Welcome To My New Website!
Posted: December 10, 2011
There are lots of things to check out! Thanks for stopping by, and please come back often!
San Luis Jazz Festival, Argentina
The year has flown by! My last major musical event of 2011, was a most wonderful “Remembering Miles” concert with five extraordinary musicians, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Wallace Roney, George Garzone, Antonio Hart, and Cyrus Chestnut. It was the San Luis Jazz Festival in San Luis, Argentina. We had never ever played together as a group. IT WAS AMAZING! We performed music that we all could relate to listening to Miles Davis and his great bands as we developed as creative players. Wallace Roney was the immediate link to Miles and you could really feel it too! Remember the period of Pinocchio, ESP, Eighty-One, Nefertiti, Footprints? The concert was very special. Meeting new Argentine musicians and developing new fans is always a real pleasure, particularly in another country. We were received with open arms! Can’t wait to go again!
JEN Conference
January 4-8, 2012, I will be attending the JEN, Jazz Education Network Conference, in Louisville, KY. I am not performing this time, but it will be tons of fun hanging out listening to wonderful music by professionals as well as aspiring student ensembles from all over the United States.
CMA Conference
January 12-15, 2012, I will be also attending the CMA, Chamber Music America Conference, in New York City, NY. I am proudly a Board Member of this organization, charged to help develop and strengthen an evolving chamber music community that includes creative jazz musicians, as well.
Quiet Pride
At this time I am busy writing the fifth movement of QUIET PRIDE, an augmented big band work commissioned by the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Commission. This piece was inspired by the incredible sculptures of an American artist, Elizabeth Catlett. On February 28-29, 2012, QUIET PRIDE will be performed by the Louisiana State University Jazz Ensemble in Baton Rouge, LA., in the Manship Theater of the The Shaw Center For the Arts These concerts will also be shared with an exhibition of selected works of Elizabeth Catlett’s art in the Shaw Center. This will be, indeed, a special event. If you live in or near Baton Rouge, or know someone who does, please tell them about this unique event. When you are there, be sure to stop and say hello. You will hear a wonderful band conducted by yours truly playing my music while witnessing some beautiful art by Elizabeth Catlett.