The Eastman School of Music’s Eastman Chamber Jazz will perform arrangements by pianist, composer, and bandleader Gil Evans that have not been heard in more than five decades on Thursday, Feb. 17, at 8 p.m. in Kilbourn Hall.
The program features Evans’s arrangements from the Claude Thornhill Orchestra that have not been performed in 50-plus years. Some of these arrangements were never recorded by Thornhill and are being played here for the first time since they were written. Guest conductor Ryan Truesdell, who got permission from the Evans family to access the late composer’s library, has assembled this music from Evans’s original manuscripts and sketches. The program also includes numbers from the Evans-Cannonball Adderley LP New Bottle, Old Wine, which Evans recorded in 1958, as well as previously unheard re-orchestrations of older arrangements Evans did for a concert at the Apollo Theater in 1959.
“This is the first place some of this music is going to sound anywhere in the world since it was written,” said Dave Rivello, assistant professor of jazz studies. “The historical significance of this concert is enormous, and Eastman and Rochester audiences are the first to experience it.” The concert is free and open to the public.
Evans, who died in 1988 at the age of 75, is most recognized for his contributions as arranger of big-band music. Besides Adderley, Evans collaborated with such musicians as Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Gerry Mulligan, Astrud Gilberto, Jimi Hendrix, and Sting. In 1986, Evans was inducted into the DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame.
Truesdell has composed for variety of ensembles ranging from small ensembles and string quartets to big bands and wind ensembles. Recent commissions include arrangements for trumpeter Ingrid Jensen with the U.S. Air Force Band of the Pacific, new music for pianist Frank Kimbrough with the University of Minnesota’s Jazz Ensemble, and a new piece for Bob Brookmeyer’s 80th birthday concert at the Eastman School of Music.
The Eastman Chamber Jazz will travel to New York City to repeat the concert on March 13 as part of a “Celebrating Gil Evans” program at St. Peter’s Church on Lexington Avenue. The ensemble will be joined by Phil Woods, saxophone; Andy Bey, voice; and Frank Kimbrough, piano. Besides the concert, the event includes a panel discussion with Grammy Award-winning composer and Eastman alumna Maria Schneider, tuba soloist Howard Johnson, singer Helen Merrill, and Truesdell.
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Calendar Listing:
Thursday, Feb. 17
Eastman Chamber Jazz. Dave Rivello, director; guest conductor Ryan Truesdell. Program of arrangements by Gil Evans.
8 p.m.
Kilbourn Hall, 26 Gibbs St.
Free