INFORMATION FOR
A tribute to the legendary Dr. Billy Taylor led by Frank Wess performing with a trio that features Chip Jackson, Winard Harper and Don Friedman, is slated for July 22 during William Paterson University’s eighteenth annual Summer Jazz Week from July 18 to 22 in the Shea Center for Performing Arts on the campus in Wayne. Also featured during the weeklong concert series are bass trombonist Tim Newman and Friends, trumpeter Jon-Erik Kellso, vocalist Antoinette Montague with the William Paterson Summer Jazz Ensemble directed by Steve Marcone, and percussionist Dafnis Prieto in an evening of modern Latin jazz.
The concerts are held in conjunction with the University’s Summer Jazz Improvisation Workshop for high school and college students. Nearly 90 students will participate in hands-on, small group sessions with guest artists as well as morning classes, afternoon performance sessions and clinics. On Saturday, July 23 at 1 p.m., the workshop will conclude with a free concert in the Shea Center for the Performing Arts featuring the workshop’s student ensembles.
Summer Jazz Week features concerts every evening at 7:30 p.m. A $15 pass for the entire week may be purchased prior to Monday evening’s concert or single tickets may be purchased for $4.
Summer Jazz Week, which has drawn thousands of jazz fans to the University’s campus during the past 17 summers, is designed to make jazz more accessible to the community. William Paterson has been a flagship of jazz education for more than 30 years and is recognized internationally for its Jazz Studies Program and nationally acclaimed Jazz Room Series of concerts each fall and spring.
The festival opens on Monday, July 18, with a University faculty concert featuring bass trombonist Tim Newman, William Paterson jazz studies assistant professor of music, assisted by an all-star faculty quintet including saxophonist David Demsey, pianist Jim McNeeley, bassist Steve LaSpina and drummer Horacee Arnold. One of the few jazz bass trombonists on the scene today, Newman made his mark with his first CD as a leader, Altered Ego, which was released in 1999. He has also made numerous recordings with Toshiko Akiyoshi’s Jazz Orchestra, with whom he has toured and performed as a member for more than ten years. Additionally, Newman has recorded and appeared with such diverse artists as trombonists Slide Hampton and Buddy Morrow, trumpeters Luis "Perico" Ortiz and Joe Magnarelli, singer Mel Tormé, multi-instrumentalist Scott Robinson, pianist Mike Holober, organist Jack McDuff, and such groups as the Mario Bauza Afro-Cuban Orchestra, the Bill Mobley Jazz Orchestra, and They Might Be Giants.
Tuesday, July 19, is Swing Night with trumpeter Jon-Erik Kellso who will be joined by John Allred on trombone, Chris Flory on guitar and Jon Burr on bass. Kellso, a native of Detroit, began playing with big bands at the age of 11. He moved to New York in 1989 to join Vince Giordano’s Nighthawks and has performed and recorded with Ralph Sutton, Dan Barrett, Howard Alden, Marty Grosz, Milt Hinton, Bick Hyman, Linda Ronstadt, Banu Gibson and Leon Redbone. Kellso was featured on a soundtrack recording session with Wynton Marsalis for a movie about legendary cornetist Buddy Bolden, “Bolden!” Kellso has recorded on Arbors Records, including three CDs as a leader and two with Ruby Braff.
The mid-week performance on Wednesday, July 20, showcases vocalist Antoinette Montague with the William Paterson Summer Jazz Ensemble directed by Stephen Marcone, professor of music at William Paterson. Montague has a background in gospel, R&B, jazz and blues. She has recorded and performed with many well-known musicians including Norman Simmons, Winard Harper, Wycliffe Gordon, Frank Wess, the Duke Ellington Orchestra and Mike Longo’s New York State of the Arts Orchestra. The Summer Jazz Ensemble will feature top students from William Paterson University’s Jazz Studies Program.
Drummer and award-winning composer Dafnis Prieto will perform with Felipe Lamoglia on saxophone and Johannes Wiedenmueller on bass on Thursday, July 21. The trio will heat up the stage with modern Latin jazz. The Cuban immigrant first toured Europe with pianists Carlos Maza and Ramon Valle and the groundbreaking group Columna B. A resident of New York since 1999, Prieto has already played in bands led by Henry Threadgill, Steve Coleman, Eddie Palmieri, Chico and Arturo O'Farrill, Dave Samuels and The Caribbean Jazz Project, Jane Bunnett, D.D. Jackson, Edward Simon, Michel Camilo, Chucho Valdez, Claudia Acuña, Roy Hargrove, Don Byron, and Andrew Hill, among others. He has performed at many national and international music festivals as a sideman and as bandleader, and, as a composer, he has created music for dance, film, chamber ensembles, and his own bands. He has received new works commissions, grants, and fellowships from Chamber Music America, Jazz at Lincoln Center, East Carolina University, and Meet the Composer. Various awards include “Up and Coming Musician of the Year” by the Jazz Journalists Association in 2006, a Grammy Award nomination for Absolute Quintet as Best Latin Jazz Album, and a Latin Grammy nomination for “Best New Artist” in 2007. Prieto has been on the New York University music faculty since 2005.
Dr. Billy Taylor closed many recent Summer Jazz Weeks with memorable performances. The performance on Friday, July 22, will celebrate his life as an eminent jazz pianist, educator, composer, author, advocate and broadcast media personality. Legendary saxophonist and Count Basie alumnus Frank Wess, Taylor’s high school classmate, will be joined by bassist Chip Jackson and drummer Winard Harper, longtime members of the Billy Taylor Trio, and veteran pianist Don Friedman. Taylor’s career spanned the history of modern jazz and his achievements have been honored at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center. He played and recorded with many legendary performers, and earned a doctorate from the University of Massachusetts in addition to his 16 honorary degrees, including one from William Paterson University in 2008. Taylor is known for his work on “CBS Sunday Morning” and National Public Radio, including hosting “Billy Taylor’s Jazz from the Kennedy Center.”
William Paterson’s Summer Jazz Week is funded, in part, by a grant from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, and a newly awarded grant from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.
For more information, contact the Shea Center Box Office at 973-720-2371.
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