Contacts:
Gloria Gottschalk, New School University
212-229-5667, ext. 239
[email protected]
Lauren Erlichman, New School University
212-229-5667, ext. 215
[email protected]
JAZZ SAXOPHONIST WAYNE SHORTER
TO BE HONORED WITH BEACONS IN JAZZ AWARD
NEW SCHOOL UNIVERSITY JAZZ PROGRAM
GALA ON TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2002 AT 6:30 PM
AT THE SUPPER CLUBs
(New York, NY – January 3, 2002) New School University's
Jazz & Contemporary Music Program will honor jazz saxophonist and three-time
Grammy Award-winner Wayne Shorter in a gala evening on Tuesday, March
12, 2002 at 6:30 PM at Manhattan's Supper Club. Paul J. Weinstein, chairperson
for the Jazz Program, will also receive a Beacons Award. For further information
on the benefit evening, call (212) 229-5896, ext. 309.
The Beacons in Jazz awards gala raises scholarship
money for students in the New School Jazz Program. The evening will begin with
a cocktail reception at 6:30 PM, followed by dinner at 7:30 PM, performances
and presentation of the awards at Manhattan's Supper Club, located at 240
W 47th Street. New School University President Bob Kerrey will offer
welcoming remarks. Honorary co-chairs for the evening are Senator and Mrs. Daniel
Patrick Moynihan.
Since 1986, New School University's Jazz & Contemporary
Music Program has recognized living jazz musicians whose extraordinary talent
has significantly contributed to the evolution of jazz with the Beacons in
Jazz award. Past recipients have included: Phil Woods, Jackie McLean, James
Moody, Cab Calloway, Milt Hinton, Dizzy Gillespie, Clark Terry, Joe Williams,
Benny Carter, Max Roach, Chico Hamilton, and George and Joyce Wein.
Beacons in Jazz recipient Wayne Shorter is
a tenor and soprano saxophonist and composer. Born in Newark, New Jersey, he
began his musical studies on the clarinet when he was 16. He received his Bachelor's
of Music Education degree from New York University in 1956. Around that time,
he performed briefly with Horace Silver. He met Joe Zawinul (who would later
co-lead Weather Report with Shorter) when he was a member of Maynard Ferguson's
band. Shorter began an association with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers from
1959 – 1964. In 1964, he joined Miles Davis' quintet and remained
with the group until 1970. In 1964, he also recorded several successful albums:
Night Dreamer, Ju Ju, and Speak No Evil. Later, in 1970, he founded
Weather Report with Joe Zawinul and played with the group until the 1980's.
He also toured and recorded with Ron Carter, Herbie Hancock, Freddie Hubbard,
and Tony Williams as the group V.S.O.P. In 1985, Shorter reduced his activities
with Weather Report and spent time on recording, touring with his new group,
and appearing in reunion concerts with many of his colleagues from the 1960's.
Shorter made his acting debut in the film "Round Midnight,"
for which he received one of his three Grammy Awards. In 1988, he let a Latin
jazz-rock group with Carlos Santana and toured with Herbie Hancock in the 1990's.
Through his solo career and his work with Weather Report, Shorter helped to
redefine the new hybrid of music that borrowed from a variety of forms, from
jazz and rock, to classical and electronic.
Shorter's recordings include: High Life (Verve, 1995), Atlantis
(Columbia, 1985), Ju Ju (Blue Note, 1964), and, with Weather Report,
Heavy Weather (Columbia, 1976) and Black Market (Columbia, 1976).
He has also performed with rock artists such as Joni Mitchell and Steely Dan.
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New School University's Jazz & Contemporary Music Program trains students for the artistic, technical and professional demands
of employment and performance in the music world. The Program grants a B.F.A.
degree in Jazz Performance and in Composition/Arranging. Students in the program
study with an internationally renowned artist faculty. The program encourages
and nurtures each student's unique talents, to help cultivate the future
generation of jazz leaders. Founded in 1986, New School University's Jazz & Contemporary Music Program has produced some of today's newest jazz
talents, including Brad Mehldau, Larry Goldings, Roy Hargrove, Peter Bernstein,
and Susie Ibarra.
New School University, with 7,000 matriculated students
and 25,000 continuing education students, is comprised of seven academic divisions:
The New School, the Graduate Faculty of Political and Social Science, Parsons
School of Design, Eugene Lang College, Mannes College of Music, the Robert J.
Milano Graduate School of Management and Urban Policy, and the Actors Studio
Drama School, as well as the University's B.F.A. in Jazz and Contemporary Music.
New School Online University offers one of the largest selections of online
courses in the nation. For further information about admission to New School
University, call 877-528-3321 or go to the Web site at www.newschool.edu