(New York, NY -February 7, 2005) New School University’s Jazz & Contemporary Music Program announces the spring 2005Jazz Presentsseries. The series showcases the Jazz Program’s stellar faculty while introducing audiences to the rising stars of jazz - students who currently study in the Jazz Program or recent alumni. Playing alongside these exciting artists are guest-performers invited by the faculty to complement the evening’s ensemble.
The spring 2005Jazz Presentsseries includes concerts with the Gerry Hemingway Quartet on Thursday, February 24, 2005 at 8:00 p.m., Amy London and Bob Dorough Sing the Bob Dorough Songbook on Wednesday, March 16, 2005 at 8:00 p.m., Abdou Mboup & Waakaw on Wednesday, April 6, 2005 at 8:00 p.m., and the Rory Stuart Quintet and Friends on Thursday, April 21, 2005 at 8:00 p.m. All concerts take place at New School University’s Jazz Performance Space, 55 West 13th Street, 5th Floor. (By subway: Take the #1 or “F”train to 14th Street.)
Tickets are $10 per show or $30 for the four concert series and may be purchased at the New School Box Office at 66 West 12th Street, NYC or at the door on the day of the show. (Box office hours are Monday through Thursday, 1:00 - 8:00 p.m., Friday, 1:00 - 7:00 p.m.) Tickets may also be charged by call (212) 229-5488. Admission to any “Jazz Presents” performance is free for college students with valid ID, children and young adults, grades K-12.
Thursday, February 24, 2005, 8:00 p.m.
Gerry Hemingway Quartet
(Ray Anderson, trombone, Ellery Eskelin, tenor, Mark Helias, bass/electric bass, Gerry Hemingway, drums, with guest artist Ben Greenberg, electric guitar)
Composer and percussionist Gerry Hemingway has been at the forefront of creative improvised music for over two decades. Since 1997, he has developed and led his own quartet with outstanding international acclaim. His quartet’s third recording, The Whimbler, is to be released this spring. Hemingway has been a member of the Anthony Braxton quartet from 1983 - 1994 and has worked extensively with Reggie Workman and Anthony Braxton, among many others.
Wednesday, March 16, 2005, 8:00 p.m.
Amy London and Bob Dorough
Sing the Bob Dorough Songbook (Amy London, voice), Bob Dorough (voice and piano), Roni Ben-Hur (guitar), Reneé Cruz (bass), Vanessa Cruz (bass)
New School Jazz Program faculty member, Amy London, has appeared at top venues in New York City and on the Broadway stage. She’s featured on recordings by such jazz luminaries as Sir Roland Hanna and Barry Harris, and was an original cast member of the Tony award-winning musical, City of Angels. On this rare evening, London brings one of her greatest musical influences to the stage, legendary singer/songwriter Bob Dorough. Best known for his breakthrough recording, Devil May Care, and his many years of writing and directing School House Rock, Dorough’s songs are adventurous and timeless. With guitarist Roni Ben-Hur and the New School Jazz Program’s talented Cruz sisters, the concert features Dorough’s original works.
Wednesday, April 6, 2005, 8:00 p.m.
Abdou Mboup & Waakaw
Abdou Mboup (percussion, Kora and voice), Miho Nobuzane (piano), Kenny Davis (bass), Craig Rivers (sax), Charles Hopkins (drums), Nassim Zerriffi (percussion), Devlin Goldberg (percussion)
Born in Senegal, composer and multi-instrumentalist, Abdou Mboup, learned traditional African drumming from a family of musicians and oral historians, and has since developed an individual style that builds on this tradition. In the 1970s, he became a key figure in Senegalese music, and toured with Hugh Masekala. He has collaborated with such jazz artists as Randy Weston, Joe Zawinul, Pharoah Sanders, Kenny Barron, Craig Harris, and Nina Simone.
His inventiveness in mixing the colors and rhythms of African traditional music with modern practices reaches new levels with his band, Waakaw - meaning “country boys” in his native Wolof. The musicians in Waakaw, joined by students in his African Drumming Ensemble at the New School’s Jazz Program, will present original compositions that reveal the energy behind his blend of tradition and innovation.
Thursday, April 21, 2005, 8:00 p.m.
Rory Stuart Quintet and Friends
Rory Stuart (guitar), John Ellis (sax and bass clarinet), Robert Glasper (piano), Matt Penman (bass), Dafnis Prieto (drums), Becca Stevens (voice), Jean Rohe (voice)
Rory Stuart is an energetic and innovative guitarist and composer with a mature style. Born in Brooklyn, he took an early interest in jazz and was exposed to musicians like Rahsaan Roland Kirk and Jaki Byard. His quartet recording, Hurricane, was hailed as “one of the most exciting and adventurous albums in recent memory” by Guitar Player. It was recently reissued on Sunnyside Records.
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New School University's Jazz & Contemporary Music Program offers a B.F.A. degree program in Jazz Performance, and in Composing/Arranging. The faculty includes such renowned artists as Reggie Workman, Chico Hamilton, Buster Williams, Jimmy Owens, Benny Powell, Joanne Brackeen, and Jane Ira Bloom. Alumni of the program include many of today's most prominent jazz artists - Larry Goldings, Brad Mehldau, Roy Hargrove, Miri Ben-Ari, Peter Bernstein, Ali M. Jackson, and Marcus and E.J. Strickland. Martin Mueller is the Executive Director of the Jazz Program. For more information, visit the Web site at www.newschool.edu/jazz.