Two of Eastman’s top jazz ensembles will kick off the month of October with incredible performances and guest artists, The Eastman Chamber Jazz Ensemble will present “Eastman Celebrates the Music of Gerry Mulligan”, featuring the music of Gerry Mulligan on October 7 at 7:30 p.m. in Kilbourn Hall. Continuing the month of Jazz, the Eastman Jazz Lab Band will feature alumnus and Grammy Award winner Nabaté Isles (BM ‘99E) on October 23 at 7:30 p.m. in Kilbourn Hall.
The Eastman Chamber Jazz Ensemble’s tribute to Gerry Mulligan will include guest artists Scott Robinson, a long time colleague of Gerry Mulligan, on saxophone, and Professor Emeritus Harold Danko, who performed with Mulligan in his Jazz Quartet. Gerry Mulligan’s wife, Franca, who continues his legacy with the Gerry & Franca Mulligan Foundation. will also be in attendance. The foundation was established to fulfill Gerry’s wishes to provide music education to young musicians, donate musical instruments to inner city schools, and perpetuate the music of Gerry Mulligan. The foundation brought Mulligan’s entire music collection to the Library of Congress and recently, copies of these archives were given to Eastman.
“I am so pleased that the Eastman School of Music is planning this first annual concert in Gerry’s honor.” Says Franca Mulligan. “They are the recipient of his music library, and I believe Gerry and his music are to become a part of their curriculum, which makes me incredibly proud. I understand that the music school will have the students perform his music every year, which will bring him to new, young audiences.”
“Having the Gerry Mulligan music collection housed at Eastman is a huge honor,” shares Jeff Campbell, Chari of the Jazz and Contemporary Media department at Eastman. “This music has left a huge imprint on jazz music at large and we look forward to performing in our various jazz ensembles each and every year.”
Alumnus Nabaté Isles will be the featured guest artist with the Eastman Jazz Lab Band on October 23. While here, Isles will also speak through Eastman’s Institute for Music Leadership, presenting a public talk entitled: “Renaissance Man: Performer. Composer. Sportscaster?”
Gerry Mulligan was one of the most widely respected and admired jazz musicians of our time, occupying a unique place in the American musical scene. Recognized as an important 20th century composer, arranger, saxophonist, and conductor, he has played a vital role in the history of modern jazz and contemporary music. Mulligan has performed with such jazz immortals as Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, Lester Young, Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Jack Teagarden, Dave Brubeck, and Billie Holiday. He was consistently voted number one in jazz polls around the world and has won a record twenty-nine consecutive Down Beat Readers Poll awards.
Nabaté Isles is a Grammy-winning trumpeter and composer, born and raised in New York City. He received his BM from the Eastman School of Music and his MA from New York University. Nabaté released his debut album called, ‘Eclectic Excursions’ in the Summer of 2018. The independent album has been on the Top-50 in the JazzWeek charts for 6 weeks (peaking at #34) and is receiving critical acclaim. Nabaté provided private trumpet instruction to the actor Rob Brown for his role as trumpeter Delmond Lambreaux on the HBO series, ‘Treme’. Nabaté was part of both of Christian McBride Big Band’s Grammy-winning albums, ‘The Good Feeling’ (2012) and ‘Bringin’ It’ (2018) as well as the band’s performance at the White House for the last concert under President Barack Obama’s administration. He has composed five music scores for short films as well as contributing original music to Amos Poe’s innovative film, ‘Empire II’. He recently completed a score for his first feature called, ‘The Rhythm in Blue’. Nabaté Isles started his broadcasting career hosting (and still is) a weekly sports television program called ‘So Much to Talk About’.
Eastman Jazz Events:
Monday, October 7, 7:30 p.m.; Kilbourn Hall
Eastman Chamber Jazz Ensemble
This performance will feature music from the Gerry Mulligan Concert Jazz Band with pieces such as You Took Advantage of Me, Broadway, Little Rock Gettaway, Black Nightgown, I’m Gonna Go Fishin, Line for Lyons, Apple Core, and Bernie’s Tune. Scott Robinson will be joining as a guest on baritone saxophone, along with Professor Emeritus Harold Danko, pianist of the Gerry Mulligan quartet.
Wednesday, October 23, 7:30 p.m.; Kilbourn Hall
Eastman Jazz Lab Band
Program will feature guest artist and alumni Nabaté Isles on Miles Davis/Gil Evans’s Porgy and Bess, Grew’s Tune by Mulgrew Miller, Roy Allen by Roy Hargrove (Christian McBride Big Band arrangement) and, a Nabate Isles original called Mello D.E.M.
Thursday, October 24, 7 p.m.; MC 1
Renaissance Man: Performer. Composer. Sportscaster? Meet Eastman Alum Nabaté Isles
Grammy-winning trumpeter and composer Nabaté Isles explains how to create new opportunities, foster new projects, and inform your career in an intimate presentation and discussion with the IML. Nabaté will also share stories from his own career in showcasing performing highlights, unique opportunities he’s had to work in TV and film, and sportscast journalism.
This talk is presented in collaboration with the Jazz and Contemporary Media Department at Eastman, along with Eastman’s Institute for Music Leader’s Arts Leadership Program. Click here to learn more about the Arts Leadership Program and Course.
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About Eastman School of Music:
The Eastman School of Music was founded in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman (1854-1932), founder of Eastman Kodak Company. It was the first professional school of the University of Rochester. Mr. Eastman’s dream was that his school would provide a broad education in the liberal arts as well as superb musical training. The current dean is Jamal Rossi, appointed in 2014.
More than 900 students are enrolled in the Collegiate Division of the Eastman School of Music—about 500 undergraduates and 400 graduate students. They come from almost every state, and approximately 23 percent are from other countries. They are taught by a faculty comprised of more than 130 highly regarded performers, composers, conductors, scholars, and educators. They are Pulitzer Prize winners, Grammy winners, Emmy winners, Guggenheim Fellows, ASCAP Award recipients, published authors, recording artists, and acclaimed musicians who have performed in the world’s greatest concert halls. Each year, Eastman’s students, faculty members, and guest artists present more than 900 concerts to the Rochester community.
About Institute for Music Leadership (IML):
The Institute for Music Leadership was the first center of its kind in the country, created in 2001, with a particular focus on the changing state of classical music, with generous support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Always at the forefront of educating musicians of the future, the Eastman School of Music is dedicated to the comprehensive education of world-class musicians, scholars and leaders. IML serves as a center – and benchmark – for music leadership programs and activities and respond to and help shape America’s changing musical and cultural environment.
The establishment of the Institute for Music Leadership, and the generous support of foundations and philanthropists, has allowed the Eastman School to create a unique atmosphere among music schools, where ideas can flourish, and students are empowered to shape their own destiny by developing the skills and networks they need to adapt to the changing and challenging arts world. The IML is committed not to follow, but to lead, react, adapt and morph its curriculum to meet the needs of the musical world that our students will inhabit as professionals.