University of Pitt’s Jazz Festival World renowned jazz artists entertain the Pittsburgh community by Sara Prosser Collegian staff Bored? Well then it's definitely time for another road trip. Now through November 2, the University of Pittsburgh is holding its 26th annual Jazz Seminar and Concert. This Jazz seminar, which was founded by Nathan Davis in 1970, is the first academic large scale event that brings together world class professionals and aspiring students. This years musical greats include: Herbie Mann, flute; Benny Bailey, trumpet; Johnny Griffin, tenor sax; Wallace Rooney, trumpet; Mulgrew Miller, piano; Abraham Laboriel, bass; T.S. Monk, drums; and Nathan Davis, director, and saxophones. (For more information on the individual artists, see the bios that follow!) The musicians will be holding on campus seminars, a jazz photo exhibit, and brown bag lunches. The concert will be on Saturday, November 2, at 8 p.m. The musicians will be performing arrangements prepared especially for the event, by Nathan Davis. Tickets are $l7 for general admission, and $8.50 for Pitt students, and can be purchased at the William Pitt Union, and at any ticketmaster location. MUSICIAN BIOGRAPHIES HERBIE MANN - FLUTE Herbie Mann expressed his love of music at an early age. Although he never found the academics of music appealing, his love of playing led him to the tenor saxophone. By the age of ▼ TTY Can’t make the concert? Job at Pitt la available on CO at The Book Contor, 4000 sth Ava. Call 648-1454 for delivery Information. ▲ AAA Explosive load trumpet for Lionel Hampton and Quincy Jones The master - the 'Little Giant* of the saxophone WALLACE Hailed by critics as the leader of the "Young Lions' MULGR ABRAHAM NATHAN 14, Mann was playing the sax at performances in the Catskills. Then, when he turned 18, he entered the Army, where he spent four years playing with the 98th Army Band. His love of music eventually led him to the instrument that he is most identified with, the flute. Mann is also well known for the musical odyssey that has taken him around the world. He has explored the music of Africa, India, Cuba, Jamaica, The Middle East, Japan, and Brazil. BENNY BAILEY - TRUMPET Benny Bailey is renowned as a lead trumpeter and soloist. He studied at the Cleveland Conservatory and later studied privately with George Russel. He eventually joined the Dizzy Gillespie Band and also worked with The Jay McShann Orchestra, and The Lionel Hempton Orchestra. Bailey is currently living in New Amsterdam, Holland, and performs as a guest soloist all over Europe and occasionally in the USA. Griffin began studying piano at the age of six and at 8 yrs old, he started guitar lessons. At 13, he studied clarinet under the direction of Captain Walter Henri Dyett, who also instructed Nat "King" Cole and many other well known jazz and classical musicians. After graduating from high school, Griffin joined the Lionel The most dynamic flute in jazz HERBI BENNY JOHNNY A powerful new force in jazz The funkiest bass player alive A proven master of the new generation T.S. Currently touring with the group 'Roots* JOHNNY GRIFFIN - TENOR SAX Seminar and 26th Annual CONCERT Hampton Orchestra, and eventually ended up playing the tenor saxophone. He has played with many groups through-out his career. THELONIOUS MONK JR. - DRUMS T.S. Monk began his musical career on the trumpet but quickly moved onto the drums. He played for four years with his father’s band, but eventually formed the group "T.S. Monk". The group recorded three albums and had a top 40 hit with their single, "Bon, Bon Vie." WALLACE RONEY - TRUMPET Wallace began playing the trumpet when he was just 5, and was studying at the age of 7. He entered the Duke Ellington School for the Arts, and eventually ended up at the Berklee School of Music in Boston. He has played with Art Blakey's "Jazz Messengers" and also with Tony Williams. He has a number of successful records that have been released. MULGREW MILLER - PIANO Miller started out playing music at church and for R&B dance bands. In the 70's he entered Memphis State University where he joined the Duke Ellington Orchestra. He later played piano for bands led by such greats as Woody Shaw, Betty Carter, Art Blakey, and Tony Williams. Miller is said to enlarge compositions with harmonic diversity and infuse them with a deep sense of swing. This style achieves such a dramatic effect, that listeners often wonder how he pulls it off. His rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic ideas have become a trademark of his music. ABRAHAM LABORIEL - BASS Abraham Laboriel has performed on more than 3,500 recordings, including work with such people as; Quincy Jones, Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson and Elton John. His first solo album "Dear Friends" reached the top five on the national NAC radio charts. NATHAN DAVIS DIRECTOR / SAXOPHONES Nathan Davis founded the annual Pitt Jazz Seminar and Concert in 1970. He also founded the International Academy of Jazz Hall of Fame in 1977 and in 1993, he created the International Jazz Archives Journal. Davis has performed throughout the world and is also a scholar, having earned his Ph.D. in ethnomusicology at Wesleyan University and his .M.E. at The University of Kansas. He has recently been touring with the musical group "Roots." His new CD "I'm a Fool To Want You" has been released, and his book "African-American Music in Society" was published two years ago. INTERESTED IN SOME GREAT JAZZ? The Collegian has a ticket for you! Name Phone _ Box Number Tickets will be drawn this afternoon. The winners will be notified by phone. UNIVERSITY* by Frank Cho oravmam.au *0 HADCT.Do (XTMfcwmn MAM. fcoTJAa HWT Her »u« AND WMN 1 RUM WTHrtc Pf 7* cjtttH IT lU. TUtN on Thursday, October 3/, 1996 The Behrend College Collegian - Page 5 The year be Live Jazz at Pitt: The 25th Anniversary Concert In the liner notes to the Live Jazz at Pitt: The 25th Anniversary Concert album, Mark A. Nordenberg, Interim Chancellor at the University of Pittsburgh, notes, “The University of Pittsburgh and the local community have relished the sounds of the Pitt Jazz Seminar and Concert for the last 25 years. It is a distinct pleasure to now be able to share this music with the rest of the world. We hope you enjoy our recording as much as we have enjoyed supporting a 25- year-old tradition of educational and musical excellence.” Recorded November 4, 1995, at the Carnegie Music Hall in Pittsburgh, PA, the Live Jazz at Pitt double album features jazz legends James Moody, Grover Washington Jr., and Nathan Davis on saxophones, Jon Faddis and Randy Brecker on trumpets, Patrice Rushen on piano, Abraham Laboriel on bass, and Idris Muhammad on drums. Though these eight jazz greats do not perform with each other regularly, one can hardly tell from the recording. The playing is concrete solid: the piano provides slinky background for the rhythm section’s tight grooves and the horn’s blasting shake-your buttocks atmosphere. No one stays in the background for long, however. Each one of the jazz musicians Vchj'KE T.o P«TOI*TE .k)oMtkl, 7»o St e, Don't DiQ P6JfeR/rrt CoYf TKiy UK CooiFipMTMD AifßoGMrr nti4, un me. umm OISoUKTokSNIW /rrmjm 4WH.WP fmwkvmmim*. MfMI <W Ok icpt T (w'T TlkllUHMt TMMk ytaJft IcFUMT ymUncllMCff Mrwt»D HM by Tim Holsopple Collegian staff Album MM IM*K A tuiAL AO •f tm A*»ii ore... injected solos of bewildering power into the performance, such as Jon Faddis’s trumpet solo in War and Peace. He wrote the piece during the intermission of the show as a tribute to Israel’s . Prime Minister Yitsak Rabin, who was assassinated earlier that day. Faddis poured all the passion he could muster into this once in-a-lifetime performance. Night in Tunisia, a song co written by Dizzy Gillespie, allowed for the ambient display of Rushen’s piano skill. Her solos proved her to be an extremely talented contemporary jazz artist who appreciates the efforts of past musicians. A Thelonius Monk original, Well You Needn't, had the musicians pumping up the jams right out of intermission. Nathan Davis arranged the horn section with perfectionist care while the rest of the ensemble produced a fluid, dynamic sound. The enlightening evening ended with the performance of another Dizzy Gillespie song, Manteca. It seems as if all the musicians put on their afterburners for this piece, because each one explodes with emotion and vigor. An appropriate climax to an evening full of inspiring moments. The Live Jazz at Pitt; The 25th Anniversary Album comes through in a big way: big sound, big talent, and big hearts. Those who performed performed for the sake of music, and their performances shall live forever on this fantastic double album.
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