Tag: Ranie Smith

  • Artist Highlight – UC Jazz Ensembles

    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! 

    Warm Regards, 

    Ranie Smith
    Executive Director, UC Jazz Club

    We have much to appreciate this year! 

    Enjoy the photo library

  • Welcome to the UC Jazz Club!

    UC Jazz Club's First Members

    Introduction

    The new UC Jazz Club has been founded by the University Jazz Students and its faculty. We invite donors and volunteers who have an avid interest in enjoying and supporting our growing program.

    The UC Jazz Club will offer several unique sponsorship opportunities for the purpose of remodeling the UC Jazz studios.

    Our current and growing resources in the studios include equipment, practice areas, a jazz library and recordings of live performances of the UC Jazz Ensemble’s members.. 

    Our goal is to uphold this Bay Area UC Jazz tradition which has enchanted the Bay Area and often the world since 1966.

    Please contact Mr. Ted Moore, the department’s director to learn about the program.Contact us NOW for our Ad Sponsorship Opportunities at https://ucjazz.berkeley.edu/

     

     

     

     

     

  • Artist Highlight – Benny Goodman

    Benny Goodman, King of Swing
    Benny Goodman, King of Swing

    “Sometimes when you start losing detail, whether it’s in music or in life, something as small as failing to be polite, you start to lose substance. ” Benny Goodman 

    Benny Goodman, the King of Swing  by Ranie Smith

    Benjamin David Goodman was born on May 30, 1909 in Chicago, Illinois to immigrants David Goodman and Dora Grisinsky Goodman. Benny grew up with eleven siblings.

    His father worked as a tailor. As a ten-year-old, Benny Goodman, learned how to play the clarinet at the local synagogue. He was fortunate that there he was taught by Chicago Symphony Member, Franz Schoepp. Two of his brothers learned the tuba and the trumpet. Benny Goodman was very talented and joined his first band when he was 11 years old – performing at the Hull-House. He joined the American Federation of Musicians when he was 14 and devoted himself full-time to his music career. His father passed away and therefore the 15-year-old Benny used the money he made to help support his family Benny was 16 he joined the Ben Pollack band and became a featured soloist. In 1929 Benny left the Ben Pollack band to participate in recording sessions and radio shows in New York City. In 1933 John Hammond, a jazz promoter, recorded Benny Goodman together with drummer Gene Krupa and trombonist Jack Teagarden. This recording gainedBenny Goodman national popularity. In 1942, Benny married John Hammond’s sister, Alice Hammond Duckworth and had two daughters Rachel and Benji.

    Benny led his first band in 1934 and their music had its roots in the Southern jazz forms of ragtime and Dixieland, while its structure adhered more to arranged music than its more improvisational jazz counterparts. This gave it an accessibility that appealed to American audiences on a wide scale. America began to hear Benny ‘s band when he secured a weekly engagement for his band on NBC’s radio show “Let’s Dance,” which was taped with a live studio audience. The new swing music had the kids dancing when, on August 21, 1935, Benny’s band played the Palomar Ballroom in Los Angeles. It was sensational and marked the beginning of the years during which Benny Goodman reigned as King of the Swing. Benny Goodman’s band became hugely successful among listeners from all different backgrounds all around the world. 

    Benny Goodman was all about the music: ” If a guy got it, let him give it. I’m selling music, not prejudice.” During this period Benny also became famous for being colorblind when it came to racial segregation and prejudice. Pianist Teddy Wilson, an African-American, first appeared in the Benny Goodman Trio at the Congress Hotel in 1935. Benny added Lionel Hampton, who would later form his own band, to his Benny Goodman Quartet the next year. While these groups were not the first bands to feature both white and black musicians, Benny’s national popularity helped to make racially mixed groups more accepted in the mainstream. Time magazine in 1937 to call him the “King of Swing.” Benny Goodman and his band made history as the first jazz band ever to play in New York’s prestigious Carnegie Hall along with musicians from the Count Basie and Duke Ellington bands. After this success there were many changes to the band and he was joined by Cootie Williams and Charlie Christian, as well as Jimmy Maxwell and Mel Powell, among others. 

    In the late 40s and 50s music tastes changed and Bop, Rock and Roll gained in popularity. Benny Goodman started playing solos with major orchestras. He enjoyed classical music and studied with internationally acclaimed classical clarinetist Reginald Kell. In 1955 a film chronicling his life, The Benny Goodman Story was released. Benny Goodman then started touring the world, bringing his music to Asia and Europe. When he traveled to the USSR, one writer observed that “the swing music that had once set the jitterbugs dancing in the Paramount aisles almost blew down the Iron Curtain.” 

    During the late 1960s and 1970s, Benny appeared in reunions with the other
    members of his quartet: Teddy Wilson, Gene Krupa and Lionel Hampton. In 1978, the Benny Goodman band also appeared at Carnegie Hall again to mark the 30th Anniversary of when they appeared in the venue’s first jazz concert. In 1982, Benny was honored by the Kennedy Center for his lifetime achievements in swing music. In 1986, he received both an honorary doctorate degree in music from Columbia University and the Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement.

    He continued to play the music that defined his lifetime in occasional concert dates until his death in June 1986, of cardiac arrest. He was laid to rest at Long Ridge
    Cemetery in Stamford, Connecticut.

    Benny Goodman is credited for the original sound that defined the Swing Era
    and made him the world-renowned King of Swing.