Purdue News

January 8, 1999 Purdue Jazz Festival remembers Duke Ellington WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Entertainers, educators and 89 middle- and high-school bands will pay tribute to the jazz musician Duke Ellington during the ninth annual Purdue Jazz Festival on Jan. 22 and 23. The festival kicks off Friday, Jan. 22, with a concert featuring the Mingus Big Band from New York City. "This will be a fantastic opportunity to hear the band that was voted Best Big Band of 1998 by the 'Downbeat' critic's poll," said Marion "Mo" Tout, director of jazz activities for Purdue University Bands. The concert, which is sold out, is presented by Purdue Convocations. On Saturday, Jan. 23, the festival will continue at five concert sites on the Purdue campus with jazz competition performances by the high-school and middle-school jazz bands and combos from the Midwest. Each band is encouraged to perform at least one composition in keeping with the festival's theme: "A Centennial Celebration of the Birth of Duke Ellington." Ellington (1899-1974) was the most prolific composer-arranger in jazz history, and he led the longest-lived band. He wrote more than 2,000 compositions, distinguishing his music with unusual harmonies and voicings. One of his greatest skills as an arranger was capitalizing on the uniquely personal sounds of individual players. During the 1980s, an entire Broadway revue, "Sophisticated Ladies," was devoted to Ellington's music. The young musicians will participate in numerous educational clinics by nationally and internationally acclaimed jazz artists and educators, including members of the Mingus Big Band and the Hal Galper Trio. The clinics will involve instruction on topics such as improvisation, rehearsal techniques and performance techniques. A grand finale concert at 6:30 p.m. Saturday in the Elliott Hall of Music will feature a set by the Hal Galper Trio. The trio features Galper on piano, Steve Ellington on drums and Jeff Johnson on bass. Although Galper is well-known to many jazz lovers as a side-man in combos including the Phil Woods Quintet, the 40-year keyboard veteran says he finally started to realize his own individual approach when the trio was formed in 1990. Galper says the trio's aim is "...to reach a state where three musicians breathe as one, play freely within the structures, and keep the music accessible to the listener while preserving (their) commitment to a swinging groove." The concert also will include performances by the day's outstanding high-school and middle-school bands and by the Purdue Jazz Band. The jazz band will be joined by three soloists: David Baker Jr., the music director of the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra in Washington, D.C., and head of jazz studies at Indiana University. Baker, who plays the jazz cello, has composed more than 2,000 works and more than 500 commissions from such diverse artists and groups as The New York Philharmonic, the Beaux Arts Trio and Sonny Rollins. He has played with Stan Kenton, Maynard Ferguson, Quincy Jones and Wes Montgomery. For the Duke Ellington Centennial Year, the Smithsonian orchestra will perform only Ellington's music in its appearances around the world. Ed Soph on drums, an author, master teacher and musician. He is an associate professor in the jazz department of the College of Music of the University of North Texas. He is the author of the books "Essential Techniques for Drumset" and "The Big Band Primer." Soph has been associated with the big bands of Stan Kenton, Woody Herman, Bill Watrous and Clark Terry. He has collaborated with jazz artists Randy Brecker, Bobby Shew, Marvin Stamm, Clark Terry, Eddie Daniels, Joe Henderson, Urbie Green, Slide Hampton, Bill Watrous, Cedar Walton and James Williams. He is an artist clinician for the Yamaha Corp. of American, the Avedis Zildjian Co., Regal Tip/Calato brushes, and Evans drumheads. Pharez Whitted on trumpet, an assistant professor of jazz studies at Ohio State University, where he teaches jazz trumpet and jazz improvisation and directs the Jazz Lab Ensemble. Whitted has worked with Branford Marsalis, George Duke, Slide Hampton and the Jazz Masters, Ed Thigpen, Elvin Jones, John Mellencamp, Lou Rawls and the O'Jay's. He has performed on the Arsenio Hall Show, the Billboard Music Awards, MTV, BET, and BET on Jazz. He is a Motown/Mojazz recording artist and a Bach/Selmer clinician. Along with two solo recordings on the Motown/Mojazz record label, Whitted has contributed to a number of compilation CDs. Tickets are $10 for admission to all Saturday events, or $4 for each individual event, available at Purdue box offices, (765) 494-3933 or 1-800-914-SHOW. The jazz festival is sponsored, in part, by the Purdue Employees Federal Credit Union and the Purdue University Black Cultural Center. CONTACT: Trout, (765) 494-3957; e-mail: AmyBrandfo@aol.com Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; e-mail, purduenews@purdue.edu To the Purdue News and Photos Page