Jazz Ensembles
The 2009 spring semester will feature several performances by the Sacramento State Jazz Ensembles, Jazz Combos and Vocal Jazz Ensembles, along with two renowned guest artists.
The Sacramento State Jazz Ensembles I & II will be joined by a guest band from Woodland High School on Thursday, March 5 at 7:00pm in the Music Recital Hall. Admission is $8 general, and $5 for students and seniors
As part of the annual Festival of the Arts, on Thursday, March 19 the Sacramento State Jazz Ensemble and guest artist Terell Stafford on Trumpet will perform at 8:00pm in the Music Recital Hall. Admission to this concert is $10 general and $8 for students and seniors. Stafford has been hailed as "one of the great players of our time, a fabulous trumpet player" by piano legend McCoy Tyner. Since the mid-1990's Stafford has performed with groups such as Benny Golson's Sextet, McCoy Tyner's Sextet, the Kenny Barron Sextet, the Frank Wess Quintet, the Jimmy Heath Big Band, and the Jon Faddis Orchestra. Currently he is a member of the Grammy-nominated Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, which was established by Thad Jones and Mel Lewis and has been playing at the Village Vanguard for over 33 years. An educator as well as a performer, Stafford currently holds the positions of Professor of Music and Director of Jazz Studies at Temple University in Philadelphia and is a clinician for the prestigious Vail Foundation in Colorado and Jazz at Lincoln Center's Essentially Ellington Program. He has also served as a member of the faculty for the Juilliard Institute for Jazz Studies in New York. Stafford was born in Miami and raised in Chicago and Silver Spring, Maryland. He received a Bachelor of Science in Music Education from the University of Maryland in 1988 and a Masters of Music from Rutgers University in 1993.
On Tuesday, April 7, guest saxophonist Dave Pietro will join our student Jazz Combos in a recital at 7:00pm in the Music Recital Hall. Admission for this concert is $10 general and $8 for students and seniors. A native of Southboro, Massachusetts, Dave Pietro has been on the New York jazz scene since 1987. His talents as a gifted saxophonist, composer, and educator have made him an in-demand musician leading to performances at jazz clubs, jazz festivals, schools and concert halls in more than 30 countries throughout Asia, Australia, Europe, North and South America.
On Tuesday, May 5, we present a first at Sacramento State - a performance dedicated to student jazz compositions and arrangements performed by the Jazz Ensembles and Jazz Singers. The concert will take place at 8:00pm in the Music Recital Hall. Admission is $8 general and $5 for students and seniors.
Sac State's award-winning Vocal Jazz Ensembles will be performing on Friday, May 15 at 7:00pm in the Music Recital Hall. Admission is $8 general and $5 for students and seniors. C-Sus was awarded a Down Beat Student Music Award for Outstanding Performance in 2005. In 2006, C-Sus and the Jazz Singers (pictured at right) were co-winners of the DB award for Best Collegiate Vocal Jazz Group in the USA and Canada. C-Sus was also the collegiate vocal jazz division winner of the Reno Jazz Festival in both 2005 and 2008. Together with Vox2, all three will be performing under the leadership of Kerry Marsh.
In addition to the above concerts, a jazz festival and jazz camp are currently on the books for 2009 - the Traditional Jazz Festival on Saturday, February 7, co-sponsored by the Sacramento Traditional Jazz Society, and the Summer Jazz Camp from July 5-10, featuring the Jim Widner Big Band. For more information on these as well as many other jazz programs and events, please visit the Jazz Studies website.
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