Wednesday, March 5, 2008
PRINCESS ANNE, MD – Renowned jazz trombonist Wycliffe Gordon is the guest performer at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore’s Jazz Ensemble Spring Concert slated for Wednesday, March 5, at 8 p.m. in the Ella Fitzgerald Center for the Performing Arts.
Under the direction of Dr. John R. Lamkin II, the UMES Jazz Ensemble will perform three of Gordon’s originals “The Wishing Well,” “The Woogie” and Somebody New.” Gordon will also join UMES vocalist Margaret Rutherford on one of her songs.
According to Lamkin, the UMES Jazz Ensemble will perform several jazz standards from many famous composers including Duke Ellington, Frank Foster, Stevie Wonder and Thad Jones. Of particular note, sophomore bassist and music education major Michael Graham will perform Thad Jones’ “This Bass Was Made for Walking.” Kyle Mills, a sophomore music education major from St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, will perform Maynard Ferguson’s 1970’s classic hit “Bridge Over Troubled Waters.” Among the many vocal offerings from Rutherford will be a rendition of Mark Gordon and Harry Warren’s sultry hit “At Last.”
Gordon is recognized as a performer, composer, conductor and educator. He has produced nine solo CDs. For his innovative musical activity in the field of jazz, he was awarded the ASCAP Foundation Vanguard Award, the Jazz Journalists Association Award for Trombonist of the Year (2002, 2001) and the Jazz Journalists Association Critics Choice Award for Best Trombone (2000) among others.
He is a former member of and composer for the Wynton Marsalis Septet, The Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and The Gully Low Jazz Band. His compositions have been performed by these and other ensembles in the U.S., Germany, London, Finland and Switzerland.
Gordon has appeared on television for the Grammy Awards, the PBS special “Swingin’ with the Duke,” Live from Lincoln Center broadcasts with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra “Uptown Blues, Ellington at 100” and “Live from Lincoln Center: The Juilliard School at 100 Years,” Carnegie Hall’s Christmas Concert and a BET jazz series.
Gordon has worked with young musicians from elementary schools to universities in the U.S. and internationally through master classes, workshops, lectures and concerts. He currently serves on the faculty of the Jazz Studies Program at The Julliard School. Locally, he will judge and address area high school jazz musicians at UMES’ High School Jazz Ensemble Festival on Thursday, March 6, from 9 a.m. to noon at the University.
Tickets for the UMES Jazz Ensemble Spring Concert are $10 for the general public and free for students with ID. The event is sponsored in part by a grant from the Maryland State Arts Council. For more information, call 410-651-6669.
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Gail Stephens, assistant director, UMES Office of Public Relations, 410-651-7580, gcstephens@umes.edu.
Suzanne Waters Street, director, UMES Office of Public Relations, 410-621-2355, sstreet@umes.edu.
