INFORMATION FOR
The Jazz Room, William Paterson University’s long-running performance series, presents a slate of today’s most exciting jazz musicians during its spring 2026 season, with concerts from February 15 through May 3, 2026 in the Shea Center for Performing Arts on the campus in Wayne, New Jersey.
The line-up includes pianist-composer Orrin Evans on Sunday, February 15; the Branford Marsalis Quartet on Thursday, February 26; saxophonist Steve Wilson with the William Paterson Jazz Orchestra on Sunday, March 8; guitarist John Pizzarelli on Sunday, March 29; and saxophonist and clarinetist Paquito D’Rivera with the William Paterson Latin Jazz Ensemble on Sunday, May 3.
The season opens on Sunday, February 15 with pianist-composer Orrin Evans. A Trenton native and a veteran of the Philadelphia and worldwide jazz scenes, Evans leads his own small groups, as well as the powerful Captain Black Big Band. His most recent recording, Magic of Now, is his 20th, featuring such well-known players as Bill Stewart and Vicente Archer along with young saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins. His previous albums were on Smoke Sessions and Imani Records (his imprint), garnering several Grammy nominations. Evans, who topped the DownBeat “Rising Star” poll in 2018, was a member of the Mingus Big Band for a year and was formerly the pianist in the Bad Plus trio. He is a committed educator and is a board member for the Heart of Jazz Foundation, which is sponsoring this exciting performance.
Saxophonist Branford Marsalis, one of the most influential and revered figures in contemporary music, brings his quartet to the Jazz Room for a special evening performance on Thursday, February 26. The NEA Jazz Master, Grammy Award winner, and Tony Award nominee is equally at home performing concertos with symphony orchestras and sitting in with members of the Grateful Dead, but the core of his musical universe remains the Branford Marsalis Quartet. After more than three decades of existence with minimal personnel changes, this celebrated ensemble is revered for its uncompromising interpretation of a kaleidoscopic range of both original compositions and jazz and popular classics. After the Grammy‐nominated Upward Spiral, on which guest vocalist Kurt Elling was seamlessly integrated into the group, the Quartet followed up with the Grammy‐nominated The Secret Between the Shadow and the Soul, its most emotionally wide‐ranging and melody driven collection to date. This spring the Quartet makes its Blue Note Records debut with the March 28 release of Belonging, a full album interpretation of Keith Jarrett’s 1974 ECM album of the same name.
On Sunday, March 3, virtuoso saxophonist/flutist Steve Wilson will perform as soloist with the William Paterson Jazz Orchestra, directed by Mitch Butler, William Paterson’s new coordinator of jazz studies. Wilson first gained recognition in the Smithsonian Jazz Orchestra and the Mingus Big Band. Since then, he has become widely recognized as one of the most respected jazz performers on the scene. He has been a member of ensembles led by Dave Holland, Helen Sung, and Rufus Reid; Chick Corea’s Origins Quintet; and an all-star ensemble formed to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Blue Note Records. Primarily an alto player, he is also recognized as one of the leading performers on the challenging soprano saxophone. This concert will feature the premiere performances of several arrangements created for Wilson by William Paterson graduate student arrangers.
Guitarist and vocalist John Pizzarelli returns to the Jazz Room stage on Sunday, March 29. The Pizzarelli jazz family has had a long connection to William Paterson: John’s father, the legendary guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli, was one of the first WP jazz faculty members, taught for many years here, and appeared many times on the Jazz Room series, often accompanied by his equally virtuosic son. John Pizzarelli is equally known as a guitarist and vocalist, dedicating many of his performances to the diverse elements of the Great American Songbook and the recordings of Duke Ellington, Frank Sinatra, Zoot Sims, Tony Bennett, and Paul McCartney, among many others, often with his wife, singer Jessica Molasky. He proudly carries on his father’s humor and Jersey sensibility, as well as his amazing command of the guitar. He performs with his sparkling new trio, including pianist Isaiah J. Thompson and bassist Mike Carn. This concert is sponsored by the Woody Shapiro Foundation.
The saxophonist and clarinetist Paquito D’Rivera closes the spring 2026 series on Sunday, May 3 in a performance with the William Paterson Latin Jazz ensemble. D’Rivera began his musical career in his native Cuba, where he first earned worldwide recognition as a member of the all-star group Irakere. Since coming to the U.S. in the early 1980s, he has released more than 40 albums, earning numerous Grammy Awards. Equally recognized as a jazz and classical soloist and composer, he was the first artist to win Grammys in both the Latin Music and Best Classical Composition categories. He became an NEA American Jazz Master and was awarded the National Medal of the Arts in 2005, has been awarded several honorary doctorates, and is artistic director of jazz programming for the New Jersey Chamber Music Society.
Sunday concerts begin at 3:00 p.m. and are preceded concert preceded by “Sittin’ In,” the Jazz Room’s accompanying “meet the artist” concert preview featuring interviews with jazz artists and guest speakers. This informal discussion, free to all Jazz Room ticketholders, begins at 2:00 p.m., one hour prior to each concert, in the Shea Recital Hall. The Branford Marsalis concert, set for 7:30 p.m., will be followed by a Q & A session. For tickets or additional information, visit wp-presents.org, or contact the Shea Center Box Office at 973.720.2371 or boxoffice@wpunj.edu.
William Paterson University has been a flagship of jazz education for more than 50 years and is recognized internationally for its Jazz Studies Program and nationally acclaimed Jazz Room series of concerts each fall and spring.
The Jazz Room series is the longest-running program of its kind in the United States. Launched in 1978, the Jazz Room has welcomed more than 500 jazz legends to the stage, including Sonny Rollins, Wynton Marsalis, Wayne Shorter, Joe Williams, Marian McPartland, Slide Hampton, Kenny Burrell, Joe Lovano, Kenny Garrett, Clark Terry, Michael and Randy Brecker, the Vanguard Orchestra, and more. Concerts have encompassed the entire spectrum of jazz, from early jazz and swing to avant garde, and from intimate solo performances to big bands.
The performance series provides support for the University’s internationally renowned Jazz Studies Program, founded in 1973. The program draws students from across the United States and abroad under the current direction of Grammy Award-winning pianist Bill Charlap.
The Jazz Room at William Paterson University has been made possible, in part, by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts.
