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Jazz series to host Grammy winner
November 27, 2006
"We Always Swing Jazz Series" honored to bring two jazz masters to Columbia.
By ANNA VITALE of the Columbia Missourian
It's the "little jazz series that could," as dubbed by Jon Poses, executive director of the "We Always Swing Jazz Series." And it will have achieved a real coup when Paquito D'Rivera, a 2005 National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master, comes to Columbia on Thursday to lead a workshop and perform at the Missouri Theatre.
As a jazz master, the Havana-born clarinetist, saxophonist and recipient of both American and Latin Grammy awards has toured the country for the "NEA Jazz Masters on Tour" since mid-2005. The tour, which provides performance and educational opportunities for jazz musicians and audiences across the country, chose sites rich in jazz appreciation to act as hosts of the jazz masters in all 50 states.
Columbia's Jazz Series was chosen as a tour site through a combination of an invitation from the National Endowment for the Arts and a review of the Jazz Series' proposal by a panel of what Christy Dickenson of Arts Midwest, the administrative organization for the tour, describes as "jazz peers."
To make a longish story short, the "We Always Swing Jazz Series" rocked the "jazz peers" panel and was named one of two host sites in Missouri. This is relevant because the Jazz Series is a community-based program, said Poses; most tour sites are in larger cities and/or affiliated with universities.
The Jazz Series has used the $5,000 NEA tour site allocation for two Jazz Master functions: a Milt Hinton exhibition early this year and D'Rivera's visit. Poses said that as a legend who has never performed in Columbia, D'Rivera was a prime candidate for the Jazz Series.
Making the occasion more special is that it's the Dr. Carlos Perez-Mesa Memorial Concert. The annual performance is hosted by a native Cuban musician in honor of Perez-Mesa, a longtime supporter of the Jazz Series.
"We're trying to expose the community to a great artist," Poses said. "This epitomizes what the Jazz Series is all about."
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Jazz Series Launches Annual Fund as dollar-for-dollar match for major NEA Jazz Masters Live
This is a special year for us. As recipients of a major grant from the National Endowment for the Arts – the Jazz Masters Live Initiative we are required to match the award dollar for dollar. The goal: $30,000 – and we need do reach it by February 18, 2008 – the day commissioned composer and Kansas City native Bob Brookmeyer returns to Missouri to conduct the world premier of his new work performed by the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, at the Missouri Theatre Center for the Arts. This season your tax-deductible donation to the Jazz Series goes twice as far.
Make a tax-deductible pledge (PDF) do the Jazz Series and we will apply it toward matching the NEA grant special NEA grant – one of only 12 in the country that allowed us to commission new work, and present one of the best big bands in the world at the Missouri Theatre. As a way of saying “Thank You” we’re pleased do offer tickets to this one-of-a-kind event—and a the most recent CD from the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra CD – which is a part of University of Missouri’s Arts & Science Week.
Jazz Series Receives NEA Grant
“We Always Swing” Jazz Series snags prestigious NEA Jazz Masters Live grants…
Organization, one of only 12 presenters in the United States selected to receive $30,000 award paves the way for Missouri native and NEA Jazz Master Bob Brookmeyer to compose new work for the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. New York-based, 16-piece orchestra arrives in Columbia to perform world premiere February 18, 2009, at the Missouri Theatre with Brookmeyer as guest conductor. Also on hand: Dan Morgenstern, fellow NEA Jazz Master and Director of Rutgers Jazz Institute. The world renowned historian will serve as guest emcee and host a pair of forums: a one-on-one interview with Brookmeyer and an in-depth look into the chronology of the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, which has been holding court at jazz’s most famous basement – The Village Vanguard – since 1965. Much-anticipated events serve as centerpiece for MU’s Arts & Science Week.
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