October 3 - 7
The Story of Saxophonist, Composer and Bandleader Benny Golson
At age eighty-seven, the NEA Jazz Master Benny Golson is one of the last surviving links to the Golden Age of modern jazz, ushered in by the likes of Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Bud Powell and others in the early 1940s. Having recorded over 30 albums and written more than 300 compositions, Golson has made major contributions to the world of jazz with such standards as “Killer Joe” and “Whisper Not.” On Friday, October 7th, KRTU is welcoming Benny Golson to Laurie Auditorium for the KRTU 40th Anniversary Concert.
October 10 - 14
Bebo & Chucho Valdes: The Afro-Cuban Jazz Experience
Afro-Cuban jazz is the earliest form of Latin jazz. It mixes Afro-Cuban clave-based rhythms with jazz harmonies and techniques of improvisation. Jesús Valdés Rodríguez, better known as Chucho Valdés is a Cuban pianist, bandleader, composer and arranger whose career spans over 50 years. An original member of the Orquesta Cubana de Música Moderna, in 1973 he founded the group Irakere, one of Cuba's best-known Latin jazz bands. Both his father, Bebo Valdés, and his son, Chuchito, are pianists as well. He has won five Grammy Awards and three Latin Grammy Awards.
October 17 - 21
The Legacy of Jelly Roll Morton
Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe, known professionally as Jelly Roll Morton, was an American ragtime and early jazz pianist, bandleader and composer who started his career in New Orleans, Louisiana. Widely recognized as a pivotal figure in early jazz, Morton is perhaps most notable as jazz's first arranger, proving that a genre rooted in improvisation could retain its essential spirit and characteristics when notated.
October 24 - 28
The Rise of Pianist and Composer Vijay Iyer
Vijay Iyer’s music can be jubilant and dramatic, but Iyer is not. Lately, Iyer, who is forty-four and a Harvard professor, has been the most lauded piano player in jazz. Reviewing Iyer’s record “Break Stuff,” his twentieth, released last February, the critic Steve Greenlee wrote, “He may be the most celebrated musician in jazz.” Iyer appreciates the sentiment, but it makes him uncomfortable, too. “I have never thought of myself as a great pianist,” he told me. “I thought of putting myself in the service of some larger trajectory. For me, every choice is to take us closer to the next choice. I never had formal training and no one ever told me not to do anything on the piano, so I always thought of my progress as a series of accidents.” (From Time is a Ghost)
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