Expanding the jazz footprint, on campus and beyond

• Link to: Northwestern Now Story

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Starting this fall, jazz music fans will have more than twice the number of opportunities to enjoy performances on Northwestern University’s Evanston campus as the Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Music increases its jazz concert offerings from three per academic quarter to seven.

Ensembles in the jazz studies program will present music by legendary artists such as Dexter Gordon and Louis Armstrong; lesser-known but highly influential artists including Kenny Dorham and Mary Lou Williams; and original compositions and arrangements by Bienen jazz studies students.

“Our expanded jazz offerings will further extend the jazz footprint here at Northwestern University and in Evanston as a whole,” says Derrick Gardner, the Bienen School’s interim director of jazz studies.

Beginning this fall, the Northwestern University Jazz Orchestra will give two concerts per quarter; the Jazz Small Ensembles will give four concerts per quarter; and the new Northwestern University Jazz Ensemble will give one concert per quarter.

“Our newly formed Northwestern University Jazz Ensemble offers invaluable experiences and opportunities for undergraduate jazz majors, non-jazz majors and non-music majors to continue sharpening their skills,” Gardner said. “Audiences can expect a very high level of musicianship and a very entertaining concert experience.”

Tickets can be purchased online at concertsatbienen.org, by phone at 847-467-4000 or by visiting the Bienen School Ticket Office at 50 Arts Circle Drive.

All performances will also be live streamed. Visit music.northwestern.edu/live for details, or click the “View Live Stream” button on each event page.

Performances are as follows:

Jazz Small Ensembles: The Music of Kenny Dorham and Sonny Rollins

7:30 p.m., Monday, Oct. 9
McClintock Choral and Recital Room, 70 Arts Circle Drive
Tickets are $6 or $4 for full-time students with valid ID

The Derrick Gardner and Kevin Fort ensembles celebrate the music of two jazz masters. Trumpeter, singer and composer McKinley Howard “Kenny” Dorham played in the big bands of Lionel Hampton, Billy Eckstein, Dizzy Gillespie and Mercer Ellington, as well as in Charlie Parker’s quintet, and was a charter member of the original Jazz Messengers. He recorded as a sideman with Sonny Rollins, the virtuosic tenor saxophonist whose seven-decade career has included over 60 recorded albums as a bandleader and collaborations with the likes of Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk and Max Roach.

Jazz Small Ensembles: The Music of Mary Lou Williams and Tadd Dameron

7:30 p.m., Monday, Oct. 16
McClintock Choral and Recital Room, 70 Arts Circle Drive
Tickets are $6 or $4 for full-time students with valid ID

The Joe Clark and Darius Hampton ensembles perform selections by two influential artists and friends. Jazz pianist Mary Lou Williams made over a hundred recordings and created hundreds of compositions and arrangements, including music for Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman. Williams was a friend, mentor and teacher to multiple jazz greats, including Tadd Dameron. Dameron led the genre’s transition from swing to bebop, writing for Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie and Sarah Vaughan and teaming up with Miles Davis, Fats Navarro and John Coltrane.

Northwestern University Jazz Orchestra: The Music of Dexter Gordon

7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 17
Galvin Recital Hall, 70 Arts Circle Drive
Tickets are $8 or $5 for full-time students with valid ID

Tenor saxophonist, composer and bandleader Dexter Gordon was among the most influential of the early bebop musicians, with a studio and performance career spanning more than 40 years. He honed a distinctive sound characterized by a spacious feel, behind-the-beat improvisations and a signature use of quotations from well-known melodies. Led by Derrick Gardner, the Jazz Orchestra shares a selection of Gordon’s groundbreaking compositions.

Northwestern University Jazz Ensemble: The Legacy of Louis Armstrong

7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 31
Galvin Recital Hall, 70 Arts Circle Drive
Tickets are $8 or $5 for full-time students with valid ID

All of the elements of jazz predated Louis Armstrong, but he blended them in a way that would change music forever. His virtuosity as a trumpet soloist inspired instrumentalists to imitate him, establishing the improvised solo as a centerpiece of jazz. Though his unique, gravelly voice was far from the accepted ideal, jazz singers imitated his phrasing and styling. “Ain’t Misbehavin,’” “What a Wonderful World” and “Hello, Dolly!” are among the multitude of tunes for which his is the definitive version, and he collaborated with such giants as Duke Ellington, Fletcher Henderson, Oscar Peterson and Earl Hines. Darius Hampton leads the Northwestern University Jazz Ensemble in its performance debut, celebrating Armstrong’s legacy.

Jazz Small Ensembles: Composition 1501— Student Originals

7:30 p.m., Monday, Nov. 6
McClintock Choral and Recital Room, 70 Arts Circle Drive
Tickets are $6 or $4 for full-time students with valid ID

This program showcases the creativity of jazz students in the Joe Clark and Darius Hampton ensembles.

Jazz Small Ensembles: Composition 1501 — Student Originals

7:30 p.m., Monday, Nov. 13
McClintock Choral and Recital Room, 70 Arts Circle Drive
Tickets are $6 or $4 for full-time students with valid ID

Jazz students in the Derrick Gardner and Kevin Fort ensembles present a concert of new compositions.

Northwestern University Jazz Orchestra: The Neo-Bop Era and the Young Lions Movement —“What’s Old Is New Again”

7:30 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 30
Galvin Recital Hall, 70 Arts Circle Drive
Tickets are $8 or $5 for full-time students with valid ID

At the close of the 1970s, the conversation around the future of jazz was contentious. Miles Davis had gone electric, Herbie Hancock was embracing early hip-hop, jazz fusion was incorporating rock elements and the genre as a whole was branching away from tradition. In the 1980s, a talented group of young musicians signaled a return to jazz’s foundations, playing bebop, classic swing and music from the Great American Songbook. These “Young Lions” — including such artists as Wynton Marsalis, Terence Blanchard, Donald Harrison, Kevin Eubanks and Wallace Roney — advocated elevating jazz to fine-art status, paving the way for the Jazz at Lincoln Center program. Derrick Gardner leads the Jazz Orchestra in selections from the artists whose work heralded this new direction.