Jazz Orchestra I directed by Antonio J. García
1. YA GOTTA TRY (3:14)
2. SUNNY RAY (6:46)
3. DON’T BE AFRAID, THE CLOWN’S AFRAID, TOO (9:48)
4. A JOYFUL NOISE (9:27)
5. GREEN ONIONS (10:02)
6. BLACK, BROWN & BEAUTIFUL (4:28)
Small Jazz Ensemble directed by Tony Martucci
7. 8/4 BEAT (6:41)
Jazz Orchestra I directed by Antonio J. García
8. BEYOND ALL LIMITS (6:37) 2
Faculty Jazz Septet
9. BRIGHT MOMENTS (7:28)
10. THE CORE (11:43)
No intercuts, remixes, or overdubs were made within any selection. Selections 1-8 were recorded by Mark Custom Recording directly to two ambient microphones in the Grand Ballroom of the Chicago Hilton. Selections 9-10 were recorded live at Sonia Vlahcevic Concert Hall, VCU, Richmond, VA.
VCU JAZZ ORCHESTRA I
Director--Antonio J. García
Guest Director--Taylor Barnett
Woodwinds--Jonathan Gibson (alto, flute); David Hood (alto, flute); John Lilley (tenor); Jason Arce* (tenor, soprano); Jason Mathias (baritone)
Trumpets and Flugelhorns—Rob Quallich (lead); Marcus Tenney; Jared Broussard (lead flugelhorn on Selection 4, lead trumpet on Selection 5); Ian Magee
Trombones--Andrew Horton, Alex Powers, Dillard Watt, Reginald Chapman (bass tbn)
Rhythm--Karl Morse (guitar); Shang-Cheng Lin (piano); David Ashby (bass); Devonne Harris (drums); plus Antonio García (claves on Selection 2)
VCU SMALL JAZZ ENSEMBLE
Director--Tony Martucci
Saxes--Jon Gibson (alto) & John Lilley (tenor)
Trumpet--Marcus Tenney
Rhythm--Karl Morse (guitar); David Ashby (bass); Devonne Harris (drums)
VCU FACULTY JAZZ SEPTET
Tenor--Skip Gailes
Trumpet & Flugelhorn--Rex Richardson
Trombone--Antonio García; Guitar--Mike Ess
Piano--Bob Hallahan; Bass--Victor Dvoskin; Rusty Farmer* (on Selection 9)
Drums--Tony Martucci
*VCU Jazz alumnus
Of VCU Jazz’s six recordings in the last 25 years, this is the first recorded entirely live before an audience--and without a single remix, EQ adjustment, overdub, or intercut. There was no going back, no retakes, no extra opportunities: this is who we are and how we perform. And we hope you enjoy it!
I am sure you’ll enjoy the work of our guest artists. Wycliffe Gordon enjoys an extraordinary career as a performer, conductor, composer, arranger, and educator, receiving high praise from audiences and critics alike. Currently serving on the faculty of the Jazz Studies Program at The Juilliard School, his work with young musicians and audiences from elementary schools to universities all over the world is extensive.
Rex Richardson is VCU’s professor of trumpet and jazz trumpet and has become one of the busiest crossover trumpet virtuosos in the world. Since 1995, he has recorded and toured around the globe with the critically acclaimed Rhythm & Brass, an ensemble with a reputation as one of the finest brass groups in North America. Richardson also toured North America and Japan as a member of the late jazz legend Joe Henderson’s Quintet and Sextet. He has gained a reputation as a champion of new music, has been featured on dozens of recordings, and has released several recordings as a leader for the IGMOD, D’note, and Summit labels.
Steve Wilson, once a student in the VCU Jazz Studies Program, has been documented on over 100 recordings with the likes of Chick Corea, Dave Holland, Dianne Reeves, O.T.B., Donald Brown, Billy Childs, Don Byron, Bill Stewart, James Williams, and Mulgrew Miller. His CDs on Stretch Records, Criss Cross, and MAXJAZZ highlight his abilities on alto and soprano saxophone and various flutes. He periodically performs with some of New York’s premier big bands, including the Mingus Big Band, Maria Schneider Orchestra, and the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, plus teaches at schools. We are tremendously proud and honored to call Steve Wilson one of our alumni.
Another talented alumnus, Taylor Barnett, is a gifted and dedicated trumpeter, composer, and arranger. He was awarded First Place in the Jazz Division of the 2001 National Trumpet Competition and is a published arranger with UNC Jazz Press. He received his B.M. in Jazz Studies and his M.M. in Trumpet Performance from VCU, where he directs the Jazz Orchestra II and teaches various courses. He has also served as a jazz instructor at Maggie Walker Governor’s School in Richmond.
I am fond of saying that Richmond has more art per square inch than any other city its size. With metal, bluegrass, rock, pop, jazz, folk, classical, world music, and more--plus several major recording studios and countless galleries, museums, and restaurants--Richmond is a city where our students can literally just walk out of the door of the music buildings to try out their music on the public.
I express my appreciation to Wycliffe Gordon, Rex Richardson, Steve Wilson, and Taylor Barnett; JO road manager Ballard Midyette; all VCU Music faculty; Linda Johnston, Tiffanie Chan, Racquel Wallace, and Curt Blankenship (VCU Music Staff); Dr. John Guthmiller (Chair, VCU Department of Music); Prof. John Patykula (Assistant Chair); Dr. Richard Toscan (Dean, VCU School of the Arts); and Dr. Eugene Trani (President, VCU); contributors to the VCU Jazz Students Fund; my wife, Mary; The Midwest Clinic; and Mark Custom Recording, Inc. The VCU Jazz Studies Program is a remarkable family of faculty and students within the team that is the Department of Music. It is an honor to serve with them.
--Prof. Antonio J. García
Director of Jazz Studies
Coordinator of Music Business
Jazz Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University
Established in 1980, the VCU Jazz Studies Program offers its students outstanding opportunities to pursue jazz performance and writing, as evidenced in part by such successful former students as Steve Wilson (sax, Chick Corea’s Origin); James Genus (bass, Saturday Night Live Band; recordings with Dave Douglas, Michael Brecker, Mike Stern, and John Abercrombie); Victor Goines (sax/clarinet, Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra; Former Director, Juilliard Jazz Studies); Alvester Garnett (drums, recordings with Abbey Lincoln, Cyrus Chestnut, James Carter, Regina Carter); Mark Shim (sax, Blue Note recording artist, member of Terence Blanchard sextet); Al Waters (sax, featured with Ray Charles); and Alvin Walker (trombone, Count Basie Orchestra). The Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies degree annually affords some 70 students avenues for pursuing jazz and classical studies, including with 13 jazz faculty covering all the traditional jazz instruments; and VCU’s urban campus offers opportunities for students to play in area club settings.
VCU students have benefited from visits by numerous guest artists and clinicians ranging from creativity clinician Stephen Nachmanovitch and historian Kurt Dietrich to legends such as Frank Foster, Benny Carter, Woody Shaw, Thad Jones, John Abercrombie, Barry Harris, Dave Holland, Louie Bellson, Max Roach, Billy Hart, and Gunther Schuller to such acclaimed artists as Tim Berne, Tony Malaby, Art Baron, Ray Anderson, Ed Neumeister, Scott Colley, William Parker, Johnny Vidacovich, Matt Wilson, and John Hollenbeck. The program has received Down Beat “Outstanding Performance” awards in the big band, combo, soloist, and vocalist categories and has appeared at the Smithsonian Institution, the IAJE Conference, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, and in 2007 became the first university jazz band from the Commonwealth of Virginia to perform at The Midwest Clinic (an international band and orchestra conference, then in its sixty-first year).
This is the sixth recording by the VCU Jazz Studies Program. Its previous CD, “It Could Happen To You,” was chosen by the IAJE Jazz Education Journal as one of the “Top 10 Campus CDs of 2002” and received praise from Down Beat, All About Jazz, and other periodicals. Previous releases included “The Tattooed Bride” (1982), “Things to Come” (1983), “Mood Indigo” (1992), and “The World on a String” (1997).
The Jazz Program and Department of Music have recently benefited from the addition of a Music Business Emphasis to its Bachelor of Arts in Music degree offerings, capitalizing on the strengths of VCU’s Business and Marketing Minors, its acclaimed Digital Recording and Music Industry courses, and the extremely active music and arts scene in Richmond, Virginia that surrounds VCU.
For more information about the VCU Jazz Studies Program, visit www.vcujazz.org and then contact Prof. Antonio García at ajgarcia@vcu.edu, (804) 827-0699. Ask to subscribe to the VCU Jazz E-Newsletter, a free publication e-mailed approximately once a month to students, educators, alumni, artists, prospective students, community members, donors, and jazz enthusiasts!
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Virginia Commonwealth University
VCU is an urban, state-aided institution ranking among the top 100 universities in the nation in sponsored research. It serves some 32,000 students (approximately 22,000 of them undergraduate) via some 1,700 full-time faculty. Located in the heart of Richmond’s historic Fan District, the Monroe Park Campus provides a vibrant setting for the study of music; and there are extensive, nationally ranked health and science programs at the nearby MCV Campus. The most popular undergraduate majors are the arts, biology, criminal justice, English, forensic science, history, mass communications, nursing, and psychology.
VCU is Virginia’s largest university. Its School of the Arts comprises 16 programs and departments, with 3,000 students in Richmond and nearly 200 more in Doha, Quatar. It is the No. 1 public university school of arts and design in the country, according to U.S. News & World Report.
The VCU Music faculty numbers more than 20 full-time members, more than half of whom hold doctorates, plus more than 30 part-time instructors. Over 300 undergraduate students are enrolled as music majors; well over 400 others take music courses each semester.
The Jazz Studies Program is but one of the great strengths of the Department of Music, as evidenced in part this same year by the VCU student Trumpet Quartet and Trombone Quartet performances in the United Kingdom, the Symphonic Wind Ensemble’s concert in Carnegie Hall, and the Commonwealth Singers’ tour to China.
VCU Jazz Faculty
Taylor Barnett--Jazz Orchestra II
Victor Dvoskin--Bass
Michael Ess--Guitar, Small Jazz Ensemble
Skip Gailes--Jazz Studies, Saxophone
Antonio García--Director of Jazz Studies, SJE, JO I, Trombone, Music Industry
Bob Hallahan--Piano, SJE
Bryan Hooten--SJE, Jazz Lab
Brian Jones--Drum Set
J.C. Kuhl--Saxophone
Adam Larrabee--Guitar
Tony Martucci--Drum Set, SJE
Doug Richards--Arranging
Rex Richardson--Trumpet
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Total Playing Time: 76:12
Executive Producer & Liner Notes—Antonio J. García
Engineer (Selections 1-8)—Fred Betschen (Mark Recording)
Engineer (Selections 9-10)—Curt Blankenship (VCU)
Graphics & Layout—Tiffanie S. Chan (VCU)
Mark Custom Recording #7324-MCD
For More Information
VCU Jazz Studies
922 Park Avenue
Box 842004
Richmond VA 23284-2004
ph 804-827-0699
fax 804-827-0230
VCU Department of Music
922 Park Avenue
Box 842004
Richmond VA 23284-2004
ph 804-828-1166
fax 804-827-0230
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