Jazz greats visit Pitt

Leon Chancler, drums Drummer Leon ‘Ndugu” Chancler started beating on things when he was only… Leon Chancler, drums Drummer Leon ‘Ndugu” Chancler started beating on things when he was only 6. ‘ ‘I guess there was something in me. I’d never even seen any drummers,’ he said. ‘ He started formal training at age 13 and by 19 was playing with Herbie Hancock and Miles Davis. ‘That was my real confirmation that I was on the right path,’ he said. ‘ Since then, the list of musicians he’s worked with has grown, including names like Michael Jackson and Frank Sinatra. His African name, ‘Ndugu,’ means ‘kinsmen’ in Swahili. ‘I approach [drumming] from a musical standpoint with drums being the instrument that helps me express whatever I want to express, whether it’s rhythmically or melodic,’ said Chancler. He plans to continue looking forward to exploring those new frontiers, living by his motto, ‘It’s not really what I’ve done, it’s what I’m going to do.’ -by Natalie Bell Cecil Bridgewater, trumpet Cecil Bridgewater learned to play the trumpet more than 30 years ago and fell in love with jazz. His career began early, with training from his parents and involvement in weekend gigs in Illinois. His education continued at the University of Illinois. While there, he traveled overseas with the University of Illinois jazz band. In 1970 the trumpet player moved to New York City. After joining the Horace Silver Quintet and the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra, he found his national and international recognition increasing. He performed solos worldwide for the traveling groups. Bridgewater received awards such as best trumpet, best overall musician and best big band. ‘Be able to read music, play anything that is put in front of you, be able to blend with others in section playing, be able to improvise at a high level and be able to get along with others in a way that makes them want to have you on the gig!’ -by Larissa Gula Leon Dorsey, bass Every week, Leon Dorsey spends a few days in Pittsburgh and a few days in New York City. He lives with his family in the Big Apple, but he travels down to Pennsylvania to teach jazz courses at Pitt as the coordinator of jazz studies.’ Dorsey did much of the organizing for the 38th Annual Pitt Jazz Week, and he worked on the musical arrangement for the Jazz Week’s Seminar Concert this Saturday.’ At the performance, he’ll be playing his specialty, the double bass. ‘[Pittsburgh] is quite a fertile jazz community here,’ he said. ‘The program here at Pitt that Dr. Nathan Davis founded is one of the cornerstones of this community in promoting jazz.’ Dorsey’s performed on stages from Tokyo to Brazill, but he’ll never get cocky ‘Artists are viewed a little differently because you see the end product all the time,’ he explained. ‘You don’t see all the practicing and rehearsing it took to get there.’ -by Colleen Counihan Larry Coryell, guitar Guitarist Larry Coryell is best known for his innovative genre fusion, which brought him jazz stardom in Seattle, Los Angeles, Europe and New York City after his humble upbringing in Galveston, Texas. ‘The importance of fusion to me was to inject new ideas into jazz to enlarge the genre without trivializing it,’ he said in an e-mail conversation with The Pitt News.’ ‘The practiced result for me is that it keeps me playing when otherwise I wouldn’t feel like it,’ he said’ Perhaps most importantly from Larry Coryell is the acknowledgement that the discipline jazz requires results in more than just great playing, it makes great people. ‘Learning an art form based on scientific and mathematical principals as they apply to playing and improvising also raises the consciousness of the artist. In his last interview, Lee Morgan said that ‘jazz is an esoteric music.’ Such eclectic skill requirements more often than not, lead to an expanded awareness of humanity,’ said Coryell. -by Margaret Krauss Patrice Rushen, piano To create catchy, soulful tunes with a funky edge, musician Patrice Rushen melds jazz, R’amp;B and pop together in a musical combination that recently achieved widespread popularity, although Rushen has been pioneering this combination for years. Rushen’s music permanently entered U.S. pop culture when she released the Grammy-nominated single ‘Forget Me Nots’ from her 1982 album Straight from the Heart, which Will Smith sampled in ‘Men in Black.’ As the first woman to serve as musical director for the Grammy Awards as well as the NAACP Image Awards, Rushen is a pioneer for women in the music industry. Her 1997 album, Grammy-nominated Signature, brought her jazz roots back to the forefront of her music. Rushen continues to be involved in the contemporary jazz scene, playing at major festivals around the world. -by Kathryn Beaty Bennie Maupin, tenor sax While listening to Bennie Maupin play, you could easily be fooled into thinking you were having a conversation with him. Whether playing the saxophone, flute or the bass clarinet, which sings out from Miles Davis recordings, Maupin opens a door his audience can walk through, swept along by the innovation of his music. Born in Detroit, ‘the musical atmosphere of those early years attracted me toward all types of music, especially jazz and blues,’ said Maupin in an e-mail interview with The Pitt News. He eventually moved to New York City and began freelancing. ‘What I remember most fondly is how many great bands that were around at the time. You could meet the masters and learn directly from them,’ he said.’ Maupin proceeded to do just that, playing with the likes of Miles Davis, Lee Morgan and Woody Shaw. -by Magaret Krauss Michael Mossman, trumpet Composing his own works on albums, such as The Orisha Suite and Mama Soho, trumpeter and trombonist Michael Mossman is a wide-ranged artist who has performed with a multitude of jazz ensembles, including Roscoe Mitchell, Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers and Slide Hampton’s Jazz Masters Orchestra. His musical style focuses on a type of jazz known as hard bop, which is a highly improvisational form that mixes R’amp;B, gospel and blues. Mossman also has been known to incorporate Latin aspects into his works. When seeing jazz performed, ‘students get to know these strangers through their music,’ said Mossman. ‘As [jazz] happens, you experience the humanity in it. The seminar in jazz never ceases to amaze me,’ said Mossman. ‘You have to recognize how long it has been going ‘mdash; what an incredible tradition it is.’ -by Matt Chmura Antonio Hart, alto sax ‘ ‘ ‘ Antonio Hart was just a child when he first heard the saxophone, but it was a memory that would stick with him for the rest of his life. ‘ ‘ ‘ When Hart was a ninth grader, though, his high school lost funding for its music program, and he nearly lost hope. His faith was restored when the young Hart was accepted to the Baltimore School for the Performing Arts, and he’s never looked back. ‘ ‘ ‘ After studying at Berklee College of Music, and then Queens College, Hart had all the training he needed to succeed ‘mdash; and that he did, with a Grammy nomination, tons of tour time and an enviable fan base. – by Justin Jacobs