Thursday
APR 4 7:30 pm
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KU Jazz Ensemble I with special guest
Renee Rosnes, piano
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DEC 9 | Canadian Christmas APR 4 | KUPage Jazz7 Ensemble I w/ReneeBrass Rosnes, piano
There will be no intermission during this performance. Selections will be announced from the stage.
Renee Rosnes Five-time JUNO Award-winner Renee Rosnes is one of the premier jazz pianists and composers of her generation. Upon moving to New York City from Vancouver in 1985, she quickly established a reputation of high regard, performing and recording with such masters as Joe Henderson, Wayne Shorter, Bobby Hutcherson, J.J. Johnson and James Moody, and she was a founding member of the musician/composer all-star ensemble the SFJAZZ Collective. Her 2016 release, Written in the Rocks (Smoke Sessions), was named one of ten Best Jazz Albums of the Year by the Chicago Tribune, one of the Best Albums in all genres of music by The Nation and was awarded a 2017 JUNO. JazzTimes wrote, “Ms. Rosnes delivers conceptual heft, suspenseful compositions and mesmerizing performances.” DownBeat raved, “An exceptional achievement. Written in the Rocks establishes, or reinforces, that Rosnes is a virtuoso composer. This is as good as writing can get in this setting.” The band’s most recent session, the critically acclaimed Beloved of the Sky (2018), features master musicians Chris Potter, Steve Nelson, Peter Washington and Lenny White. The Ottawa Citizen wrote, “Rosnes demonstrates yet again that she is not only a top-tier composer, but also one of Canada’s greatest living jazz exports.” At the 2018 Festival International de Jazz de Montréal, Renee received the Oscar Peterson Award in recognition of her exceptional contributions in jazz. Aside from leading her band, Renee also tours as a member of the Foursight Quartet, led by the legendary bassist Ron Carter. She is married to pianist Bill Charlap, and the two often perform in a two-piano setting. The duo was recently featured on four tracks from the 2015 Grammy award-winning album, Tony Bennett & Bill Charlap: The Silver Lining. Renee is the musical director of ARTEMIS, a supergroup comprising seven of the top women performers on the jazz scene today: Cécile McLorin Salvant, Anat Cohen, Ingrid Jensen, Melissa Aldana, Noriko Ueda and Allison Miller. In 2018, Rosnes became the artistic director of the Oscar Peterson International Jazz Festival, which takes place during February in the Niagara wine region of Ontario, Canada.
APR 4 | KU Jazz Ensemble I w/Renee Rosnes, piano
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Dan Gailey Dan Gailey is the director of Jazz Studies and professor of music at the University of Kansas, where he directs Jazz Ensemble I; teaches courses in jazz composition, arranging and pedagogy; and produces the annual KU Jazz Festival. He has been named to a coveted Chancellor’s Club Teaching Professorship at KU for 2017–23. Dan is the recipient of the 1996 IAJE Gil Evans Fellowship, which is presented to an emerging jazz composer from an international field of candidates. Under his direction, the KU Jazz Studies Program has been the recipient of 25 DownBeat Student Music Awards, including Jazz Ensemble I’s 2015 award for Best College Jazz Ensemble in the Graduate Division and its Outstanding Performance Award in the same category in 2017. As director of the KU Jazz Ensemble I, Dan has led performances at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, the Jazz à Vienne festival in France, the Monterey Next Generation Jazz Festival in California, the Umbria Jazz Festival in Italy, and the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Kansas City. He also directed the band in invited appearances at International Association of Jazz Educators Conferences in New York City, Atlanta and Boston. The Dan Gailey Jazz Orchestra debut CD, What Did You Dream?, was released in July 2010 on Origin/OA2 Records and features all original compositions by Dan. The CD spent almost two years on the JazzWeek radio airplay charts, and received very favorable reviews from JAZZIZ, JazzTimes and Cadence magazines, among others. Dan has directed all-state high school jazz ensembles in Arkansas, California, Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas and Washington, along with the 2015 NAfME All-Northwest Jazz Ensemble and the 1996 National Band Association National High School Ensemble. He holds degrees from the University of Northern Colorado (MM) and Pacific Lutheran University (BM).
KU Jazz Ensemble I The University of Kansas Jazz Ensemble I, directed by Dan Gailey, is the flagship ensemble within the KU Jazz Studies program. The program has received 25 DownBeat Student Music Awards, including Jazz Ensemble I’s 2015 award in the Graduate Division for Best College Big Band in the United States or Canada, and its Outstanding Performance Award in the same division in 2017. Jazz Ensemble I performed Gailey’s flamenco suite, Palos Nuevos, at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. in April 2018. In April 2016, the ensemble performed at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City with internationally acclaimed vocalist Deborah Brown, and the band was one of six college finalists that performed at the 2017 Monterey Next Generation Jazz Festival. In July 2018, Jazz Ensemble I played 10 shows in 13 days as part of a European tour that included invited appearances at three of the world’s most prestigious jazz festivals: the Montreux Jazz Festival (where the band performed twice), Umbria Jazz
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DEC 9 |ICanadian Brass Christmas APR 4 | KUPage Jazz9 Ensemble w/Renee Rosnes, piano
and the Jazz Ă Vienne festival. The ensemble has also been featured at International Association of Jazz Educators Conferences in New York City, Boston and Atlanta with guest soloists including Dave Liebman, Jim McNeely and Rick Margitza, and guest composer/conductor Maria Schneider. Other major appearances include two recent concerts at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. Jazz Ensemble I has had the distinction of performing with such noted guest artists as Toshiko Akiyoshi, Clark Terry, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Anat Cohen, Sean Jones, Kneebody, Steve Wilson, Tia Fuller, Dave Douglas, Louie Bellson, Jeff Coffin, Tim Ries, Peter Erskine, Vince Mendoza, Conrad Herwig, Bob Sheppard, Gary Foster, Steve Houghton, Bob Mintzer, Bobby Shew, Carl Fontana, Dick Oatts, Frank Mantooth, Ingrid Jensen, Jon Hendricks, Pete Christlieb and many others. Saxophones: Luis Matos Sophia Hollman Misha Olarrea Sam Boyd Zachary Dixon
Kansas City, KS Shawnee, KS Tucson, AZ Leawood, KS Lawrence, KS
Trumpets: Robert Vandivier Bennett Lawrence Nathan Hasterlik Alexander Davis Edward Lee
Orlando, FL Leawood, KS Minneapolis, MN Marietta, GA Imperial, MO
Trombones: Colin Wreath Joseph Hartung Ian Warshaw PJ Kelley
Andover, KS St. Louis, MO Overland Park, KS Olympia, WA
Rhythm Section: Alex Frank, guitar Donovan Miller, piano Matt MacKay, bass Alex Annan, bass Vaughn Craddock, drums
Topeka, KS Woodbury, MN Colorado Springs, CO Omaha, NE Wichita, KS