UIC Musicians' Time at Chicago Festival
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SEPTEMBER 3, 2014 I UIC NEWS I uicnews.uic.edu September 3 2014 VOLUME 34 / NUMBER 2 For the community of the University of Illinois at Chicago uicnews.uic.edu 2 ANDY BAKER DOESN’T HAVE TO GIVE UP HIS DAY JOB 3 FALCONS FLY AWAY, BUT EXPECT THEM BACK NEXT YEAR JAZZ 11 STAGE FOURTEEN (COUNT THEM!) TIPS FOR UIC musicians’ time COLLEGE LIFE at Chicago festival 12 more on page 2 UIC BASEBALL GOES TO BAT FOR LITTLE LEAGUE CHAMPS INSIDE: CAMPUS NEWS 4 CALENDAR 8 PEOPLE 9 POLICE / DEATHS 10 STUDENT VOICE 11 SPORTS 12 facebook.com/uicnews twitter.com/uicnews youtube.com/uicmedia — Photo: Roberta Dupuis-Devlin 2 uicnews.uic.edu I UIC NEWS I SEPTEMBER 3, 2014 send profile ideas to Gary Wisby, [email protected] PROFILE ANDY ton, Count Basie, Miles Davis, John Col- trane, Dizzy Gillespie and Charles Mingus. BAKER He became a musician at age 11. “My UIC’s top jazz man dad plays the trombone, and I also stud- ied the piano. My grandmother was a By Gary Wisby — [email protected] pianist and piano teacher.” Baker, who keeps a keyboard in his office, added, “You’ve got to make friends with the piano to be a jazz artist, figure Andy Baker is UIC’s jazz man numero things out.” uno. He grew up in London and earned a Baker, a trombonist, is director of jazz bachelor’s degree in classical perfor- studies and the 17-member UIC Jazz mance at the Guildhall School of Music Ensemble, which played the Chicago Jazz there. After coming to the U.S. in 2001, Festival Sunday. he earned a master’s in jazz composition The group performed to a full house in at DePaul University. the Young Lions tent, giving a polished He joined UIC in 2012; other teach- rendition of the eight-movement “Sweet ing gigs include Elmhurst College and Time Suite” by composer Kenny Wheeler. Northwestern University. Shaun Johnson, a May 2014 grad, soloed Baker lives in Oak Park with his wife, on flugelhorn with vocalist Cheryl Wil- Krissy, a speech and language pathologist son. at a senior nursing facility on the West “This was a tremendous opportunity Side. They have two children, Charlie, 9, for the band and a great learning experi- and Alida, 3. ence,” Baker said after the performance. He has music to thank for bringing “It seemed like it went over very well in- him and his wife together. They met in deed.” Andy Baker, director of jazz studies, directs the UIC Jazz Ensemble at the 1999 when he was touring with an En- The piece appears on the group’s sec- Chicago Jazz Festival Sunday. — Photo: Roberta Dupuis-Devlin glish band, the Ray Gelato Giants. ond CD, titled “Walkin’ About,” available for sale in the UIC Bookstore. This summer Baker led a two-week Setting up a band and keeping it jazz camp on campus. going is “a time and money pit,” he said. “It’s the offshoot of what used to be the “When I told my wife I was putting to- Chicago Jazz Philharmonic/UIC Jazz gether a big band, it was the one time she Academy, which was here for five sum- ever rolled her eyes at me.” mers,” Baker said. Baker has been a sideman for Frank The main change is that the new pro- Sinatra Jr., Chaka Khan, Aretha Franklin gram is for high school kids, while the and Van Morrison. old one also included elementary school He played in the pit for the musical students. “Motown,” which ran at the Oriental The- “It’s as if they’re spending a couple of ater eight times a week from April 22 to weeks in college as jazz majors,” he said. Aug. 10. “There’s about 20, with groups of five or And he can be heard with the Bakerz- six for small-group performances.” Million Sextet, which he formed with As a performer, Baker was lead trom- pianist Steve Million. bone in the Chicago Jazz Ensemble, “We used to live four blocks apart, and which dissolved in 2012 owing to fund- we kept running into each other,” Baker ing problems. He played in the Rob Par- said. “We decided we should play togeth- ton Big Band, which came to an end er, then we formed the sextet.” That was when Parton moved to Ohio. in 2005. “Both were really fine bands, and those UIC faculty member and sax player two bands ceasing to exist left a hole in Jim Gailloreto is also a band member. the creative landscape,” Baker said. The group released “Mood Point” in So, with saxophonist Ken Partyka, he 2012, and this fall will release “Live at formed the New Standard Jazz Orchestra, Andy’s,” recorded at the jazz club and which played its first gig in early June. restaurant at 11 E. Hubbard St. The band, which Baker said is “great and Besides directing the student jazz going to continue to be great,” performs group, Baker teaches jazz history. monthly at the Jazz Showcase in Chicago. “I start by talking about the conditions “It takes a lot of time to get 16 of the in place for jazz to come into being in the best guys in the city together,” he said. late part of the 19th century,” he said. “It’s intentional that it not be called the “The blues and ragtime and other condi- Andy Baker Big Band because I wanted tions around New Orleans enabled jazz to headline all the great soloists, compos- to be born there.” ers and arrangers. Baker says cornetist Buddy Bolden is “It’s not about me, although we per- generally recognized as the first jazz mu- form some of my tunes. All the music in sician. Other jazz greats he talks about the band is written by people in the band.” include Louis Armstrong, Duke Elling- SEPTEMBER 3, 2014 I UIC NEWS I uicnews.uic.edu 3 Administrators pledge more communication after UIC Senate ‘no confidence’ vote By Sonya Booth — [email protected] After several hours of discussion Thursday, the UIC Senate voted 44-9 in favor of a resolution of no confidence in the leadership of Chancellor Paula Allen- Meares. After the vote, Allen-Meares and University of Illinois President Robert Easter affirmed their com- mitment to shared governance and pledged greater communication with faculty. “Although I am disappointed by the senate resolu- tion, I have full confidence in the UIC faculty and It’s dinner time as Nitz and Mouse, the most recent peregrine falcons to raise a family on a 28th-floor ledge respect the concerns its members may express,” Al- of University Hall, feed their three fledglings in mid-June. —Photo: S.K. Vemmer len-Meares said in an official email Friday. “During the completion of my term as chancellor, I will remain committed to the principles of shared governance and to communicating with and consult- ing the appropriate representatives of the campus Young peregrines take flight, community.” In a separate official email Friday, Easter said, “In light of concerns that have been raised, I will be per- but look for parents next year sonally engaged with the UIC Senate, along with my traditional consultation with the University Senates By Sharon Parmet — [email protected] Conference, and will ask for the opportunity to meet regularly with the campus senate’s executive commit- tee.” It’s nearly the end of summer and the three UIC per- Where this year’s three young birds will go over the The special senate meeting was called in response egrine chicks, now fully-feathered juvenile falcons, have winter is anybody’s guess. Falcons don’t start breeding to recent changes in top campus administration that fledged. The nest on the 28th-floor ledge of University until they are about 2 years old. To breed, they must estab- faculty said were made without their input. Hall stands empty. lish their own territories. They may settle in areas of Chi- “Shared governance requires both appropriate con- The city has plenty of food for the falcons to eat over cago that don’t have resident breeding pairs, or they may sultation before important decisions are made and the winter, but without a family to raise, peregrine par- disperse to areas outside the city. Falcons born on Univer- prompt and informative communication regarding ents Nitz and Mouse have the freedom to go where they sity Hall have been spotted as far away as New York and those decisions,” the resolution read. want. They may stick around in Chicago or travel far Ecuador and as close as Montrose Harbor. “These actions have caused serious damage to the from the city. But nesting site fidelity is strong — the Until next spring, keep an eye out for peregrines in the campus community’s trust in the administration’s pair will most likely reunite next spring to raise their city and on campus. Watch high ledges and balcony rail- commitment to shared governance.” third brood on University Hall. ings for the silhouette of a falcon perched, watching the Faculty expressed concerns about leadership Rosie, who nested on the building from 1999 to 2013, skies for prey. changes made while searches are under way for both until Nitz and Mouse pushed her out and took over the chancellor and university president. Allen-Meares’ nesting site, was last seen in May on UIC’s east campus. contract ends Jan. 15. She raised 32 chicks on University Hall over the years. UIC’s peregrine falcon saga Last month, separate official emails announced Now in her golden years at an estimated 17 years old, youtube.com/uicmedia that Lon Kaufman, vice chancellor for academic af- she is near the end of the typical lifespan for falcons in fairs and provost, and Bette Bottoms, vice provost for the wild.