Inaugurated in the spring of 1978, the Jazz Room Series at William Paterson's Shea Center is the longest-running campus-based jazz concert series in the nation. With a tradition of encompassing the complete spectrum of jazz from New Orleans to the avant-garde, it features world-class professionals and William Paterson student ensembles. There are three series of concerts each year, including the six-concert Fall and Spring Jazz Room Series, and the weeklong Summer Jazz Room held the third week of July.
The Jazz Room has received over two decades of continuous grant support from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, as well as numerous grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation. The series has been featured on national and metropolitan-area media, including recorded broadcasts and live CD recording sessions.
The Jazz Room Series is directly connected to the William Paterson Jazz Studies Program. Unique among college and university programs, the Jazz Studies program is one of the few in the nation with an emphasis on small-group playing, improvisation, and a genuine commitment to the jazz tradition. Founded by music faculty member Martin Krivin and joined by trumpeter/arranger Thad Jones in 1973, the program was led by bassist Rufus Reid for twenty years, then by the great jazz pianists James Williams, Mulgrew Miller, and most recently Bill Charlap, who accepted the position in fall 2015. The program is co-led and coordinated by David Demsey. .
This season's featured artists include vocalist Karrin Allyson, saxophone virtuoso Gary Smulyan, Sprit of Life horn ensemble, and saxophonist Steve Wilson. Click on the image above for details.
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New Brunswick Jazz Project is a non-profit organization dedicated to presenting world class jazz performances in downtown New Brunswick & other Central Jersey venues. Since its inception in 2010 NBJP has gone from presenting two jazz performances a month, to offering FREE year around shows, four nights every week. The Jazz Project has successfully fostered a supportive environment for regular live jazz performance in New Brunswick and has presented more than 700 events featuring over 1000 acclaimed national and international jazz leaders, sidemen and special guests, including among many others: Arturo O’Farrill, John Lee, Ed Cherry, Dave Stryker, Akiko Tsuruga, Roseanna Vitro, Mimi Jones, Jerry Weldon, Rudy Royston, Virginia Mayhew, Luis Perdomo, Dezron Douglas, Joe Magnarelli, Ralph Peterson, Steve Williams, Kenny Davis, Tia Fuller, Orrin Evans, Jared Gold, Tim Ries, Victor Lewis, Conrad Herwig, and Ravi Coltrane.
NBJP also regularly partners with the New Brunswick Public Schools and the Hub Teen Center to provide after-school enrichment programming in the form of jazz performances with student participation and talk backs.
This year’s program presents a unique bill of genre-crossing collaborative concerts that reflects both musical form and its force for and response to social change.
The stellar lineup includes vocal powerhouses starting with Dee Dee Bridgewater joined by New Jersey-based pianist Bill Charlap (Nov 3), followed by Lisa Fischer in a special performance with Gullah band Ranky Tanky (Nov 9), the multifaceted Cuban legend Omara Portuondo (Nov 10) on her Farewell Tour, 10-time GRAMMY Award-winning a cappella group Take 6 in a unique pairing with tap dancer Hillary-Marie(Nov 11), Gladys Knight and New Orleans pianist/vocalist Davell Crawford (Nov 12), and the spirit of Newark’s own Sarah Vaughan at the 12th annual SASSY Awards (Nov 19). Other highlights include: NEA Jazz Master and South African cultural icon Abdullah Ibrahim making his NJPAC debut in an intimate performance with his Trio (Nov 12); and explorations of jazz’s impact on Musical Theater and Film with the production of Sound of (Black) Music reimagining of Rogers & Hammerstein’s classic (Nov 16) as well as tribute concerts to prolific film composer Dave Grusin (Nov 17) and to Disney and its iconic tunes from the past 100 years (Nov 17).
"Probably my favorite quote about performing is from Cannonball Adderley: 'I give the audience 50% of what they want to hear, and 50% of what I think they need to hear,' " says NJPAC Jazz Advisor Christian McBride, who helped curate the Festival schedule. "As an artist, I think that's a smart balance. Whatever your favorite kind of music is, you'll hear it at some point in this festival."
Complete Festival details can be found at NJPAC.org/jazz.
New Jersey’s Jazz Clubs You Should Know
The Free Jazz Collective- Mark Solborg - BABEL (Ilk Music, 2023)By Eyal Hareuveni Danish (with Argentinian roots) guitarist-composer Mark Solborg’s BABEL takes the biblical myth of the Tower of Babel when God created a communicative discord to control man and asks if God actually intended to nurture a fertile diversity. “A disruption of a self-perpetuating echo chamber, to stimulate a more varied and complex perspective […]
JazzWax- Backgrounder: Brazilian Jazz Quartet December 8, 2023Who were the musicians in the Brazilian Jazz Quartet? According to Wikipedia, the group featured José Ferreira Godinho Filho "Casé" on alto saxophone, Moacyr Peixoto on piano, Luiz Chaves Oliveira da Paz "Luiz Chaves" on bass and Rubens Alberto Barsotti...
All About Jazz- Tommy Halferty, Philippe Aerts, Kevin Brady At Scott's Jazz ClubTommy Halferty, Philippe Aerts, Kevin Brady Scott's Jazz Club jny:Belfast, N. Ireland December 1, 2023 The gentleman had arrived early to secure a table right in front of the stage, a fresh pint of Guinness settling nicely before him... [ read more ]
- Bill Charlap Trio at the Treelawn Music HallOver the past decade or so, Cleveland's Waterloo District has been known primarily for its artsy community and for the frequent concerts that occur at the renowned Beachland Ballroom. With the majority of the shows at that venue coming from the rock and alternative genre, jazz has not been given a prominent voice in the […]
Jazz Guitar Education- Funky Groove Backing Tracks For Bass PlayersThis page offers a serie of funky groove backing tracks for bass players.
- Jazz Guitar Theory: The Many Uses of Melodic MinorGuest post by Dennis Winge One Scale, Many Cool Contexts Apart from the major scale, no one single scale has so many uses in jazz as the melodic minor scale. The table on the next page outlines the seven different points of view, or modes of the melodic minor scale, followed by some examples of usages. […]
This ensemble embraces a broad stylistic swath of jazz, Latin and Brazilian idioms and experiments with intimate to large groups.
Bill O’Connell – piano and Fender Rhodes, Lincoln Goines – bass, Robby Ameen – drums with special guests Randy Brecker – flugelhorn, Craig Handy – alto sax, Conrad Herwig – trombone, Andrea Brachfeld – flute, and Dan Carillo – guitar.
This is bassist, Steve LaSpina’s 12th album as a leader, and explores some of his old tunes, as well as new works. It gives the listener a rare opportunity to experience how original compositions in jazz develop after decades of live performance. PERSONNEL: Steve LaSpina - bass, Joel Frahm - tenor & soprano saxophone, Luis Perdomo - piano, and Eric McPherson - drums.
Drummer, Reggie Quinerly, offers his latest album as a fond good-bye as he relocates to Los Angeles. The quintet of trumpeter Antoniene Drye, tenor saxophonist John Ellis, pianist John Chin, and bassist Sean Conly, recorded their seven tracks together in one room, old school.
Veteran alto man Andy Fusco has appeared on many sessions over the years including his work with the Buddy Rich big band and sideman duties with the likes of Walt Weiskopf and drummer Steve Smith. Bravo to Steeplechase Records who have given him the opportunity to record an album a year with this being his fifth release.
Previously Unreleased Live Tenor Sax Giant George Coleman from The Ballroom in Baltimore,1971
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