator that he is today. During this time, his distinctive trumpet voice would be heard on albums by performers as disparate as Duke Ellington, the Rolling Stones, Frank Sinatra, Kool and the Gang, Lurther Vandross, Quincy Jones, Billy Joel and Stanley Clarke, to name a few. His horn would be featured on the theme of The Cosby Show, on the soundtrack of Clint Eastwood's film Bird, and on many a commercial jingle. A turning point was the invitation from Dizzy to accompany him on a visit to the White House in 1982, an "In Performance" ceremony in which he and several other major American artists showcased young colleagues they believed to be "on the verge of exceptional careers." Within a year, Jon left studio life and was out on the club scene with a working group that included saxophonist Greg Osby and pianist James Williams. In 1987, Jon played the major role in organizing and rehearsing Dizzy's big band, the one that would celebrate the legend's 70th birthday on tour here and abroad. Jon was a featured soloist and later assumed the same position as musical director of Dizzy's United Nation's Orchestra, another international touring all-star group formed in 1989. During this entire period, Jon was performing and recording with Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Thad JonesMel Lewis, Oscar Peterson, Frank Sinatra, Clark Terry and Sarah Vaughan. He is a five-time winner of the MVPTrumpet award from the New York Chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, and he has made numerous recordings as a leader, most recently for Epic. Today, beside being one of the most in-demand trumpeters playing jazz, Jon is the Musical Director of the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band, an 18-piece all-star orchestra which serves as a vehicle for some of the greatest names in Jazz to present concerts that are not part of their regular repertoire.
Milt Gray son (vocalist)
Milt Grayson, a native of Brooklyn, New York, is a Juilliard School of Music vocal scholarship winner from the All-City Chorus of New York. He is one of the only vocalists ever to be spotlighted by Duke Ellington and his orchestra on tours throughout the United States, Canada and Europe, and on recordings. An accomplished actor, Mr. Grayson was most recently seen in the production of Black Nativity, which went to the Vatican for a special audience with Pope John Paul II. He has been seen on Broadway in Bubbling Brown Sugar, singing the classic Duke Ellington song Sophisticated Lady, and in the Tony Award-winning musical Raisin. His other credits include Purlie and the New York stage production of The Believer. Mr. Grayson toured Europe and South America with the world famous dancer and producer, Katherine Dunham. His television credits include, The Today Show, The Tonight Show hosted by Johnny Carson, The Men Griffin Show, numerous specials on the CBS Black Heritage series. He made his Metropolitan Opera debut as a featured bass soloist in the Met's premiere production of George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess in the character of Undertaker. He was seen on television's In Performance at the White House with Leontyne Price. He has been the vocalist with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra for the past three years.
Jamal Haynes (trombone)
At 21, composer, arranger, vocalist and trombonist Jamal Haynes is one of the outstanding young talents in jazz music. Aside form leading his own band which plays his original compositions, Haynes finds himself working with such artists as McCoy Tyner, Steve Turre, Wynton Marsalis, Andy Gonzalez, Kimati Dinizulu, Lester Bowie, Oliver Jackson, Charlie Sepulveda, and the Mingus Big Band. He was a featured soloist with the Illinois Jacquet Big Band for two years, and he is currently working as a singer and trombonist with bassist Bill Lee's Family Tree Singers. Haynes has recorded with pianist Stephen Scott, (working alongside bassist Ron Carter and drummer Elvin Jones), trumpeter Philip Harper, and saxophonist Antonio Hart. He has also recorded several soundtracks for the Wynton Marsalis production company.
Ryan Kisor (trumpet)
At age five, Ryan Kisor's favorite toy was his father's trumpet, which he dragged around trying to play until his father, the band director at Sioux City North High School, finally bought him a cornet and started giving him lessons. By the time Ryan was ten, he was playing with the Eddie Skeets Orchestra, a local dance band, and taking the lead on most tunes. By age 12, he was studying classical trumpet at Momingside College in Sioux City, and soon playing with Skeets full-time as well as all the school ensembles: jazz big band, marching band at football games, wind ensemble. While still in high school, he led a jazz combo that played at a local club, he won the Siouxland Youth Symphony Scholarship; was named Best Soloist at the Iowa State Jazz Championships (in 1988 and '89); and was first chair trumpeter in various jazz and symphony orchestras in Iowa and Nebraska. His big break came in 1990, at the Thelonious Monk Institute's first annual Louis Armstrong Trumpet Competition. Ryan was awarded first prize from a panel of trumpeters that included Nat Adderley, Red Rodney, Clark Terry, and Snooky Young. At the event, Ryan was first heard by Columbia's Dr. George Butler, who went on to serve as executive producer of Ryan's two Columbia albums. After he was graduated in the spring of '91, Ryan enrolled at the Manhattan School of Music, where he studies with trumpeter Lew Soloff. Since coming to New York, Ryan has played with Mingus Dynasty, the Gil Evans Orchestra, Benny Green, Charlie Haden's Liberation Orchestra, Bobby Watson's Big Band, the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, and the Phillip Morris Jazz All-Stars. He has recorded with Pat Metheny, the Bobby Watson Big Band and the Mingus Dynasty.
Lewis Nash (drums)
Born in Phoenix, Arizona, on December 30, 1958, Lewis Nash developed an early interest in music and began playing drums at age eleven. By the age of 18, he was performing with top name jazz artists appearing in the Phoenix area. By age 21, Lewis had become the "first call" jazz drummer in Phoenix and had performed with Sonny Stitt, Art Pepper, Red Garland, Lee Konitz, Bamey Kessell, Slide Hampton, Richie Cole, Scott Hamilton, and Jimmy Witherspoon. In 1981, he moved to New York and joined the trio of jazz vocalist Betty Carter and for four years toured the globe and recorded with Ms. Carter. Bassist Ron Carter was next in line seeking Lewis' services, and in 1984, he began touring and recording extensively with Carter's quartet, quintet and nonet. In the fall of 1986, saxophonist Branford Marsalis asked Lewis to join his group, marking the start of an active association that spanned two years, several continents, recordings, and videos. Lewis has also worked andor recorded with a virtual who's who of jazz greats including Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, Stan Gets, Art Farmer, Clark Terry, Milt Jackson, Roland Hanna, Jon Faddis, J.J. Johnson, Benny Carter, Frank Morgan, Kenny Barron, Jimmy Heath, Tommy Flanagan, Kenny Burrell, Monty Alexander, Toshiko Akiyoshi, George Adams, and Don Pullen.
Nicholas Payton (trumpet)
Nicholas Payton was born and raised in New Orleans and his talents are a direct reflection of his many influences. At age 20, the trumpeter's list begins with his parents
Walter, (an acoustic bassist) and Maria (a former operatic singer and pianist) Payton, who initially exposed Nicholas to music and encouraged his studies. At the age of four, Nicholas' father brought him a trumpet and began teaching him the basics: how to hold and get a sound out of the instrument, fingerings for different notes, and how to read music. Nicholas' mother is responsible for his appreciation of classical music and inspired him to become an accomplished classical pianist. He studied with E. Diane Lyle, Connie Breaux, Dr. Bert Braud, Clyde Kerr, Ronald Benko, and Ellis Marsalis. Wynton Marsalis has been and continues to be a very significant figure in Nicholas' development as a jazz musician. Nicholas was only thirteen when he first met Wynton via an unsolicited phone audition. It was Wynton who first taught Nicholas improvisation, and Nicholas has since performed with Wynton's band on several occasions. Wynton in turn recommended Nicholas to several band leaders, most notably Marcus Roberts and Elvin Jones. He toured with Robert's band during the summer of 1990 and later that summer did a tour with Clark Terry. From May through July 1992 Nicholas toured the U.S. and Europe with Jazz Futures II. Nicholas is currently playing and serving as musical director of Elvin Jones' Band, with which he has toured internationally.
Marcus Printup (trumpet)
A native of Conyers, Georgia, his first musical influence was the church, where he was exposed to gospel and spirituals from a very early age. It wasn't until high school that he discovered jazz, but at age twenty-six, he is now performing and composing regularly. While still in college he was a U.S. representative one of twenty musicians selected world-wide in the first annual Louis Armstrong Trumpet Competition held at the Smithsonian. That same year, Marcus won the International Trumpet Guild Competition. In 1992 Marcus left school to tour with pianist Marcus Roberts. Roberts in turn introduced Pintup to Wynton Marsalis, who has used Printup on various projects, including the premiere of his jazz ballet at Lincoln Center in 1993. Marcus Printup has appeared on several television shows, includ?ing PBS with Dr. Billy Taylor. He has also worked with Betty Carter, and lead his own quartet.
Joshua Redman (tenor saxophone)
Joshua Redman was born February 1, 1969, in Berkley, California. By the time of Joshua's birth, his father, noted saxophonist Dewey Redman, had moved to New York and was playing with Omette Coleman. His only contact with his father was hearing his records around the house and infrequent visits to town with Ornette, Keith Jarrett, Old &. New Dreams and others. His mother, Renee Shedroff, was the driving force that nurtured his creativity. Redman's formal music training began at age five, when his mother enrolled him in Indonesian and Indian music classes at the Center For World Music. At ten, Joshua settled on the tenor saxophone, but always a serious student, his academic studies took precedence over music. He graduated in 1986, No. 1 in his class, and was then accepted to Harvard. During summer breaks in Boston, he spent most of his time with musicians at the Berklee College participating in jam sessions. He debuted with his father at the Village Vanguard in the summer of 1990, graduated summa cum laude in Phi Beta Kappa in 1991, and was accepted to Yale law school. In June of '91, he moved to Brooklyn and began practicing regularly. In November of '91, Joshua performed at the Thelonious Monk International Jan Saxophone Competition and won. He has since performed andor recorded with Elvin Jones, Charlie Haden, Jack Dejohnette, Pat Metheny, Roy Hargrove, the Mingus Dynasty and Big Band, Red Rodney, Paul Motian, and Bill Clinton among many others. He was also voted Best New Artist in the 1992 ]azz Times Reader's Poll. He has since released two recordings under his own name for Warner Bros, and regularly leads his own bands.
Marcus Roberts (piano)
Marcus Roberts, a native of Jacksonville, Florida who has been blind since the age of four, got his first taste of tradition from the church, where his mother was a gospel singer. Recognizing young Marcus' love of music, his partner bought him a piano, on which he
began formal training at 12. Nine years of classical piano studies, including four years as a music major with Leonidus Lipovetsky at Florida State University in Tallahassee, helped lay the foundation for his masterful technique. Aspiring to a career in jazz, Roberts won several local competitions and earned plaudits from the governor of Florida. If hearing gospel singers in church was a revelation for the youngster, then hearing Wynton Marsalis for the first time was an epiphany. When the trumpeter invited Roberts to replace the departing Kenny Kirkland in 1985, Roberts was floored. So, too, was Marsalis, because by the time Roberts got there, he had learned the entire repertoire form tapes sent by Marsalis. Besides maintaining a busy touring schedule with the Marsalis band for six years, Roberts appeared on nine of the group albums. In 1987, he won the $10,000 first prize at the first Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition. Roberts' first two recordings as a leader, The Truth Is Spoken Here (1989) and Deep in the Shed (1990), were critically acclaimed group efforts that reached No. 1 on the Billboard traditional jazz chart. When his third recording, Alone With Three Giants, a solo-piano homage to the music of Jelly Roll Morton, Ellington, and Monk, also shot to No. 1, it marked the first time a recording artist's first three recordings achieved that distinction. Roberts' current and future plans include both solo-piano and group recordings plus continued work as an educator he regularly leads seminars and clinics for students of all ages. His most recent epic composition, "Romance, Swing and the Blues" was commissioned by Lincoln Center and premiered there in August of 1993.
Adonis Rose (drums)
Born in New Orleans on January 11, 1975, Adonis Rose began playing the drums at the age of 2. His grandfather was a drummer, and so was his father Vernon Severin, who encouraged young Adonis. Rose continued playing the drums in marching bands throughout junior high and high school. In addition to school, his father sent him to the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts (NOCA) where Adonis became attracted to jazz. He was inspired by jazz drummer Max Roach and soon began playing jazz around town, occasionally performing in the bands of Delfeayo Marsalis and Marcus Roberts on a regular basis. In the summer of 1993, Rose worked with Dianne Reeves and Ryan Kisor, and he performed with Wynton Marsalis on Good Morning America, for a segment that showcased young artists in jazz.
Robert Sadin (conductor)
Mr. Sadin was born in New York City and studied at The Juilliard School and at the Cleveland Institute of Music. His arrangements and orchestrations have been performed by the New York Philharmonic and the Vienna Symphony and by such artists as Zubin Mehta and Kathleen Battle. His involvement with Jazz at Lincoln Center dates from January, 1993, when Mr. Sadin conducted the premiere of "Jazz (Six Syncopated Movements)," a ballet with music composed by ]azz at Lincoln Center Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis and choreographed by the New York City Ballet's Peter Martins.
David Berger, who withdrew from the tour, will continue to serve as consultant to jazz at Lincoln Center, lending his expertise concerning musical scores, arrangements and transcriptions.
Joe Temperley (baritone saxophone, bass clarinet)
Born in Scotland, Joe Temperley spent the late 1950's and early 60's with Humphrey Lyttelton in England. Mr. Temperley came to New York on December 10, 1965, and from 1966 through 1967 he played with Woody Herman. He also played with legends such as Buddy Rich, Thad JonesMel Lewis, Clark Terry and Duke Pearson, and he went on to replace Harry Carney in the Duke Ellington Orchestra in 1974Mr. Temperley played in the Broadway show Sophisticated Ladies in 1980. His film soundtracks include: Cotton Club, Billoxi Blues, and Tune in Tomorrow with Wynton Marsalis. In 1991 he released Nightingale, an album he recorded in London. He has also performed and recorded with Benny Carter, Jon Hendricks, Buck Clayton, Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard.
Chris Thomas (bass)
Chris Thomas was born June 10, 1970, in St. Louis. He began playing the bass at age twelve and played with chamber music ensembles and jazz bands in St. Louis through his junior and senior high school years. Thomas joined Marcus Robert's' band after high school and played with Roberts before enrolling at the University of New Orleans where he continued his studies with Ellis Marsalis. While in New Orleans for four years, Chris played with Ellis as well as Delfeayo Marsalis and other New Orleans jazz bands. Later, Chris moved to New York to pursue his music career and joined Betty Carter's band, with whom he has toured for more than a year. Chris resides in New York and does regular work with Marcus Roberts and Terence Blanchard. He recorded with Marcus Roberts, Ellis Marsalis, Victor Goines, Delfeayo Marsalis, and Cyrus Chesnut.
Ronald Westray (trombone)
Ronald Westray was born June 13, 1970, and grew up in Columbia, South Carolina. He began playing music at age 10 and selected the trombone as his instrument of choice. His primary influences were J.J. Johnson, Trummy Young and Lawrence Brown. In 1991, Ronald received his B.A. from South Carolina State University. In 1989, Ronald contributed his fine playing to Marcus Roberts' much acclaimed Deep In The Shed recording. He later toured nationally as a member of the Marcus Roberts Septet. In the summer of 1992, Ronald toured Europe as a member of the group Jazz Futures II. In 1993, he performed on Wynton Marsalis' collaboration with the New York City Ballet at Lincoln Center, transcribed and performed the world premiere of Marcus Roberts' latest full-length composition, and toured with the LCJO. He currently resides in Charleston, Illinois where he is working on his M.A. as a graduate assistant at Eastern Illinois University.
Tonight's concert marks the second Ann Arbor appearance of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra.
Pure Love
In Memory of Morris Lawrence By Jim Dulzo
Last spring when Morris Lawrence was in the hospital recovering from a burst appendix, two nurses stood outside his room going over his medical charts at their shift change. "Now I want you to take care, real good care of this man," one told the other, "because this man in made out of pure love."
Yes. This teacher, bandleader, composer, clarinetist extraordinaire and all-around New Orleans saint, who died of a stroke on the first day of 1994, had more good vibrations than just about anybody else I've ever met. They beamed out of him in many ways: through his huge, roly-poly laugh; his big, delighted eyes; his happy, eye-of-the-hurricane gait; his encouraging words to terrified novices and professional musicians alike; his bosom of Abraham hugs.
And, oh, how he did rocka my soul and most everybody else's when he took up his clarinet to call his children home with notes so sweet, so pure, so alive that only a rock at the bottom of a deep, cold sea could deny them. His Washtenaw Community College (WCC) Jazz Ensemble was often an unwieldy, gangly grab-bag of kids just learning their instruments, adult rediscovering theirs and professional players looking for some honest-to-God musical fun. But as rough-edged and wooly as it sometimes was, the WCC band almost always brought a crowd to its feet, screaming and testifying like a bunch of Baptists at a preachers' convention.
Morris Lawrence (right) and flutist James Galway (left) musically meet after a UMS concert in 1989.
How did he do it
Johnny Lawrence, a stellar Ypsilanti guitarist who was Morris's longtime mentor and musical partner (though not any relation),knows the secret.
"Morris taught me how to internalize my music," he said the other day. "Instead of just playing the notes from the scale that fit the key, he made sure you would feel every note that you played. Maybe you can notice it in some musicians. You know how you can see their mouths moving when they play, sort of humming along with themselves That is the greatest gift he gave me."
Morris used the push-'em-into-the-pool method. When it was solo time in one of his charts (he used his own original music almost exclusively), he'd randomly point at players and demand that they blow. No matter if you were new to the band, the instrument, or the tune, there was no denying him: It was sink or swim. More often than not, an often-terrified player did figure out a few more expressive strokes before the tortuous lap was over.
Lawrence came by that slightly cruel technique honestly: It's what one of his teachers did to him when he was down in New Orleans learning how to play. First time it happened, he once told Johnny, all he could do was pick a single note and just bleat it out, over and over again, until his turn was up.
This stuff is pretty much anathema in today's jazz education circles. There's all this theory and intonation to learn, all of these chord changes, rhythmic configurations and arranging to understand. That's why so many collegiate big bands play so perfectly and so soulessly particularly the soloists.
It's hard to overestimate Morris' impact on our music scene since he launched what became the Music and Dance Department at WCC in 1968. Certainly, he was a pioneer; until very recently, "jazz education' was viewed as an oxymoron by most music educators."
He single-handedly convinced WCC that teaching kids jazz made sense at a college whose primary mission was vocational: the administrators found it increasingly difficult to ignore the critical plaudits, the incredible popularity and, yes, the outright love that the man and his students generated in their community. A surprising number of the best area players passed through Morris' bands, so you can frequently hear echoes of his immense soul on bandstands all over southeastern Michigan.
But mostly, it's the inspiration he gave to people everywhere his musicians; the students in his Afro-Musicology and music literature classes (whom he preached to with a passion that's almost lost to most higher education today); and the audiences that flocked to see his bands perform and absorb Lawrence's tireless philosophizing about the power of lovethat will resonate around us and help keep us warm and in touch with ourselves -in these coldly technocratic times.
"He taught me more things about the place of music in life than about music itself," says Harry Bentz, another one of his long-time students, "not about scales or sounds or technique. He showed me that music has a place in life; it enhances who we are."
Supported by the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs. :
This performance of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra has been arranged by the University Musical Society and the University of Michigan's Major Events Office, a program of the Division of Student Affairs, Maureen A. Hartford, Vice President. University of Michigan Major Events presents entertainment and cultural programs for the University community. UMS, a 115-year old performing arts presenting organization, hosts 50 concerts each season of the world's most acclaimed chamber ensembles, recitalists, symphony orchestras, opera, and world music ensembles as well as popular and theatrical attractions. The assistance of WEMU, 89.1 FM, in the promotion of this concert is greatly appreciated.
The Regents of the University of Michigan:
Dean Baker, Ann Arbor; Paul Brown, Mackinaw Island; Lawrence Dietch, Southfield; Shirley McFee, Battle Creek; Neal D. Nielsen, Brighton; Rebecca McGowan, Ann Arbor; Philip Power, Ann Arbor; Nellie M. Varner, Detroit; James L. Waters, Muskegon; James J. Duderstadt, ex officio
The University of Michigan as an Equal OpportunityAffirmative Action employer, complies with applicable federal and state laws prohibiting discrimination including Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. It is the policy of the University of Michigan that no person, on the basis of race, sex, color, religion, national origin or ancestry, age, marital status, handicap or Vietnam-era veteran status, shall be discriminated against in employment, educational programs and activities, or admissions. Inquiries or complaints may be addressed to the university's Director of Affirmative Action, Title IX and Section 504 Coordinator, 6015 Fleming Administration Building, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1340, (313) 763-0235 (TDD: 737-1388).
Quartet Musa Suso
Saturday,
March 12, 8pm Power Center
Over the last two decades, the
Kronos Quartet has emerged as
the leading voice for new
musical expression. Gambian
kora virtuoso Foday Musa Suso
joins the Quartet for an exciting
Power Center performance.