Jazz at Holmes launches spring 2009 concert series

Internationally acclaimed musicians Marc Copland, Gary Peacock and Bill Stewart take the stage Feb. 13

Washington University’s Jazz at Holmes series will feature internationally acclaimed musicians Marc Copland, Gary Peacock and Bill Stewart in concert at 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 13, in the E. Desmond Lee Concert Hall at the 560 Music Center, located at 560 Trinity Ave. in University City.

The event is co-sponsored with the Department of Music in Arts & Sciences. Admission is $20 for the general public, $15 for faculty and staff, and $5 for students.

Copland

“This trio, with the legendary Gary Peacock and drum virtuoso Bill Stewart, is the most progressive piano trio on the international jazz scene,” says William Lenihan, a Jazz at Holmes series coordinator, and director of jazz performance and instructor in guitar and jazz theory in the Department of Music in Arts & Sciences. “Marc Copland’s harmonic sense is unrivaled whereas Peacock’s playing calls to mind the entire history of jazz.”

Marc Copland is recognized as an innovator with a unique grasp of harmony and color and is considered by many to be the foremost proponent of the lyrical school of jazz pianism today. Formerly a saxophonist, Copland has 18 critically acclaimed releases to his credit. He has performed as leader or sideman with Michael Brecker, Ralph Towner, Randy Brecker, John Scofield, Billy Hart and others. As a leader of his various trios, Copland continues to tour Europe and the United States and recently performed a weeklong stint at Birdland in New York.

Over the past five decades, Gary Peacock has established himself as one of the most versatile and talented bass players in jazz. Influenced by avant-garde saxophonist Albert Ayler and studies in Eastern music and philosophy, Peacock asserts that the disparities between traditional and experimental music are not as great as one might think. He has played and recorded with both mainstream and avant-garde jazz luminaries that include Ayler, Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Art Pepper, Dexter Gordon, Sonny Rollins, Paul Bley, Jimmy Giuffre, Jan Garbarek, Tony Williams, Wayne Shorter, Keith Jarrett and Herbie Hancock. Peacock continues to collaborate and perform with pianist Bley, with whom he has worked since the 1960s.

Peacock

Bill Stewart is an American jazz drummer who has performed with a broad array of musicians from Maceo Parker to Jim Hall. Stewart’s association with Parker led to Stewart’s memorable gig with the great James Brown. Musical associations with the likes of Michael Brecker, Pat Metheny and many other notable jazz musicians have followed. Stewart is also a composer whose distinctive tunes, often categorized as “postmodern” jazz, appear on his and others’ records.

Subsequent concerts in the Jazz at Holmes series, which are free and open to the public, are held in Holmes Lounge in Ridgley Hall. The Mosby Music Group will play original jazz-fusion on Feb. 19, followed by the Sometime Then and Again quartet, which will perform electric ambient jazz with guitarist William Lenihan and saxophonist Dave Stone on Feb. 26.

On March 5, the Portnoy, Lenihan and Guth Trio will feature music of jazz modernists Richie Beirach and John Abercombie.

Pianist Kim Portnoy and guitarist William Lenihan will team up again to play the music of Bill Evans and Jim Hall on March 19, followed by guitarist Chris Burchett and his quartet March 26.

On April 2, vocalist Jan Shapiro and William Lenihan will turn to standards recorded by Ella Fitzgerald and Joe Pass. The Wee Trio from New York visits April 9 to present new music for vibraphone, bass and drums. Closing the series on April 16 is St. Louis vocalist Anita Rosamond, who will take familiar jazz standards and imbue them with her own melodic sound.

Stewart

For more information, contact Sue Taylor at staylor@wustl.edu or (314) 862-0874. To receive e-mail notices about future events, write to tvs2@wustl.edu.

Launched in 1996, Jazz at Holmes features coffeehouse-style concerts with professional jazz musicians from the St. Louis area, and those known on the national and international scene, most Thursday evenings throughout the academic year.

The series is sponsored by Washington University’s College of Arts & Sciences, Office of Residential Life, Student Union, University College and Summer School, Congress of the South 40, Office of Student Activities, New Student Orientation, Department of Music, Greek Life Office, Annika Rodriguez Scholars Program, Community Service Program, Event Services and Michael Cannon, executive vice chancellor and general counsel.

The Jazz at Holmes spring 2009 schedule

Feb. 13: pianist Marc Copland, bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Bill Stewart (co-sponsored with the Department of Music in Arts & Sciences)

Feb. 19: The Mosby Music Group

Feb. 26: Sometime Then and Again quartet with guitarist William Lenihan and saxophonist Dave Stone

March 5: Portnoy, Lenihan and Guth Trio

March 19: pianist Kim Portnoy and guitarist William Lenihan

March: 26: guitarist Chris Burchett and his quartet

April 2: singer Jan Shapiro with guitarist William Lenihan

April 9: Wee Trio from New York

April 16: vocalist Anita Rosamond