Jazz fills Rochester venues year-round and this spring Eastman School of Music will be hosting noted guest artists who’ll give public performances with Eastman musicians.
Pianist and composer Michael Weiss, known for his work with such jazz luminaries as Johnny Griffin, Art Farmer, Wynton Marsalis, Charles McPherson, Slide Hampton, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, and others, will be performing his works at the Eastman School of Music’s Chamber Jazz Concert at 8 p.m. Monday, Jan. 25, in Kilbourn Hall. Weiss is also a bandleader, recording artist, arranger, educator, and composer who was the grand prize winner of the 2000 BMI/Thelonious Monk Institute Composers Competition. He was a featured soloist on PBS’s Live From Lincoln Center: The City of Jazz, and was a commentator in Wynton Marsalis’s NPR series Making the Music.
Trumpeter Marvin Stamm has been an established jazz and studio trumpeter in New York City since the mid-1960s. He gained considerable recognition for his playing with the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra, Stan Kenton, and the Duke Pearson Big Band as well as performing with Frank Sinatra, the Benny Goodman Sextet, and others. Currently, Stamm spends much of the year touring with his jazz quartet, performing as a soloist, and playing in duo with pianist Bill Mays. He’ll be a guest with the Eastman Jazz Ensemble at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 10, in Kilbourn Hall.
In March, Eastman School welcomes back composer-conductor Fred Sturm, who directed the Eastman Jazz Ensemble, conducted the Eastman Studio Orchestra, and chaired the jazz department for 11 years beginning in 1991. Sturm, who is currently director of jazz and improvisational music at Lawrence University in Wisconsin, has conducted professional jazz ensembles and radio orchestras in Europe, had his compositions performed by ensembles worldwide, and received a 1997 Grammy Award nomination. He’ll be joining the Eastman New Jazz Ensemble at 8 p.m. Wednesday, March 3, in Kilbourn Hall.
A few days later, saxophonist Gary Foster will perform with the Eastman Studio Orchestra at 8 p.m. Friday, March 5, in Kodak Hall. Since moving to the Los Angeles area shortly after his graduation from the University of Kansas in 1961, Foster has been active in the recording studios with artists like Frank Sinatra and Barbra Streisand. He is also a woodwind teacher and has played in big bands including those of Clare Fischer, Louie Bellson, Toshiko Akiyoshi, and the Marty Paich Dek-tette. He has played woodwinds for nearly 200 film soundtracks and numerous television scores.
Trumpeter Byron Stripling, artistic director of the Columbus Jazz Orchestra, will join the Eastman Jazz Lab Band at 8 p.m. Wednesday, April 7, in Kilbourn Hall. While a student at Eastman School, Stripling did a 12-week European tour with jazz trumpeter Clark Terry. He spent a year with Lionel Hampton and did stints with the Woody Herman and Count Basie orchestras. In 1988, he played the lead in the musical Satchmo: America’s Musical Legend. The following year he played with the Boston Pops orchestra and has appeared with more than 50 symphony and pops orchestras since then, including the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra Pops.
All of the concerts with the guest artists are free and open to the public.
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Monday, January 25
Eastman Chamber Jazz. Harold Danko, director. Guest artist Michael Weiss, piano.
8 p.m.
Kilbourn Hall, 26 Gibbs St.
Free
Wednesday, February 10
Eastman Jazz Ensemble. Bill Dobbins, director. Guest artist Marvin Stamm, trumpet.
8 p.m.
Kilbourn Hall, 26 Gibbs St.
Free
Wednesday, March 3
Eastman New Jazz Ensemble. Dave Rivello, director. Guest artist Fred Sturm.
8 p.m.
Kilbourn Hall, 26 Gibbs St.
Free
Friday, March 5
Eastman Studio Orchestra. Bill Dobbins, director. Guest artist Gary Foster, saxophone, and woodwinds.
8 p.m.
Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre, 60 Gibbs St.
Free
Wednesday, April 7
Eastman Jazz Lab Band. Rich Thompson, director. Guest artist Byron Stripling, trumpet
8 p.m.
Kilbourn Hall, 26 Gibbs St.
Free