An SVA Music Celebration Series Event
The Miles Davis Experience 1949-1959
A Collaboration with Blue Note Records featuring
The Ambrose Akinmusire Quintet
Ambrose Akinmusire Walter Smith III Sam Harris Harish Raghavan Justin Brown
trumpet tenor sax piano bass drums
TUE, OCT 11, 2011 | Capitol Theater
This program is part of Overture’s Take 10 Series for students and educators. Funding for Take 10 is provided by Overture Center Foundation contributors. Learn how you can help make arts experiences real for hundreds of thousands of people in the greater Madison area at overturecenter.com/contribute. This program is part of Overture’s Community Ticket Program. Funding for the Community Ticket Program is provided by American Girl’s Fund for Children, a grant from the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts, and by Overture Center Foundation contributors. Learn how you can help make arts experiences real for hundreds of thousands of people in the greater Madison area at overturecenter.com/contribute.
The Miles Davis Experience | Overture Center 1
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MILES DAVIS Miles Davis (May 26, 1926 – Sep 28, 1991), an American jazz composer, trumpeter and multi-instrumentalist, was one of the most influential, innovative and original musicians of the twentieth century. In terms of importance to the history of jazz, few knowledgeable critics would balk at describing him as an innovative genius with an unmistakable style and unmatched musical range. Stylistically, his vast catalogue encompasses bebop, cool jazz, modal jazz and jazzrock fusion. He was a pivotal figure in the evolution of the latter three. His recordings, along with the live performances of his many seminal bands, were vital in jazz’s increased artistic acceptance. A popularizer as well as an innovator, Davis became
famous for both his languid, melodic style and his laconic and at times confrontational personality. Miles Davis was encouraged to pursue his musical inclinations at an early age, and by the age of 10 he began working with Clark Terry. At the age of 18, Davis moved to New York City where he worked for various bands and enrolled in the Juilliard School, which was known as the Institute of Musical Art at that time. By 1949, his first recording was released, aptly entitled, Birth of the Cool. Within six years, he released Walkin’ and Bags Groove, which won him prestige in jazz circles of the day. With bebop and the rise in jazz improvisation, Miles Davis solidified his own style and gave rise to the West Coast jazz school.
BIOS AMBROSE AKINMUSIRE, Trumpet The Los Angeles Times recently named Akinmusire one of their 2011 “Faces to Watch.” Born and raised in Oakland, California, the Berkeley High School Jazz Ensemble member caught the attention of saxophonist Steve Coleman who later hired him as a member of his Five Elements band. Coleman challenged Akinmusire on and off the stage. “Ambrose, what’s your concept?” Coleman asked him. “Concept? I’m 19, I don’t need a concept. It’ll just come one day,” shrugged Akinmusire, raising the saxophonist’s ire. “You’ve got to start thinking about it now,” Coleman chided. “Everything you don’t love, make sure that’s not in your playing.” Akinmusire took the advice to heart, and returned to his studies at the Manhattan School of Music determined to discover his own voice. “When I got back to school I wrote a list,” he explains. “It was very specific, it had things on it like ‘I don’t want to be confined by my instrument’ or ‘I
want to have a sound like a French Horn player.’ It had harmonic concepts on it. I posted it on my wall. It caused me a lot of trouble because if a teacher told me to do something and it didn’t really fit what was on that list I didn’t listen to them. It really made me learn who I was because I had to defend that every day.” After returning to the West Coast to pursue a master’s degree at the University of Southern California, Akinmusire went on to attend the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz in Los Angeles. 2007 was a pivotal year for Akinmusire. He won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition from a panel of judges that included Terrence Blanchard, Quincy Jones, Herb Alpert, Hugh Masekela, Clark Terry and Roy Hargrove. That year he also won the Carmine Caruso International Jazz Trumpet Solo Competition and released his debut recording Prelude… To Cora. The Miles Davis Experience | Overture Center 3
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BIOS He moved back to New York City and began performing with Vijay Iyer, Aaron Parks, Esperanza Spalding and Jason Moran. There he caught the attention of Blue Notes Records president Bruce Lundvall, who signed him to a contract. With his quintet, Akinimusire recorded When the Heart Emerges Glistening, which includes the opening track “Confessions to My Unborn Daughter.” The album was released earlier this year.
first week. Over the past few years, besides leading a quintet, Walter has been a member of several groups including the Terence Blanchard group, Eric Harland’s quintet, Ambrose Akinmusire’s quintet, Christian Scott’s group, the Sean Jones sextet, Jason Moran’s Big Bandwagon and the Christian McBride Situation band.
SAM HARRIS, Piano Sam Harris’s life in music began at the age of two, when, thanks to incredible foresight, WALTER SMITH, Tenor Sax his mother put him in early piano Walter Smith III began playing the lessons. Sam quickly excelled in his saxophone at age 7 in his hometown classical training, and by the age of ten of Houston, TX at Houston’s High was competing regularly on the local School for the Performing and Visual and statewide levels. At Booker T. Arts. In 1998, Smith received a Washington Arts Magnet High School Clifford Brown/Stan Getz Fellowship in Dallas, Texas, he discovered jazz from IAJE and NFAA; the NFAA and was soon consumed with the dual Young Talent Award; a full tuition pursuit of classical and improvisatory scholarship to attend Berklee College music. In 2004 he moved to New York of Music; and a United States to attend the Manhattan School of Presidential Scholar in the Arts medal. Music on scholarship, where he studied Walter graduated from Berklee in 2003 privately with teachers like Garry Dial, with a degree in Music Education. Jason Moran, and John Riley. He He has performed in venues all has played in bands led by forwardover the world including Carnegie thinking musicians such as Ambrose Hall and the Kennedy Center. Walter Akinmusire, Logan Richardson, and has appeared on over 75 recordings Linda Oh, and is quickly gaining worldwide. His eponymously titled recognition as an important new voice debut recording as a leader was on the music scene. released in 2006. His sophomore release Live in France, was released HARISH RAGHAVAN, Bass At in 2009. His most recent album, III, age 8 Harish began studying Western was released 2010 and was the #3 and Indian percussion and switched best seller on itunes in the U.S. for its over to the double bass at age 17. Soon
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BIOS after, he studied with John Clayton at the University of Southern California. While in Los Angeles he also studied with Robert Hurst, among others, and recorded and played with many legendary West Coast musicians. In 2007 he made the move to New York where he has had the opportunity to record and play with some of the most forward thinking musicians of his generation: Ambrose Akinmusire, Eric Harland, Aaron Parks, Taylor Eigsti, Vijay Iyer, Kurt Elling, Walter Smith III, Logan Richardson, Dayna Stephens, Gerald Clayton along with many others. After only being in New York for just a few years, Harish has already begun to make a name for himself among the rising stars of his generation. JUSTIN BROWN, Drums Born and raised in Oakland, California, Justin Brown started playing drums in church when he was just a meager 2
years old. At the age of 10, he went on to study at UC Berkeley’s Young Musicians Summer Program and continued his studies there for 7 more years. All the while, Brown continued to play in various groups and settings, including the prestigious Grammy High School All-Star Band. In 2002, Brown was one of only five applicants selected, amongst hundreds, to attend The Dave Brubeck Institute on a full scholarship. Brown graduated in 2004 and received a full scholarship to Juilliard. Since then this skilled young drummer has performed, toured and recorded with the likes of Kenny Garrett, Christian McBride, Gerald Clayton, Stefon Harris, Esperanza Spaulding, Terence Blanchard, Josh Roseman, Gretchen Parlato, Eldar, Yosvany Terry, Gonazalo Rubalcaba, Bilal, Ledisi, Ambrose Akinmusire and Vijay Iyer.
A Bell Laboratories Celebrity Series Event
Herbie Hancock
THu, mar 15, 7:30 pm overture Hall tickets starting at $30.50
tickets: 608.258.4141
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Overture Center for the Arts would like to recognize
our 2011/12 Community Partners and thank them for all they do to support Madison’s thriving arts community.
LegACy SPOnSOrS
PLAtinuM COMMunity PArtnerS American girl’s Fund for Children SiLver COMMunity PArtnerS American Family insurance Bell Laboratories Food Fight, inc. Provideo SvA Supranet Communications tDS telecommunications tOMCAt Products BrOnze COMMunity PArtnerS State Bank of Cross Plains COMMunity PArtnerS the Bruce Company of Wisconsin CunA Mutual group goodman’s Jewelers Hovde Properties J.H. Findorff & Son inc. Mge Foundation Mullins group Murphy Desmond S.C. Pepsi Cola of Madison Steve Brown Apartments Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C. *List current as of August 5, 2011 The Miles Davis Experience | Overture Center 7
PATRON SERVICES AND INFORMATION
Welcome to Overture Center for the Arts
Your enjoyment is important to us. Please contact an usher or the ticket office if you have any concerns about your experience here. ORDERING & INFORMATION Order online! overturecenter.com Phone orders: Call 608.258.4141 Mail or fax: online order form at overturecenter.com or in our magazine. Buy in person: Visit the ticket office located on the main floor just off the Rotunda Lobby. Ticket office hours: Mon–Fri, 11 AM–5:30 PM; Sat, 11 AM–2 PM; open additional hours evenings and Sundays on days of ticketed performances. Group orders: Groups of 15 or more receive a discount on most performances. Call 608.258.4159 to make reservations. Visit overturecenter.com: For a calendar of events, links to artists’ websites, video, audio, directions, parking and much more. PATRON SERVICES & POLICIES Accessibility: Request accommodations when ordering your tickets. Call 608.258.4144 for information, questions, or to request the following: ■ ■ ■ ■ ■
wheelchair-accessible seating house wheelchair for transport sign language interpretation Braille playbill other accommodations
Etiquette Please turn off all paging devices, cell phones and watch alarms. Smoking is prohibited in Overture. The use of cameras or tape recorders in the theaters is prohibited without written permission from Overture Center and the performing company’s management. Food, large bags and other large items are not permitted in the theaters. Bottled water and beverages in Overture Refillable Souvenir Cups are allowed in the theaters at select shows. In consideration of audience members with scent sensitivities and allergies, please use perfumes, aftershaves and other fragrances in moderation. Event Staff Stagehand services in Overture are provided by members of Local 251 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees. Volunteer usher and other services for Overture are provided by Overture Friends. For information, visit overturecenter.com/ contribute/volunteer or call 608.258.4177. RESIDENT ORGANIZATIONS Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society bachdancinganddynamite.org | 608.255.9866
Information is also available at overturecenter.com/tickets/accessibility
Children’s Theater of Madison ctmtheater.org | 608.255.2080
Children and lap seating: Every person, regardless of age, must have a ticket to enter the theaters for performances. Children under the age of 6 are not permitted at certain performances. See our season brochure, visit our website or call the Help Line at 608.258.4143 for information.
Li Chiao-Ping Dance lichiaopingdance.org | 608.835.6590
Kanopy Dance Company kanopydance.org | 608.255.2211
Madison Ballet madisonballet.org | 608.278.7990
Contacting a patron during a performance: Call 608.258.4179 with the performance the patron is attending and his/ her row and seat number.
Madison Opera madisonopera.org |608.238.8085
Lost and Found: Visit the information desk in the Rotunda Lobby or call 608.258.4973.
Wisconsin Academy’s James Watrous Gallery wisconsinacademy.org | 608.265.2500
Rentals: For information on renting spaces in Overture Center for weddings, performances, meetings or other events, call 608.258.4163 or email events@overturecenter.com.
Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra wcoconcerts.org | 608.257.0638
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Madison Symphony Orchestra madisonsymphony.org | 608.257.3734