January 23, 2015
JUILLIARD JAZZ PRESENTS
“1959 – 1969, ACOUSTIC TO ELECTRIC: THE VISIONARY GENIUS OF MILES DAVIS”
FEATURING THE JUILLIARD JAZZ ARTIST DIPLOMA ENSEMBLE
Ron Carter is Guest Coach
Ensemble Coaches are Kenny Barron, Rodney Jones, and Wynton Marsalis
Tuesday, February 3, 2015, at 8 p.m. in Juilliard’s Paul Hall
NEW YORK, NY –– Juilliard Jazz presents “1959 – 1969, Acoustic to Electric: The Visionary Genius of Miles Davis” featuring the Juilliard Jazz Artist Diploma Ensemble, the most advanced Juilliard Jazz musicians, on Tuesday, February 3, 2015 at 8 p.m. in Paul Hall at Juilliard (155 West 65th Street). Juilliard faculty member, bassist Ron Carter, is guest coach. Ensemble coaches are Kenny Barron, Rodney Jones, and Wynton Marsalis. The Juilliard Jazz Artist Diploma Ensemble will perform music from two of Juilliard alumnus Miles Davis’s albums: Kind of Blue and Filles de Kilimanjaro. Free tickets are available at events.juilliard.edu.
Members of the Juilliard Jazz Artist Diploma Ensemble are: Lukas Gabric, saxophone; Gregg Duncan, guitar; Reuben Allen, piano; Paolo Benedettini, bass; Daniel Chmielinski, electric bass; and Jordan Young, drums. They will perform Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue: So What (arr. Paolo Benedettini); Freddie Freeloader (arr. Lukas Gabric); Blue in Green (arr. Jordan Young); All Blues (arr. Paolo Benedettini); and Flamenco Sketches (arr. Reuben Allen); and Miles Davis’s Filles de Kilimanjaro: Frelon Brun (arr. Reuben Allen); Tout de Suite (arr. Greg Duncan); Petits Machins (arr. Greg Duncan); Filles de Kilimanjaro (arr. Lukas Gabric); and Mademoiselle Mabry (arr. Jordan Young).
About the Program:
On planning the program dedicated to Miles Davis, Juilliard Jazz Acting Chair and Associate Director, Aaron Flagg, remarked: “Trumpeter and composer Miles Davis had a very active and rich creative intelligence. His playing possessed the emotional depth of the best blues singers, the melodic inventiveness of a Tin Pan Alley tunesmith and the unerring rhythmic drive that is the hallmark of great Jazz. Mentored by geniuses Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, he created a uniquely diverse and definitive body of work in Jazz and eventually dedicated the skills he developed as a Jazz musician to create hybrid forms with rock, pop and funk. His Jazz work ranged from Bebop to Cool to Modern Modal to a 1960’s style that, though distinctive, has never been given a name. The seminal albums explored in this concert include the most popular jazz record of all time (Kind of Blue) and the album that signals the end of Miles’s Jazz work and the beginning of his work in more popular idioms. (Filles de Kilimanjaro). Juilliard Jazz students in the Artist Diploma program are fortunate to be guided in their study of this particular ten year period by guest coach and faculty member Ron Carter who recorded with Miles Davis for six years, recording 13 albums including Filles de Kilimanjaro.”
Meet the Juilliard Jazz Artist Diploma Ensemble
Reuben Allen is a pianist, composer, and music educator from Chicago. He has performed at major venues including the Rochester International Jazz Festival, Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, and the Blue Note in New York, and has been honored to share the stage with Jimmy Heath, Bob Brookmeyer, Peter Erskine, Steve Nelson, and Bernard Purdie. An award-winning composer and arranger, Mr. Allen’s work ranges from compositions and arrangements for jazz ensembles to music for film and orchestrations of classical repertoire for chamber groups. His bachelor and master degrees in jazz performance and composition are from the Eastman School of Music. He is currently pursuing the Artist Diploma in Jazz Studies at Juilliard, where he is the pianist in the Artist Diploma Jazz Ensemble. He is grateful to have studied with a number of mentors, including Harold Danko, Bill Dobbins, and Frank Kimbrough.
Paolo Benedettini was born in Pisa, Italy in 1977 and began playing the guitar at age 11, and at age 19, switched to bass. He has attended seminars held by Furio Di Castri, Buster Williams, Barry Harris, Keter Betts, Wayne Dockery, and studied privately with Ron Carter in New York. He has performed with such artists as Jimmy Cobb, Curtis Fuller, Benny Golson, Eddie Henderson, George Cable, Eliot Zigmund, Keith Copeland, Jack Walrath, Steve Gut, Scott Hamilton, Bud Shank, Steve Grossman, Ronnie Mathews, Lee Konitz, Benny Golson, Jimmy Lovelace, Gianni Basso, Jim Rotondi, and Tom Kirkpatrick. He was part of drummer Bobby Durham’s trio and has accompanied soloists such as Archie Shepp, Hal Singer, Grant Stewart, Shawnn Monteiro, Irio De Paula, David Liebman Quartet with which he recorded two albums for Emarcy-Verve, and the Smell Quintet of Gianni Cazzola. Since 2009, he has been part of the Nicola Conte Jazz Combo. He has played in the most important Italian and European jazz clubs and festivals and has performed several times in Japan, the United States, Dubai, Hong Kong, and Macau.
Gregg Duncan brings to the stage a jazz guitar style founded in a rich musical tradition. Beginning musical studies on classical piano at age six, he turned to guitar at the age of 11. After high school, Mr. Duncan attended the New England Conservatory (NEC) in Boston where he earned his bachelor of music in jazz studies. There he had the privilege of studying with such notables as Jerry Bergonzi, Bob Brookmeyer, George Garzone, and Ben Monder. Since graduating from NEC, Mr. Duncan has performed at concert venues, festivals, and clubs throughout the world and has been featured on NPR. Mr. Duncan was a finalist in the 2009 Gibson Montreux Jazz Guitar Competition held in Switzerland at the Montreux Jazz Festival. For the past several years, Mr. Duncan has performed weekly at the historic Boston club, Wally’s Jazz Café, with trumpeter Jason Palmer and has recorded two albums with Palmer on the SteepleChase label. Other recording projects include Michael Thomas’ album, The Long Way, Matt and Luke Marantz’s Primary Colors, Alex Lopez’s We Can Take This Boat, and David Neves’s Progress Report.
Lukas Gabric started his musical training at the age of ten. Soon after, he was admitted to the conservatory of his native Austrian province Carinthia. Mr. Gabric’s playing is deeply informed by a passion for the jazz tradition and its various exponents. After high school, he earned his B.F.A. at the New School University where he received scholarships for academic and artistic excellence, and received his M.A. from City College of New York where he also teaches as an adjunct lecturer and ensemble coach. At these universities, he had the opportunity to learn from true masters of the jazz idiom, such as John Patitucci, Reggie Workman, Chico Hamilton, Eric Alexander, Steve Wilson, and others. In addition to being a new member of the highly selective Juilliard Jazz Artist Diploma Ensemble, Mr. Gabric was chosen to be a member of the European Generations Unit at the biannual festival in Frauenfeld/Switzerland by a panel that was comprised of Louis Hayes, Peter Washington, and David Hazeltine. Mr. Gabric received several grants and scholarships from Austria. In 2005, he won the Carinthian Award for Culture, which enabled him to produce his first album at the age of 16. Recently, he was selected to compete as a semi-finalist in the prestigious Thelonious Monk Competition in Washington, D.C. Mr. Gabric has performed at numerous festivals and clubs in the United States and in Europe.
Jordan Young has been making a name for himself in the last ten years as one of the premier jazz drummers in New York City. He has performed and recorded as sideman for many top jazz artists, such as Javon Jackson, Steve Wilson, Steve Nelson, and Peter Bernstein, to name a few. Mr. Young has recorded two albums as a leader. His debut recording, The Jordan Young Group, was self-released in 2010, and Cymbal Melodies was released on the Posi-Tone label in 2013. Currently Mr. Young leads a successful organ trio that has toured internationally and performs in and around the New York City area. The trio is inspired by all the great classic organ groups from the 1960s and 1970s; artists such as Big John Patton, Jimmy Smith, Jack McDuff, Larry Young, and Melvin Rhyne, to name a few, all play an important role in the development of the trio’s sound. While rooted in bebop and soul jazz tradition, the trio comes together to create a hard swinging, creative, and always forward-thinking music.
About Ron Carter
Ron Carter is among the most original, prolific, and influential bassists in jazz. With more than 2,000 albums to his credit, he has recorded with many of music’s greats, including Tommy Flanagan, Gil Evans, Lena Horne, Bill Evans, B.B. King, the Kronos Quartet, Coleman Hawkins, Dexter Gordon,
Wes Montgomery, Jim Hall, Oliver Nelson, and Bobby Timmons. In the early 1960s he performed throughout the United States in concert halls and nightclubs with Jaki Byard and Eric Dolphy.
Mr. Carter later toured Europe with Cannonball Adderley. From 1963 to 1968, he was a member of the classic and acclaimed Miles Davis Quintet. He was named Outstanding Bassist of the Decade by the Detroit News, Jazz Bassist of the Year by Down Beat magazine, and Most Valuable Player by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Mr. Carter earned a Grammy award for Best Jazz Instrumental Group with the Miles Davis Tribute Band in 1993, and another Grammy in 1998 for “Call Sheet Blues,” an instrumental composition from the film ‘Round Midnight.
In addition to scoring and arranging music for many films, including some projects for the Public Broadcasting System, Mr. Carter has composed music for A Gathering of Old Men, starring Lou Gosset Jr., The Passion of Beatrice directed by Bertrand Tavernier, and Blind Faith starring Courtney B. Vance. Ron Carter shares his expertise in the series of books he authored, among which are Building Jazz Bass Lines and The Music of Ron Carter; the latter contains 130 of his published and recorded compositions.
Mr. Carter earned a bachelor of music degree from the Eastman School at the University of Rochester, and a master’s degree in double bass from the Manhattan School of Music. He has also received four honorary doctorates: from the New England Conservatory of Music, the Manhattan School of Music, the University of Rochester, and the Berklee College of Music. He was the 2002 recipient of the prestigious Hutchinson Award from the Eastman School. Most recently he was honored by the French Minister of Culture with France’s premier cultural award–the medallion and title of Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters, given to those who have distinguished themselves in the domain of artistic or literary creation and for their contribution to the spread of arts and letters in France and around the world.
Ron Carter has lectured, conducted, and performed at numerous clinics and master classes, instructing jazz ensembles and teaching the business of music at numerous universities. He was artistic director of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Studies while it was located in Boston and, after 18 years on the faculty of the Music Department of the City College of New York, he is now distinguished professor emeritus. As a performer, Mr. Carter remains as active as ever, including debuting his highly acclaimed big band in 2011. Ron Carter joined the Juilliard Jazz faculty in 2008.
Ron Carter (Photo by Hiroyuki Ito)
About Juilliard Jazz
Founded in 2001, Juilliard Jazz offers degrees at bachelor, master, and Artist Diploma levels. The curriculum combines tailored studio and coursework with professional performance opportunities designed to successfully integrate students into a thriving jazz environment. In addition its faculty and student conduct national and international master classes and clinics.
Today, the Juilliard Jazz Orchestra and its ensembles play more than 50 performances annually, including appearances at the Detroit Jazz Festival and New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, and tour to destinations such as Costa Rica, Colombia, Japan, and Brazil. Juilliard Jazz Ensembles perform regularly at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, and the world-renowned Blue Note in New York City. For the past several seasons, they also have enjoyed week-long runs at Jazz at Lincoln Center with guest artist such as Ernie Andrews, Kenny Barron, Tom Harrell, Sean Jones, Lew Tabackin, Gerald Wilson, Bobby Watson, Frank Wes, and others.
These talented Juilliard artists are taught by today’s most active, innovation, and respected jazz musicians. The experienced Juilliard Jazz faculty combines a remarkable variety of technical and musical skill, as demonstrated on stages and in recording studios worldwide.
Wynton Marsalis, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s managing and artistic director and a Juilliard alumnus, became director of Juilliard Jazz Studies on July 1, 2014.
Juilliard Jazz Artist Diploma Ensemble with Juilliard Jazz Director Wynton Marsalis at Juilliard’s Convocation Ceremony held on September 3, 2014 in Juilliard’s Peter Jay Sharp Theater (Photo by Nan Melville)
Program Listing
Tuesday, February 3, 2015 at 8 p.m., Paul Hall at Juilliard (155 West 65th Street, NYC)
Juilliard Jazz Presents “1959 – 1969, Acoustic to Electric: The Visionary Genius of Miles Davis”
Juilliard Jazz Artist Diploma Ensemble:
Lukas Gabric, saxophone; Gregg Duncan, guitar; Reuben Allen, piano; Paolo Benedettini, bass;
Daniel Chmielinski, electric bass; Jordan Young, drums
The Juilliard Jazz Artist Diploma Ensemble performs Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue: So What (arr. Paolo Benedettini); Freddie Freeloader (arr. Lukas Gabric); Blue in Green (arr. Jordan Young); All Blues (arr. Paolo Benedettini); and Flamenco Sketches (arr. Reuben Allen); and Miles Davis’s Filles de Kilimanjaro: Frelon Brun (arr. Reuben Allen); Tout de Suite (arr. Greg Duncan); Petits Machins (arr. Greg Duncan); Filles de Kilimanjaro (arr. Lukas Gabric); and Mademoiselle Mabry (arr. Jordan Young).
Free tickets are available at events.juilliard.edu. For further information, call (212) 769-7406.
