A dozen years of world-class jazz at WestConn
12th annual April jazz festival to feature Roy Haynes and Paquito D'Rivera
DANBURY, CONN. — Ageless. That’s how critics describe musician Roy Haynes, who celebrated his 82nd birthday this month. He’s one of the most celebrated, oft-recorded drummers in jazz, has worked with legends in the industry since 1945, and at 7 p.m. on Saturday, April 28, Haynes will bring his incredible talent to Danbury. He’ll perform at the 12th Annual WestConn/Litchfield Performing Arts Jazz Festival in Ives Concert Hall in White Hall on the Western Connecticut State University Midtown campus, 181 White St. in Danbury.
Boston-born Haynes will perform with his Fountain of Youth Quartet, featuring saxophone player Jaleel Shaw, pianist Martin Bejerano and bassist David Wong. In addition to the incredible learning experience for WestConn’s music students during the jazz festival’s clinics with these and other world-class artists, the community will be able to enjoy Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening concerts during the festival. Tickets for each evening concert will be $15 for adults, and $10 for senior citizens and non-WestConn students who are not participating in the festival. WestConn students will be admitted free with valid ID.
Professor of Music Jamie Begian, director of Jazz Studies at WestConn, said bringing Haynes to the university is a significant accomplishment.
“I’m very excited about this year’s jazz festival for a number of reasons,” Begian said. “Getting a truly legendary figure like Roy Haynes is a huge coup — he’s from what I consider the ‘third wave’ of jazz musicians after Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, so his roots go very, very deep and his playing is still as great as ever! I think, given our penchant for securing outstanding headliners at the jazz festival, it’s very important to focus on some of the ‘elder statesmen’ of the music so our students get a chance to hear things directly from the source.”
Haynes is not the only headliner during the three-day event.
An All-Star Jam Session featuring the festival’s clinicians — Conrad Herwig (trombone), Dave Stryker (guitar), Terrell Stafford (trumpet), Matt Wilson (drums), Don Braden and Jimmy Greene (saxophone), Jeff Hellmer (piano) and Dave Ruffels (bass) — will be at 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 26, in Ives Concert Hall.
Also at 7 p.m. in Ives Concert Hall, on Friday, April 27, the WCSU Jazz Orchestra will perform with multiple-Grammy Award-winning artist Paquito D’Rivera. Two outstanding high school big bands selected during the festival also will perform.
Begian said Cuban-born D’Rivera, who was named Clarinetist of the Year in 2004 and 2006 by the Jazz Journalists Association, will bring a great deal to the festival.
“Getting Paquito D’Rivera as the guest artist with the WCSU Jazz Orchestra was huge,” Begian said. “Paquito brings that rare combination of instrumental virtuosity and compositional audacity to bear whatever the situation he’s involved with. The jazz orchestra will be supremely challenged by his music; the great thing is I know our students are up to that challenge and will come out far more seasoned from the exposure to both Paquito and his music.”
Bringing artists of this caliber to WestConn says a great deal about the university’s music department, Begian said.
“I’m particularly excited about the current state of the jazz program here at WCSU. Through the hard work of current music department chair Dr. Dan Goble, and our extremely talented and dedicated adjuncts — not to mention our hard-working students, we’ve created something special here. This year’s jazz fest will be a great showcase for how far we’ve progressed in the 11+ years we’ve been at this.”
For more information, call (203) 837-8350 or visit www.wcsu.edu/music/jazzfest. To purchase tickets, go to www.wcsu.edu/tickets, or call (203) 837-8499.
