Purdue Jazz Festival 2009 Guest Artists

Gary Smulyan

Baritone saxophonist Gary Smulyan is critically acclaimed as one of the major voices on the baritone saxophone today. As a teenager growing up on Long Island, Gary had the opportunity to perform with Lee Konitz, Chet Baker, and Jimmy Knepper.

In 1978 he was asked to join Woody Herman's Young Thundering Herd, which at that time included Joe Lovano, Marc Johnson and John Riley. He left Herman in 1980 and moved back to New York to join the Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra led by Bob Brookmeyer. Smulyan has recorded and performed worldwide with Freddie Hubbard, Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Ray Charles, B.B. King, Tom Harrell. Cedar Walton, George Coleman, Joe Henderson, Joe Lovano, Tommy Flanagan, Chick Corea, Diana Ross, Clark Terry, Kenny Wheeler, Charles McPherson, James Moody and Slide Hampton, among others.

Smulyan is currently on faculty at William Paterson University and is a clinician and endorser for Vandoren Woodwind Products and Keilworth Saxophones. In 2004 he received the Jazz Journalists’ Award for Baritone Saxophonist of the Year and was also the winner of the 2007 Down Beat Critics Poll.

Allen Vizzutti

Equally at home in a multitude of musical idioms, Allen Vizzutti has visited 40 countries and every state in the union to perform with a rainbow of artists and ensembles including Chick Corea, the NBC Tonight Show Band, the Airmen Of Note, Chuck Mangione, Woody Herman, Japan’s NHK Orchestra and the New Tokyo Philharmonic, the Budapest Radio Orchestra, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Leipzig Wind Symphony and the Kosie Wind Orchestra.

Performing as a classical and a jazz artist, often in the same evening, he has appeared as guest soloist with symphony orchestras in Tokyo, Germany, St. Louis, Seattle, Rochester (NY), Milwaukee, Phoenix, Edmonton, Vancouver and Winnipeg to name a few.

While growing up in Montana, Allen was taught by his father, a self taught musician and trumpet player, until he left home to attend the Eastman School of Music on full scholarship. There he earned the Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees, a Performer’s Certificate, a chair in the Eastman Brass Quintet faculty ensemble, and the only Artist’s Diploma ever awarded a wind player in Eastman’s 85 year history.

He is currently “Artist In Residence” at the University of Washington. His extensive treatise, The Allen Vizzutti Trumpet Method and his New Concepts for Trumpet, (Alfred Music Publishing), have become standards works for trumpet study world wide. Many more of Allen’s jazz and classical books, play along recordings, and student and recital compositions are published by DeHaske/Hal Leonard, Southern Music, and Ars Nova.

While living in Los Angeles during the 80’s, Allen performed on over 100 motion picture sound tracks, (such as Back To The Future and Star Trek), as well as countless TV shows, commercials and recordings with such artists as Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Neil Diamond, Chick Corea, the Commodores and Prince.

Allen Vizzutti is a Yamaha Performing Artist and his participation in this year's jazz festival is largely due to the generosity of Yamaha's donations. Among his solo jazz recordings are Trumpet Summit and Skyrocket from Summit Records.

Mingus Big Band

The Mingus Big Band celebrates the music of the composer and bassist, Charles Mingus, who died in 1979. Under the artistic direction of Sue Mingus, this 14-piece band performed Thursday nights from 1991 to 2004 at the Fez under Time Cafe in New York City, occasionally alternating with the Charles Mingus Orchestra. In November 2004, the big band began its Tuesday night residency at Iridium Jazz Club. The Mingus Big Band tours extensively in the United States and abroad, and has eight recordings to its credit, six of which have been nominated for Grammys.

Regulars appearing in the 14-piece band:
3 Trumpets: Randy Brecker, Earl Gardner, Eddie Henderson, Ryan Kisor, Kenny Rampton, Alex Sipiagin, Lew Soloff, Jack Walrath
3 Trombones: Jonathan Arons, Luis Bonilla, Robin Eubanks, Joe Fieldler, Conrad Herwig, Andy Hunter, Ku-umba Frank Lacy, Earl McIntyre, Dave Taylor
5 Saxophones: Seamus Blake, Abraham Burton, Ronnie Cuber, Wayne Escoffery, Mark Gross, Craig Handy, David Lee Jones, Jason Marshall, Donny McCaslin, Lauren Sevian, Jaleel Shaw
Piano: George Colligan, Kenny Drew Jr., Orrin Evans, David Kikoski,
Bass: Boris Kozlov, Hans Glawischnig, Andy McKee, John Benitez, Joe Martin, Ugonna Okegwo
Drums: Donald Edwards, Johnathan Blake, Gene Jackson

The Critics say:
Jon Pareles of The New York Times says the group has “revived Charles Mingus’s repertory and the brawling, muscular, hard-swinging, bluesy way he wanted it played.”

“A spirited blend of the lush harmonies and boisterous blues sections, interwoven ensemble passages and sudden tempo shifts that made the late bassist Charles Mingus one of the most challenging and celebrated artists in jazz.” - Los Angeles Times

“The Mingus Big Band is a wonder and an anomaly...the Mingus Band has taken a musical legacy and transformed it into a creative force that generates a contemporary originality and vitality all its own. They are an important part of the current jazz scene and a constant reminder that jazz—big band jazz, at that—is not merely entertainment but a powerful art form and means of expression.” - All About Jazz

For tickets to the Mingus Big Band Friday night concert, call 765-494-3933 or (800) 914-SHOW, click here for online ordering information or mail in this form.

The Ryan Cohan Quartet

The Ryan Cohan Quartet constantly searches for new musical territory to explore while remaining deeply rooted in jazz and blues traditions. Conversant in a variety of world-music styles and rhythms, the Chicago-based quartet has distinguished itself on major stages throughout the U.S. and Canada by balancing dynamic and tight ensemble playing with explosive, expressive solos.

The Ryan Cohan Quartet was chosen by a panel led by Wynton Marsalis for the 2008 “Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad Program.” Sponsored by Jazz At Lincoln Center and The U.S. State Department, the RCQ will embark on an extended international tour as “Jazz Ambassadors” to perform concerts and conduct clinics in countries less familiar with the indigenous American art form.

Ryan Cohan

Ryan Cohan, leader of the quartet, is based in Chicago and maintains a busy schedule as a pianist, composer, and producer with the top regional musicians and has also performed with other master jazz artists such as Freddie Hubbard, Milt Hinton, Jon Faddis, Joe Locke, Curtis Fuller, Pat La Barbera, Regina Carter, Nick Brignola, Ed Shaughnessey, Andy Bey, Kurt Elling, Kent Jordan, and Michal Urbaniak among others.

Ryan’s diverse resume also includes a substantial list of commercial studio performing credits, a guest artist appearance with the Chicago Chamber Musicians, arranging for the Grant Park Symphony with Otis Clay, and the 2001 music director position with the Chicago Human Rhythm Project.

2003 marked Ryan’s film scoring debut when he composed and produced the soundtrack to the independently released short film, Dog Walker, and early in 2007 Ryan completed scoring his first feature length film, Tapioca, starring Ben Vereen.

Cohan has also worked closely with NEA Jazz Master Ramsey Lewis penning over a dozen compositions and arrangemennts that have appeared on four Lewis releases since 1997 including Appassionata (Narada Jazz)-named “jazz album of the year” in Billboard Magazine’s first annual music awards(2000).

Chamber Music America New York awarded Ryan their highly competitive New Works: Creation and Presentation Grant in 2005 to compose a new suite for his sextet. This extensive new work entitled, One Sky: Tone Poems For Humanity, was premiered in July 2006 at Skidmore College’s Bernhard Theatre in upstate New York and was received with a standing ovation and a rave review from albanyjazz.com.

The Critics say:
Chicago is an underappreciated haven for great bebop pianists, something to which Ryan Cohan’s new One Sky further gives credence. With witty arrangements and blistering solo capabilities, Cohan is certainly on the edge of bigger things. Lorin Cohen on bass, Kobie Watkins on drums and Geof Bradfield on saxes fill out his quartet. - Time Out Chicago

Known internationally, the Purdue Jazz Band boasts a long and rich tradition of performing with some of the top artists in jazz today. It travels extensively each year and has twice performed at the Montreux International Jazz Festival in Switzerland with the last time in July 2000. That summer it topped all jazz bands in competition at the Alpine International Jazz Festival in Saas-Fee, Switzerland, and played club gigs in Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands. In spring of 1999, the band made a 10-day concert tour to California. It has also been featured at the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic, the Montreux-Detroit Festival, the Music Educators National Conference and the Notre Dame Collegiate Jazz Festival.

Each January, the Purdue Jazz Band, along with Purdue University Bands, hosts the three-day Purdue Jazz Festival. Among the many guest artists to appear with the Purdue Jazz Band are Bill Watrous, Freddie Hubbard, Howie Smith, Denis DeBlasio, Ed Shaughnessy, Marvin Stamm, Cecil Bridgewater, Gary Burton, Allen Vizzutti, Chris Vadala, Howard Levy, Conrad Herwig, Terell Stafford, Jim Pugh, Ingrid Jensen, Teri Lyne Carrington, James Williams, Bob Mintzer, Michael Philip Mossman, Steve Weist and Bobby Watson.

Dr. Marion T. "Mo" Trout, Assistant Professor of Bands, is in his seventh year as the director of the Purdue Jazz Band and coordinator of Purdue's Jazz Studies Program as well as the Purdue Jazz Festival. His Doctor of Musical Arts degree (Trumpet Performance, 1991) is from the University of North Texas. His master's degree (also from the University of North Texas) is in Music Education, as is his bachelor's degree which is from Texas Christian University.

Prior to coming to Purdue, Trout was an Associate Professor of Music and Director of Jazz Studies at Amarillo College, Amarillo, Texas. His teaching responsibilities have included trumpet, music theory and music literature.

As a trumpeter, Trout has split his time between the jazz and classical idioms having performed with symphony orchestras in Amarillo, Sacramento, San Antonio, and Ft. Worth and with numerous jazz and popular artists.

In addition to his symphonic, collegiate and university positions, he has also served as the Music Director and Conductor of the Amarillo Symphony Youth Orchestra and the Amarillo Jazz Orchestra. While at Purdue, Trout remains an active clinician, adjudicator, soloist, and guest conductor for jazz bands, concert bands and orchestras throughout the Midwest and Southwest.