Jazz: Alive and Well at USF

Philip Booth

TAMPA, Fla. (Sept. 27, 2006) – Guest trumpeters Pat Harbison and Liesl Whitaker joined USF student and faculty groups Sept. 25 at USF Theatre 1 for the debut concert in the ninth annual Monday Night Jazz Series. The well-attended show kicked off a year of jazz performances affiliated with the School of Music in the College of Visual and Performing Arts.

The USF Jazz Ensemble 1, directed by Tom Brantley, opened the 90-minute show with arranger Joseph Henson’s inventive arrangement of Thelonious Monk’s “Four in One.” The piece, boasting a saxophone-section feature, was one of several tunes highlighting the improvisations of Harbison, an Indiana University jazz studies professor www.patharbison.com and long-running faculty member of the famed Jamey Aebersold Jazz Workshops.

The 18-piece band also offered several other familiarities, including the standards “All the Things You Are” and “Stardust,” the latter featuring Whitaker, lead trumpeter for the U.S. Army Blues Jazz Ensemble http://www.usarmyband.com/blues/the_us_army_blues.html and a founding member of all-female big band Diva.

The USF Jazz Ensemble 1 and the guest trumpeters returned later for Johnny Mercer’s “I Thought About You,” Matt Holman’s ballad “Sergeant Kelso” and Scott Whitfield’s “Swing That Music,” a raucous, brass-heavy piece that began with Louis Armstrong’s “West End Blues.”

A hard-swinging take on Charlie Parker’s bebop gem “Confirmation” and a free-spirited version of John Coltrane’s classic ballad “Naima” were on the bill for a brief set by USF jazz faculty members. Harbison sat in with the group, which included Brantley; saxophonist Jack Wilkins, director of jazz studies; guitarist LaRue Nickelson, pianist Per Daniellson; bassist Mark Neuenschwander; and drummer Steve Davis.

Bebop, post-bop, swing and other styles of jazz are alive and well at USF, host to two major concert series, an international arranging competition and numerous student performances through next spring.

"Between the Monday Night Jazz Series and the Jazz Masterworks Series, we’re bringing more world-class jazz artists to the Tampa Bay area than anyone else,” said Wilkins. “We’re one of the area’s leading jazz presenters.”

The ninth annual Monday Night Jazz Series continues Oct. 30 with pianist and jazz educator Phil DeGreg joining the USF Jazz Faculty Group at the Music Recital Hall, and Nov. 27 with veteran big-band trumpeter Vincent DiMartino backed by the USF Jazz Ensemble 1 at Theatre 1.

Student jazz groups will be featured during several concerts this fall, including: • Oct. 2 – USF Jazz Ensemble 1 and USF Jazz Ensemble 2, Theatre 1, 8 p.m.; $6 adults, $3, students and seniors • Oct. 12 – USF Jazztet (combo), Music Recital Hall, 8 p.m.; $6, adults; $3, students and seniors • Oct. 27 – USF Jazz Chamber Ensemble (combo), Music Recital Hall, 12:30 p.m.; free • Dec. 5 – USF Jazz Ensemble 2, Theatre 2, 8 p.m.; $6, adults; $3, students and seniors

The second full season of the Jazz Masterworks Series, featuring the Jazz Surge, the resident jazz orchestra of the Center for Jazz Composition, opens Oct. 22 and 23 with “Together at Last: The Music of Steely Dan and Astor Piazzola.” Acclaimed tenor saxophonist Walt Weiskopf, a member of Steely Dan’s touring lineup since 2003, and accomplished keyboardist Gary Versace (on accordion) will join the Jazz Surge for pieces arranged by Fred Sturm.

Chuck Owen, artistic director of the Center for Jazz Composition, a longtime USF jazz studies professor and the new president of the International Association for Jazz Education, will direct the Jazz Surge for both performances – Oct. 22 at 2:45 at the free-admission Clearwater Jazz Holiday and Oct. 23 at 7:30 p.m. at the new Center for the Arts in Wesley Chapel.

The Jazz Masterworks Series, with the Jazz Surge and various guest artists, continues through April at various venues (including USF Theatre 1, Tampa Theatre, Palladium Theater and Rollins College):

• Nov. 13-14 – “Happy 50th!”; classic jazz works with trumpeter Clay Jenkins, who has worked with the Clayton-Hamilton Orchestra, Diana Krall and Dr. John; and St. Louis pianist Reggie Thomas, a Duke Ellington expert and frequent collaborator with Jazz at Lincoln Center. Thomas has played or recorded with Jenkins, Clark Terry, Nicholas Payton, Slide Hampton and others. • Feb. 10-12 – “Old School/New Lessons”; the music of Bob Mintzer, featuring the Yellowjackets tenor saxophonist and his piano-playing bandmate Russell Ferrante. • April 21-23 – “A Tribute to Michael Brecker”’; music written by and associated with the ailing saxophone master, featuring special guests to be announced. The first International Jazz Arranging Competition, to be held in connection with the Brecker concert, offers $3,500 in cash prizes to composers competing in the “open” and “young artist” categories. Winning selections will be debuted by the Jazz Surge at the April concerts.

Approximately 30 undergraduate and graduate students are enrolled in the jazz studies program at USF. Twice that many students participate in the School of Music’s jazz groups, including two jazz ensembles (big bands) and six jazz chamber ensembles (combos). The Jazztet, the top jazz chamber ensemble, in recent years has traveled to Europe to perform at the invitation of the North Sea Jazz Festival in Holland, the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, the Umbria Jazz Festival in Italy, Jazz a Vienne in France and other major jazz festivals.

For more information about the Monday Night Jazz Series, or to purchase tickets, contact the arts box office at (813) 974-2323 or go to http://www.arts.usf.edu

For more information about the Jazz Masterworks Series and the International Jazz Arranging Competition, go to http://centerforjazzcomparts.usf.edu The University of South Florida is one of the nation’s top 63 public research universities as designated by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. USF received more than $310 million in research contracts and grants last year, and it is ranked by the National Science Foundation as one of two of the nation’s fastest growing universities in terms of federal research and development expenditures. The university has a $1.6 billion annual budget and serves 44,038 students on campuses in Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota/Manatee and Lakeland. USF is a member of the Big East Athletic Conference.

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