Purdue Arts and Entertainment News

January 9, 1997

Purdue Jazz Festival hits the stage Jan. 23 and 24

The festival kicks off at 8 p.m. Friday with a Purdue Convocations concert with jazz pianist James Williams and his band, The Intensive Care Unit. The group features jazz, rhythm and blues and gospel-inspired music. Tickets are $20 for the public, $13 for Purdue students, available at Purdue box offices, (765) 494-3933 or 1-800-914-SHOW.

The concert is presented by Purdue Convocations with support from Friends of Convocations and United Technologies.

Williams, who last appeared at Purdue with the Contemporary Piano Ensemble, is a former member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. The Intensive Care Unit includes saxophonist Steve Wilson, bassist John Lockwood and drummer Yoron Israel. Also in the group are vocalists Miles Griffith and Roger Holland, both of whom are former members of The Boy's Choir of Harlem.

Williams will lead a discussion of the evening's music at 7 p.m. in Stewart Center, Room 206. The discussion is free and open to the public.

On Saturday, Jan. 24, more than 75 high school and middle school jazz bands from Indiana, Illinois and Michigan will participate in jazz competitions and educational clinics. Bands will perform in several sites in Stewart Center and the Purdue Memorial Union, including Loeb Playhouse, Fowler Hall and the Memorial Union Ballrooms. Judges will evaluate each band and will select the honor bands and honor students from the festival.

Also during the day on Saturday, Williams, the Purdue Lab Jazz Band, the Purdue Concert Band and other professional soloists will present educational clinics on topics such as improvisation, rehearsal techniques and performance techniques.

A grand finale concert rounds out the day at 6:30 p.m. Saturday in the Elliott Hall of Music. The top high school and middle school honor bands selected from the day's competition will open the concert. The Purdue Jazz Band also will perform. The jazz band will be joined by three soloists:

Terell Stafford, on trumpet, is the head of jazz studies at Temple University. He is a regular in the trumpet sections of Wynton Marsalis' Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and Jon Faddis' Carnegie Hall Jazz Band. He also has produced two critically acclaimed compact disc recordings.

• Conrad Herwing, on trombone, is becoming known as one of the most exciting trombone soloists in the world. His most recent recording is the new Joe Henderson compact disc featuring music from "Porgy and Bess."
  
• Jim Snidero, on alto saxophone, has recorded more than six compact discs and has toured extensively with Toshiko Akiyoshi, Eddie Palmieri and Frank Sinatra. He is an experienced educator and works as an instructor at the Jamey Aebersold Summer Workshops.

Tickets for Saturday's activities are $8 and will be available in the main lobby of Stewart Center the day of the festival. The Purdue Jazz Festival is the largest event of its kind in the Midwest.

Although Purdue has no school of music, students can participate in a wide variety of instrumental musical activities, including five concert bands, four jazz bands, a full symphony orchestra, a vocal jazz group, the largest marching band in the country, individual instrumental study, and a multitude of solo and ensemble opportunities.

The bands department is in the midst of a $2 million fund-raising campaign that will run through Homecoming 1999 with a goal of $400,000 for band scholarships, $800,000 for new instruments, and $800,000 to support student travel opportunities.

CONTACTS: Jennifer Tucker, director of public relations, bands, (765) 496-2697; e-mail, tuckerj@concentric.net, and Jeff Langford, Convocations publicist, (765) 494-9712; e-mail, jilangford@convos.purdue.edu

Contemporary pianist sees newness in old tunes

Oppens is best known as a contemporary music specialist, but her interests actually extend as far back as Mozart. She promotes the relevancy of old music in her concerts, stating "all music was new at the time it was written." The Boston Globe described Oppens as "one of music's MVPs, and a national treasure."

Oppens, the John Evans Distinguished Professor of Music at Northwestern University, has been honored with an Avery Fisher Career Grant, the 1979 Record World Award, and a Grammy nomination. Immediately following the performance, Oppens will discuss the evening's music from the Loeb Playhouse stage.

Tickets are $17 for the public and $11 for Purdue students at campus box offices. Charge by phone at (765) 494-3933 or 1-800-914-SHOW.

CONTACT: Jeff Langford, Convocations publicist, (765) 494-9712; e-mail, jilangford@convos.purdue.edu

Compiled by J. Michael Willis, (765) 494-0371; e-mail, mike_willis@purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; e-mail, purduenews@purdue.edu

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