A rare live performance in the time of COVID-19! Only 40 tickets being sold so reserve now! With Pete McCann (guitar), Mike Holober (piano), Jared Schonig (drums), Dan Loomis (bass), and yours truly on tenor sax and flutes. Music from 2018 CMA commission "Voyages" as well as some tributes to Coltrane and Rollins. Tickets $10 members and $25 non-members, weather permitting. Hope to see you there!

Ambrose Akinmusire Leads Big Band and Special Guests Jack Dejohnette, Tom Harrell and Gary Bartz In Jazz at Lincoln Center’s The Appel Room

March 27-28 at 7:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.

New York, NY (January 30, 2020) – On March 27-28 at 7:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. in The Appel Room, acclaimed trumpeter and composer, Ambrose Akinmusire will make his Jazz at Lincoln Center debut as a headliner to perform his extended Banyan suite for the first time in NYC, while leading an all-star large ensemble featuring special guests drummer Jack DeJohnette, trumpeter Tom Harrelland saxophonist Gary Bartz.

The Appel Room in Frederick P. Rose Hall is located at Broadway at 60th Street, New York, NY.

Akinmusire is one of today’s hottest trumpeters, with his ability as a composer to create new musical worlds with each of his various projects. He aspires to create richly textured, emotionally resonant landscapes that tell the stories of the community and record the time. As a highly skilled musician and bandleader, he brings truth to the notion that music alone can be as immersive and transportive as any art form.

According to the New Yorker, Akinmusire is “a thrilling young trumpeter and astute bandleader [with a] unique spark in his playing”.

In his Jazz at Lincoln Center debut as a headliner, Akinmusire will perform, for the first time in New York City, his extended composition, banyan, exemplifying jazz as a living continuum and bringing together generations of distinctive voices through new music, with living legends Jack DeJohnette, Gary Bartz, and Tom Harrell on board, as well as established jazz artists Sullivan Fortner, Matt Brewer,Marcus Gilmore, Walter Smith III, Marvin Sewell and more. The powerful, original suite of music explores the role of mentorship in the oraland aural traditions of society and jazz and first premiered at the Hyde Park Jazz Festival in 2015.

Banyan features the below artists:

Ambrose Akinmusire, trumpet Special Guests: Gary Bartz, alto sax, Tom Harrell, Trumpet, Jack DeJohnette, drums All Compositions by Ambrose Akinmusire Arrangements: Jim McNeely

Roman Filiu, alto sax Caroline Davis, alto sax Walter Smith , tenor sax Ben Kono, tenor sax Dayna Stephens, baritone sax

Frank Greene, trumpet Dave Ballou, trumpet Stéphane Clément, trumpet

Ryan Keberle, trombone Earl McIntyre, trombone Kalia Vendever, trombone

Marvin Sewell, guitar Sullivan Fortner, piano Matt Brewer, bass Marcus Gilmore, drums

A pre-concert discussion will take place one hour prior to each show at 6:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit jazz.org. For more information on Ambrose Akinmusire, please visit ambroseakinmusire.com.

Ambrose Akinmusire Leads Big Band and Special Guests Jack Dejohnette, Tom Harrell and Gary Bartz In Jazz at Lincoln Center’s The Appel Room

March 27-28 at 7:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.

New York, NY (January 30, 2020) – On March 27-28 at 7:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. in The Appel Room, acclaimed trumpeter and composer, Ambrose Akinmusire will make his Jazz at Lincoln Center debut as a headliner to perform his extended Banyan suite for the first time in NYC, while leading an all-star large ensemble featuring special guests drummer Jack DeJohnette, trumpeter Tom Harrelland saxophonist Gary Bartz.

The Appel Room in Frederick P. Rose Hall is located at Broadway at 60th Street, New York, NY.

Akinmusire is one of today’s hottest trumpeters, with his ability as a composer to create new musical worlds with each of his various projects. He aspires to create richly textured, emotionally resonant landscapes that tell the stories of the community and record the time. As a highly skilled musician and bandleader, he brings truth to the notion that music alone can be as immersive and transportive as any art form.

According to the New Yorker, Akinmusire is “a thrilling young trumpeter and astute bandleader [with a] unique spark in his playing”.

In his Jazz at Lincoln Center debut as a headliner, Akinmusire will perform, for the first time in New York City, his extended composition, banyan, exemplifying jazz as a living continuum and bringing together generations of distinctive voices through new music, with living legends Jack DeJohnette, Gary Bartz, and Tom Harrell on board, as well as established jazz artists Sullivan Fortner, Matt Brewer,Marcus Gilmore, Walter Smith III, Marvin Sewell and more. The powerful, original suite of music explores the role of mentorship in the oraland aural traditions of society and jazz and first premiered at the Hyde Park Jazz Festival in 2015.

Banyan features the below artists:

Ambrose Akinmusire, trumpet Special Guests: Gary Bartz, alto sax, Tom Harrell, Trumpet, Jack DeJohnette, drums All Compositions by Ambrose Akinmusire Arrangements: Jim McNeely

Roman Filiu, alto sax Caroline Davis, alto sax Walter Smith , tenor sax Ben Kono, tenor sax Dayna Stephens, baritone sax

Frank Greene, trumpet Dave Ballou, trumpet Stéphane Clément, trumpet

Ryan Keberle, trombone Earl McIntyre, trombone Kalia Vendever, trombone

Marvin Sewell, guitar Sullivan Fortner, piano Matt Brewer, bass Marcus Gilmore, drums

A pre-concert discussion will take place one hour prior to each show at 6:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit jazz.org. For more information on Ambrose Akinmusire, please visit ambroseakinmusire.com.

The Amherst College Jazz Ensemble and the Jihye Jazz Orchestra perform Lee’s new work, "Try Out," for the McBride Jazz Commission Series on Feb. 15 at 8 p.m. in Buckley Recital Hall, Arms Music Center, on the Amherst College campus.

Admission is free; no tickets are required. Donations to benefit the Amherst Survival Center will be gratefully accepted.

This year’s composer of the 16th composition in the Jazz Commission Series is New York City-based Jihye Lee. Her 13-piece Jazz Orchestra performs her new work "Try Out," and the ACJE performs music from Les Hooper, Gil Evans and Peter Pan.

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NYC premiere of "Voyages" for jazz quintet and string quartet, commissioned by 2018 Chamber Music America New Jazz Works Grant and funded by Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. The narrative of the suite is inspired by the writings of Rev.Juhei Caleb Kono who immigrated to the U.S. from Japan during a very turbulent time for Asian Americans in this country, and who faced unique cultural, political and economic challenges. The ensemble will feature Kono's long-standing quintet augmented with a stellar string quartet:

Ben Kono, woodwinds/composition; Pete McCann, guitar; Mike Holober, piano; Matt Clohesy, bass; Jared Schonig, drums; Sara Caswell, violin; Meg Okura, violin; Lois Martin, viola; Jody Redhage Ferber, cello

Tickets are $15/$10 with student ID at the door

World premiere of "Voyages" for jazz quintet and string quartet, commissioned by 2018 Chamber Music America New Jazz Works Grant and funded by Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. The narrative of the suite is inspired by the writings of Rev.Juhei Caleb Kono who immigrated to the U.S. from Japan during a very turbulent time for Asian Americans in this country, and who faced unique cultural, political and economic challenges. The ensemble will feature Kono's long-standing quintet augmented with a stellar string quartet:

Ben Kono, woodwinds/composition; Pete McCann, guitar; Mike Holober, piano; Matt Clohesy, bass; Jared Schonig, drums; Sara Caswell, violin; Meg Okura, violin; Lois Martin, viola; Jody Redhage Ferber, cello

Tickets are $15 students+seniors/$20 adults

w/Evan Gregor, bass; Andy Watson, drums

Reeds Ben Kono Alejandro Aviles Quinsin Nachoff Sam Dillon Carl Maraghi

Trombone John Mosca Jason Jackson Jennifer Wharton Douglas Purviance

Trumpet Dan Urness David Smith Matt Holman Nadje Noordhuis

Guitar Pete McCann Bass Evan Gregor Drums Jared Schonig

$28 general public; $26 senior citizens, Wesleyan faculty/staff/alumni, non-Wesleyan students; $6 Wesleyan students, youth under 18

"Jim McNeely is a true composer. He...produces works for jazz ensemble that are highly original and technically sophisticated." —JazzTimes

GRAMMY Award-winning pianist/composer Jim McNeely has performed with the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra (now the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra), the Stan Getz Quartet, the Phil Woods Quintet, Bob Brookmeyer, and David Liebman, among other artists. The New York Times has called his writing "exhilarating," and DownBeat has said that his music is "eloquent enough to be profound." At Wesleyan, his acclaimed ten-piece jazz ensemble will perform a selection of music from their album Group Therapy during their New England debut.

This event is part of the 18th annual Wesleyan Jazz Orchestra Weekend, which includes a free performance by the Wesleyan Jazz Orchestra and Wesleyan Jazz Ensemble on Friday, April 26, 2019 at 8pm in Crowell Concert Hall.

“AMERICANA" A Musical Tribute. The Ed Palermo Big Band celebrates the music of Frank Zappa, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Joni Mitchell, Samuel Barber, Aaron Copland and more!

Miho Hazama – composer, conductor
Kavita Shah – voice Ben Kono – reeds 1 Jason Rigby – reeds 2 Jay Rattman – reeds 3 Jonathan Powell – trumpet Adam Unsworth – French horn Tomoko Akaboshi – violin 1 Sita Chay – violin 2 Matt Consul – viola Meaghan Burke – cello James Shipp – vibraphone Billy Test – piano Sam Anning – upright bass Jake Goldbas – drums

Composer and bandleader Miho Hazama and her 13–strong group m_unit reached a new pinnacle of artistic achievement with the February 2019 release of Dancer In Nowhere– the latest installment in a series of groundbreaking albums including 2013’s m_unit debut Journey to Journeyand the Thelonious Monk–themed The Monk: Live at Bimhuis, a collaboration with the Metropole Orkest Big Band. Miho Hazama, wrote veteran jazz journalist Dan Ouellette, is “a vital young artist who is delivering a singular style of music steeped in a variety of idioms…Her music is complex, teeming with unexpected twists and jolting turns as well as pockets of frenzy that lead into wonder.” Born in Tokyo, the composer is a Manhattan School of Music graduate and a winner of the BMI Jazz Workshop’s prestigious Charlie Parker Jazz Composition Prize. “There are times when you feel something, but you can’t really describe it in words. You don’t know how you’re going react to that feeling, and maybe you can’t really express it, but you feel it so strongly inside. I started wondering if I could somehow describe this through music. Not necessarily a struggle or something negative: it could be happiness, fear, passion, energy. The challenge of capturing these things became a theme for me.” (Miho Hazama)