{"id":87,"date":"2019-07-17T18:17:51","date_gmt":"2019-07-17T18:17:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wcsu.wpengine.com\/news-archives\/2014jazzfest\/"},"modified":"2019-07-17T18:17:51","modified_gmt":"2019-07-17T18:17:51","slug":"2014jazzfest","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.wcsu.edu\/news-archives\/2014jazzfest\/","title":{"rendered":"2014 Jeff ‘Tain’ Watts, Vanguard Orchestra to perform at WCSU Jazz Fest"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"imageDANBURY, CONN. <\/strong>\u2014 Legendary jazz drummer Jeff \u201cTain\u201d Watts<\/a> and the iconic Vanguard Jazz Orchestra<\/a> will headline Western Connecticut State University<\/a>‘s 19th annual Jazz Fest from April 24 through 26, 2014<\/strong>, celebrating this uniquely American genre and the performers whose artistry and innovation continue to inspire a new generation of jazz musicians.<\/p>\n

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Watts will appear in concert at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 25<\/strong>, performing with the WCSU Jazz Orchestra and with the Jeff \u201cTain\u201d Watts Quartet. The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, which continues an unbroken legacy of big-band jazz performance begun in 1966 at the Village Vanguard club in New York City, will be featured in the closing Jazz Fest concert at 7 p.m. on Saturday, April 26<\/strong>. Both concerts will be in Ives Concert Hall in White Hall on the university\u2019s Midtown campus, 181 White St. in Danbury.<\/p>\n

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General admission for the Friday concert will be $15, with a price of $10 for seniors, students with valid ID, and children 12 and under. Admission for the Saturday concert will be $25, with a fee of $15 for seniors, students with valid ID, and children 12 and under. Ticket and reservation information is available at (203) 837-TIXX and www.wcsu.edu\/tickets<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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The WCSU Jazz Fest will open on Thursday, April 24<\/strong>, with two concerts at 2 p.m. and at 7 p.m., also in Ives Concert Hall. Each concert will feature five Western student jazz ensembles in performance with members of the WCSU Department of Music<\/a> faculty. Admission to the Thursday concerts will be free and the public is invited to attend. Jazz Fest events are sponsored by the Department of Music and the Student Government Association. <\/p>\n

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In a performance career spanning more than three decades, Watts has been a much sought-after sideman featured on more than 100 albums produced by the leading jazz artists of the era including Wynton and Branford Marsalis, Kenny Garrett, Alice and Ravi Coltrane, McCoy Tyner, Dave Kikoski and John Beasley. He has earned Grammy Awards for his Marsalis CD collaborations as well as his work on \u201cMingus Big Band Live at Jazz Standard\u201d and his own 2009 release \u201cWatts,\u201d one of seven CD recordings he has produced since 1999 as bandleader, drummer and composer.<\/p>\n

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Breaking onto the jazz scene from 1981 to 1988 as a member of the Wynton Marsalis Quartet, Watts gained national attention in the early 1990s during his three-year stint in the Branford Marsalis ensemble appearing on \u201cThe Tonight Show with Jay Leno.\u201d He also appeared with Denzel Washington in the Spike Lee film \u201cMo Better Blues\u201d in the role of the fictional drummer \u201cRhythm Jones.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201c\u2018Tain\u2019 Watts is the foremost jazz drummer of the past 30 years,\u201d remarked Jamie Begian<\/a>, chair of the WCSU Department of Music and coordinator of the jazz studies program. Begian, who will conduct the WCSU Jazz Orchestra in performance with Watts, observed that the Friday concert will feature the drummer\u2019s takes on original WCSU student arrangements by senior Tim Lewis of Wayne Shorter\u2019s \u201cOne by One,\u201d and by Greg LaPine of John Coltrane\u2019s \u201cNaima.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Saxophonist and bandleader Jimmy Greene<\/a>, an assistant professor of music and assistant coordinator of jazz studies at WCSU, has performed frequently with Watts in concert and on recordings, and he described his experiences as \u201cmagic.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s thrilling to play with him,\u201d Greene said. \u201cHe knows so much about music and about the history of the jazz vocabulary, and he\u2019s able to access all of it in his performance. He\u2019s very creative and propulsive, very much in the moment when he\u2019s performing. He\u2019s always ready to add something new to the music \u2014 and when you\u2019re playing with him, you\u2019ve got to be ready to respond!\u201d<\/p>\n

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Saturday\u2019s concert performance by the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra will bring one of the nation\u2019s longest-running big bands to WCSU with a library of music steeped in the traditional sounds and rhythms of VJO founders Thad Jones and Mel Lewis and enriched by the contributions of former leader Bob Brookmeyer and VJO composer-in-residence Jim McNeely. Since the mid-1960s, VJO has brought together top professional jazz performers for the orchestra\u2019s standing engagement each Monday at the Village Vanguard in Manhattan. Mainstays such as McNeely, alto saxophonist Dick Oatts, drummer John Riley and other longtime VJO members provide remarkable continuity and a strong link to the band\u2019s origins. <\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s one of the great orchestras in the history of jazz, a real institution in the jazz world,\u201d Greene observed. \u201cJim McNeely is influenced by Thad Jones, whose music is still a huge part of the band\u2019s performance. They present a style and sound that are very readily identifiable.\u201d <\/p>\n


\n \u201cFrom its inception, the Vanguard band has been a collection of professional musicians playing the cutting-edge music of the day in a very skilled and artful way,\u201d Begian said. \u201cWhat\u2019s special about this band is that it\u2019s a mix of seasoned professionals who played with Jones and Lewis and younger musicians who have learned from this tradition and built on it. This has brought renewal as people leave and join the band, and that\u2019s part of what keeps their sound so alive and vital.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Begian noted that the participation of Watts and members of the VJO in conducting instructional clinics on campus for Western music students during Jazz Fest provides an especially valuable learning experience. \u201cYou cannot replicate this kind of hands-on, face-to-face contact with a professional like \u2018Tain\u2019 Watts or an institution like the Vanguard band in the jazz world,\u201d he said. \u201cThese professionals will be observing and listening to our students with their undivided attention and giving them direct feedback on their performances. As an educator, this is one of the strongest motivations for organizing Jazz Fest each year.\u201d<\/p>\n

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WCSU music faculty also will offer outreach to the community in providing teaching clinics for middle and high school jazz ensembles during the opening day of Jazz Fest on April 24. The instructional program will gain an international flair this year with the participation for the first time of several Canadian instrumental and choral groups from Linden Christian School, a K-12 institution in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Greene\u2019s children attended Linden during their residency in Winnipeg and his family remains close with that of the high school band director, Chad Pollard. \u201cThe culture of band and choral performance is very strong in Manitoba schools, and Linden has produced strong instrumentalists and singers,\u201d Greene said. \u201cThis is a great opportunity for their students to come here.\u201d <\/p>\n


\n For more information about Jazz Fest, contact Begian at begianj@wcsu.edu<\/a> or the Office of University Relations at (203) 837-8486.<\/p>\n

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\n Western Connecticut State University offers outstanding faculty in a range of quality academic programs. Our diverse university community provides students an enriching and supportive environment that takes advantage of the unique cultural offerings of Western Connecticut and New York. Our vision: To be an affordable public university with the characteristics of New England\u2019s best small private universities.<\/em><\/p>\n

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