Karen Blixt and her “Mad Hope” ~ Frank’s second record he produced for Karen Blixt.Yoshi’s on the 15th April in Oakland. The show will be open to the public. On trumpet will be Randy Brecker from the Brecker Brothers. Frank Martin on piano and keyboard. We also will have well known pianist Patrice Rushen. On guitar will be Jose Neto of the Steve Winwood band. On percussion will be Alex Acuna from the Weather Report band. Bassist Abraham Laboriel, who is the most recorded bass player in history and former Yellowjacket member William Kennedy as the drummer will round out the rhythm section. Vocalist Kenny Washington will make a guest appearance as well. On the CD he recorded one song as a duet with Karen.
by Ranie Smith, Executive Director of the UC Jazz Club
“The UC Jazz Club wishes to thank all its members and the community at large for your continued support. “
“An Evening at Yoshi’s “
On November 12, 2007 the UC Jazz Ensembles performed their First Annual Fundraising Concert. The performance was stellar. Ted Moore, the Musical Director, Brad Brennan, Associate Director of Student Musical Activities together the Carol Suveda, Head of the Fundraising committee were pleased with the community response. It was clear that the community was greatly pleased with the students performance.
The fundraiser could not have been as successful without the strong support of Linda Marquardt, mother of Megan Marquardt. Megan dazzled audiences with her stellar performance. Members of the audience who had not experienced a UC Jazz Ensembles show expressed their astonishment. They applauded the performances, the flawless timing and the amazing solo performances, and the creative interplay between the instruments.
Enjoy the performance! Eddie Lankford Productions filmed a large part of it for your enjoyment. We hope that you will agree with the UC Jazz Club members that this is a worthwhile music program that provides these committed and talented students a chance to deepen their talent. Your continued support is much appreciated.
Frank Martin’s Advanced Combo brought a performance worthy of the beautiful and renown venue at Yoshi’s. Megan Marquardt, tenor sax, and Rolf Olson, tenor sax, gave a stunning performance together with Jeff Wiguna. Ryan Finch, bass, and Alex Wheatley, drums and Luke Hardesty, drums grounded the performance with their flawless rhythm section. They opened up with “Steps” by Chick Corea, brought the house down with “Sonnymoon for Two” by Sonny Rollins. Rosette Diaz, special guest vocalist, stole the show with her spirited and ravishing performance of “Straighten Up and Fly Right”. Megan Marquardt and Rolf Olson amazed the audience with their rendition of “Nardis” by Miles Davis, and Jeff Wiguna, held the audience spell-bound with his performance of “Armando’s Rumba” by Chick Corea.
Ted Moore’s Advanced Combo gave a performance that gave you the feeling of being in the presence of greatness. Amy Shen shined on both the flute and the alto saxophone. She was complimented and supported by Andrew Baltazar on tenor sax, whose performance was flawless and mature giving you the feeling of listening to a much older jazz great. Richard Conway, trumpet, amazed as always with his precision and technique. Kirk Danielson, an award-winning pianist, carried off a performance that silenced the room with the audience spell-bound. Gary Johnson, bass, captured the audience and left them hungry for more. We hope he will keep playing because we want to hear him any chance we can get. He is hugely talented. Yanik Jayaram, drums, has a light touch that gave this ensemble a light-hearted backdrop. They performed Invitation by Kaper/Washington, Tuties, by Gary Johnson – we will keep watching his career. Please Gary keep playing! The classic of “Love for Sale” by Cole Porter was followed by the Killer June by Ted Moore and Rubidium, by Amy Shen. This ensemble touched the soul and left you wishing for more.
The second set began with Dann Zinn’s Advanced Combo who showed Amy Shen and Andrew Baltazar on woodwinds. Amy is so amazing! She composes and is stellar on every instrument she plays. Charles Chen gave a piano performance that was passionate and showed off his technique. Clayton Ernst and the superbly talented Benny Amon played with a majority beyond their age in supporting the band. The entire ensemble played in a way that gave the impression that these complex pieces were easy for them to play. They performed “Free for All” by Wayne Shorter, “Mei Hua” by Amy Shen, “Solace in a Dream” by Amy Shen, and “Eat the Piano” by Charles Chen.
The show ended with a stellar Big Band performance, which we unfortunately could not film this time around. They were amazing and we encourage you to read the UC Jazz Newsletter regularly to make sure you can catch them next time. Steve Campos organizes regular performances with his Big Band and we encourage you to check out his impressive background. His experience is transmitted to the Big Band who play together as though have have been together for years.
Please join the UC Jazz Club and join in the fun. Our club members learned quickly that the joy we get out of supporting this wonderful program greatly outweighs the effort we put into supporting them. Join in the fun of keeping this all important cultural program alive. Come to the performances or give a secure online donation using your credit card at: https://egiving.berkeley.edu/urelgift/jazz.html
We appreciate your support! And, we hope you enjoy this and future shows!
Once in a while a Jazz musician comes along and changes the course and direction of music, an instrumentalist that takes his instrument into a new direction that [all those] others after him follow like a beacon. These innovators, to name a few, include: Charlie Parker on alto sax, Wes Montgomery on guitar, Oscar Peterson or Bill Evans on piano.1
However, on the bass, there is only one: Stanley Clarke
Stanley Clarke, raised in Philadelphia, burst onto the music scene as a teenager in 1971, arriving in New York straight out of the Philadelphia Academy of Music. He immediately landed jobs with famous bandleaders such as: Horace Silver, Art Blakey, Dexter Gordon, Joe Henderson, Pharaoh Saunders, Gil Evans, Stan Getz, and a budding young pianist composer named Chick Corea.
Before Stanley Clarke, the traditional role of the bassist in the band was that of [the] timekeeper; and also [functioning as] the foundation, the person in the band that played the lowest note in the chord, the note that the chordal structures of the songs were built upon. Stanley came along with a deep sense of melody crafted from years of listening to all of the musicians that came before him, not just the bassists. He also had an intense command of the instrument, because of his height, large hands and sincere and total dedication.
He began to pull away from the traditional role of the bassist and started to bring his instrument into the forefront. Stanley pushed himself towards perfection with relentless attention to be the best. His efforts catapulted him to the front of the stage as a viable melodic bass soloist where his dream manifested first in the Grammy Award Winning jazz-fusion band “Return to Forever”. RTF recorded eight albums, two of which were certified gold (“Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy” and “Romantic Warrior”); and one, “No Mystery”, won a Grammy award.
One of Stanley Clarke’s fellow bassist’s, Victor Wooten, an accredited bassist of the new era who followed in the tradition, presented the 2006 Bass Player Magazine’s Lifetime Achievement Award to him and had this to say: “There’s no way I would pass on the chance to present this award to Stanley Clarke, a man who has changed the lives of so many musicians, created opportunities for all of us bassists, and been a huge influence on me and my playing.
Presenting Stanley Clarke with a Lifetime Achievement Award is a dream come true.” Wooten continued, “Scoring movies, making recordings, and touring the world, Stanley Clarke has paved the way for all of us by spreading low-end love all over. To me, that is what a Lifetime Achievement Award is all about. It’s not just what you’ve done with your life, but also what you’ve done to help others improve their lives. I believe that Stanley has done more than he realizes in that regard”.
Clarke is a man of “firsts”— having been the first bassist in history who could double on acoustic and electric bass with equal ferocity, as well as the first bassist ever to headline tours, selling out shows worldwide. Clarke recorded what is now considered to be the must-know bass anthem, “School Days.” To this day, accomplished and aspiring bassists continue to imitate his style seeking to master his pioneered techniques.
Friday, Sept. 14, 2007 UC Jazz will present it’s kick-off concert for the new year. The performance will feature UC Jazz Faculty along with special guest, electic bassist Kai Eckhardt.
Kai Eckhardt performs with the UC Jazz Club faculty to kick off the 2007 Semester of the UC Jazz Ensembles
The Bay Area based bass legend, Kai Eckhardt, has performed all over the world with many great artists including John MacLaughlin, and recorded a critically acclaimed live concert with him in the Royal Albert Hall in London. The concert will also feature many new compositions and arrangements of the UC Jazz director, Ted Moore. This is a free concert and will be held in the Choral Rehearsal Hall at 8PM in the basement of the Cesar Chavez Center on campus. For more info contact Ted Moore; tmoore@ucjazz.berkeley.edu
