UC Jazz Ensembles

UC Jazz Ensembles – Advanced Combos 

UC Jazz Ensembles in 2007

Advanced Combos

The Advanced Combo consist of the top players in UC Jazz Ensembles. Placement in these combos is restricted. The advanced combos perform jazz standards, challenging and contemporary material such as Dave Liebman and Chick Corea, and original compositions. Advanced musicians should have a thorough understanding of bebop and contemporary improvisation styles, and a familiarity with the musical languages of Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, Bill Evans, etc. Students should know diatonic and non-diatonic jazz harmonic theory and have memorized several jazz standards. They should have technical fluency on their instrument and possess advanced jazz musicianship skills, including sight-reading, transposition, odd-meter playing, and pitch/chord recognition, although the combos will continue to work in all of these areas. Advanced combos frequently perform at highly visible venues on and off campus and perform biannually at our end of semester concerts with the UC Jazz Big Band.

Instructor: Ted Moore

Personnel:

  Shomik Chakravarty, guitar

  Matt Staley, guitar

  Kevin Wang, piano

  Noah Whitfield, bass

  Anand Badri, drums

Dan Zinn’s Advanced Combo

Instructor: Dan Zinn

Personnel:

  Trevor Orr, alto

  Robert Barner, guitar

  Chris Allen, piano

  Joe Constantini, bass

  Nick Duffy, drums

Frank Martin’s Advanced Combo

Instructor: Frank Martin

Personnel:

  Richard Conway, trumpet

  Alex Siegel, guitar

  Andrew Hutchinson, piano

  Seabrien Arata, drums

  Ali Warrick, drums

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Ted Moore, Head of UC Jazz Introduction

Ted Moore, Director, UC Jazz Ensembles

Ted Moore created the UC Jazz Club to infuse his department with community spirit and to share his students’ talent with the Bay Area Community!

Ted Moore

Mr. Moore is head of the prestigious Jazz Department at UC Berkeley. Aside of his administrative duties he offers his skills as the Percussion Director of UC Jazz Ensembles Advanced Combo II, Improv Workshop

A graduate of the Eastman School of Music, Ted Moore has toured the world with Paul Winter, Marian McPartland, Stan Getz, Joe Williams and many others. For several years, he lived in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, performing timpani and percussion with the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra, as well as touring and recording with one of Brazil’s leading saxophonists, Victor Assis Brasil. Mr. Moore has composed original scores for several films and television series, including the NOVA science series on PBS.

Since graduating from the Eastman School of Music, Ted has pursued a career which has taken him to many parts of the world with many different artists. He is leader and composer for his own Brazilian jazz group, Brasilia, which has released its first CD to national acclaim. He has performed with Stan Getz, Paul Winter, Marian McPartland, Eric Gale, Jack Wilkins, Gene Bertoncini, and Joey DeFrancesco. On tour, Ted has performed throughout the US and Canada, as well as Japan, Spain, England and Holland.

He also spent two years living in Rio de Janeiro as percussionist with the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra, and performing with many well known Brazilian jazz artists. He has played in Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, the Cathedral of St. John in New York, Grace Cathedral in San Francisco and Suntory Hall in Tokyo.

Ted Moore, Director, UC Jazz Ensembles
Ted Moore, Director, UC Jazz Ensembles
Ted Moore’s Brasilia and the Oregon Symphony In February 2007, Director of UC Jazz, Ted Moore, will once again be performing his arrangements for small group and symphony orchestra, this time with the Oregon Symphony in Portland. The concert will feature his group, Brasilia, including Phil Markowitz on piano and Romero Lubambo on guitar. This follows last season’s appearances with the Rochester Philharmonic and the Vancouver Symphony.

“[Ted] Moore’s originals speak the bossa dialect more authentically than the compositions of perhaps any other non-Brazilian.” — Mark Holston, JazzIz magazine

“[Ted] Moore’s writing is true to bossa nova standards in its relentless melodicism and unexpected chord progressions. Driggs’ vocals effortlessly find the balance between strength and femininity.” Jazz Southwest magazine

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 – Ted Moore

Ted Moore started the UC Jazz Club to save the UC Jazz Ensembles Program

Ted Moore creates the UC Jazz Club to infuse his department with community spirit and to share his students’ talent with the Bay Area Community!

Mr. Moore is head of the prestigious Jazz Department at UC Berkeley. Aside from his administrative duties he offers his skills as the Percussion Director of UC Jazz Ensembles Advanced Combo II, Improv Workshop.

A graduate of the Eastman School of Music, Ted Moore has toured the world with Paul Winter, Marian McPartland, Stan Getz, Joe Williams, Eric Gale, Jack Wilkins, Gene Bertonzini, Joey DeFrancesco, and many others. For several years, he lived in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, performing timpani and percussion with the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra, as well as touring and recording with one of Brazil’s leading saxophonists, Victor Assis Brasil. Mr. Moore has composed original scores for several films and television series, including the NOVA science series on PBS. Currently,

Since graduating from the Eastman School of Music, Ted has pursued a career which has taken him to many parts of the world with many different artists. He is leader and composer for his own Brazilian jazz group, Brasilia, which has released its first CD to national acclaim. On tour, Ted has performed throughout the US and Canada, as well as Japan, Spain, England and Holland.

He has played in Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, the Cathedral of St. John in New York, Grace Cathedral in San Francisco and Suntory Hall in Tokyo.

Ted Moore in the News

Ted Moore’s Brasilia and the Oregon Symphony. In February 2007, Director of UC Jazz, Ted Moore, once again performs his arrangements for small group and symphony orchestra, this time with the Oregon Symphony in Portland.

The concert features his group, Brasilia, including Phil Markowitz on piano and Romero Lubambo on guitar. This follows last season’s appearances with the Rochester Philharmonic and the Vancouver Symphony.

Brasilia – Ted Moore’s with his reknowned and accomplished band members

Brasilia

“[Ted] Moore’s originals speak the bossa dialect more authentically than the compositions of perhaps any other non-Brazilian.” — Mark Holston, JazzIz magazine

“[Ted] Moore’s writing is true to bossa nova standards in its relentless melodicism and unexpected chord progressions. Driggs’ vocals effortlessly find the balance between strength and femininity.” Jazz Southwest magazine

“[Ted] Moore’s originals speak the bossa dialect more authentically than the compositions of perhaps any other non-Brazilian.” — Mark Holston, JazzIz magazine

“Pamela Driggs is one of the best new voices in jazz.” — Herbie Mann

“One of the freshest and most exciting releases of the year celebrates the musical traditions of Brazil in thoroughly captivating style… Brasilia is definitely a band to watch.” — JazzTimes magazine

“The affection the members of Brasilia have for the Brazilian genre is evident… some of the most sensitive and resourceful practitioners of the music to come along in years.” — Mark Holston, JazzIz magazine

“This impressive band remains faithful to the highest standards of Brazilian music while delivering an ear-catching personality all their own — a difficult feat and one that merits much attention in an era of luke-warm Latin sounds.” — Dave McElfresh, JazzNow magazine

“A cohesive program of exuberant rhythms and seductive melodies… that evolves with an uncommon blend of logic and emotion. Pamela’s voice is a remarkable instrument, defining the bittersweet edge of the Brazilian style with deft perfection and a natural ease that’s totally disarming.” — Mark Holston, JazzIz magazine

“[Ted] Moore’s writing is true to bossa nova standards in its relentless melodicism and unexpected chord progressions. Driggs’ vocals effortlessly find the balance between strength and femininity.” — Jazz Southwest magazine

“Singer [Pam] Driggs does remind the listener of some of the best chanteuses in the bossa nova movement.” — Phoenix New Times

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.

UC Jazz Voices

UC Jazz Voices

UC Jazz Voices

At the UC Jazz Voices Ensemble students learn about their relationship to the beat, their phrasing, and their individual sounds. Each one unique, each signature strives to change the rhythm or melody, tempo or mood, to allow their sounds to leave indelible marks. Their voices speak to us. They learn to share different sets practicing their unique abilities as composers, improvisers and arrangers.

The emphasis of the Vocal Ensemble is on learning the standard vocal jazz repertoire. Vocalists sing individually, accompanied by a trio of piano, bass and drums. Vocal improvisation is also covered.

Instructor: Maye Cavallaro 

Meets: Wednesdays 12:00-2:00pm

Personnel:

Rosette Diaz
Paige Weber
Sarah Scher
Grace Simon
Paget Kagy
Angela Li

Trevor Wong, piano
Rosezetta Upshaw, bass

Here should be an article about one of the students or an alumni. We need to do some research on that