> The Music of Dave Brubeck Presented by Victor Lin

> Giants of Jazz (SOLD OUT)

> Ruth Davies' Blues Night with Special Guest Keb' Mo'

> Dena Derose Trio

> Junior Mance Trio

> 100 Years of Django

> Next week at Stanford Jazz Festival

The Music of Dave Brubeck presented by Victor Lin
Victor Lin, piano/violin; Joe Gilman, piano; Tootie Heath, drums; Josh Thurston-Milgrom, bass; Lynn Gruenewald, alto saxophone; and featuring Brubeck Institute graduates Ben Flocks, tenor saxophone; Cory Cox, drums

Thursday July 22 | 7:30 PM | Dinkelspiel Auditorium
Tickets: $24 general | $14 students | TAKE 5!

Inside Jazz: To Brubeck and Back: A Master of 20th Century Jazz
Speaker: Victor Lin | 6:30 pm (free with concert ticket)

Join Victor Lin, Joe Gilman and other SJW faculty as they play music written or inspired by one of America’s most celebrated composers, Dave Brubeck. Brubeck’s compositions often feature classical influences and odd-metered grooves, but the advanced musical concepts don’t get in the way of accessibility; his 1959 album Time Out was the first jazz album to sell one million copies.

Pianist/violinist Victor Lin is a dynamic performer described as “one of the foremost keepers of the flame in jazz today” (Highlights in Jazz), and his tribute to the music of 1959 was a highlight of last year’s festival. Pianist Joe Gilman is the Musical Director of the Brubeck Institute.

As valued SJW faculty members and exceptional performers, Victor and Joe recently shared their insights into Dave's music, what it means to be a musical educator, and more. Read the interview online >

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SOLD OUT!
Giants of Jazz: Charles McPherson, Junior Mance & Tootie Heath
Charles McPherson, saxophone; Junior Mance, piano; John Wiitala, bass; Albert "Tootie" Heath, drums

Saturday, July 24, 8 pm | Campbell Recital Hall
Tickets: $40 general | $24 students
Didn't get tickets to the Giants of Jazz? You can still catch the Junior Mance Trio on July 27!

Charles McPherson, Junior Mance, and Tootie Heath are true giants of jazz who continue to push the music forward and expand upon the great traditions they helped define. Alto saxophonist McPherson first achieved national recognition through his long and fruitful association with Charles Mingus in the 1960's and 70's, and has recorded more than 20 albums as a leader. Blending the bebop melodicism of Charlie Parker, the soulful sound of the blues, and a wide streak of improvisational daring, McPherson "plays with an emotion that bloats the notes until the saxophone seems about to melt or crack" (New York Times).

Pianist Junior Mance is "something else," according to DownBeat, continuing, "so complete is his psychological command over his instrument that very few of his fellows approach him in this area." With a flair for the blues and mastery of bop in all its various guises, Mance has played with Lester Young, Dizzy Gillespie, Dinah Washington and Cannonball Adderley among others, and, after more than 50 years as a bandleader and recording artist, swings harder than ever. Albert "Tootie" Heath's drumming matches his personality; it's simultaneously relaxed and ebullient, with humor and wisdom in equal measure. A Workshop favorite, Tootie has been playing and teaching at the Workshop for over twenty years. Accompanied by John Wiitala, one of the Bay Area's finest bassists, these musical masters deliver jazz at its finest.

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Ruth Davies' Blues Night with special guest Keb' Mo'
Keb' Mo', vocals/guitar; Charles McNeal, saxophone; Danny Caron, guitar; Bennett Paster, piano; Ruth Davies, bass; Ndugu Chancler, drums

Sunday, July 25, 7:30 PM | Dinkelspiel Auditorium
Tickets: $32 general | $18 students | TAKE 5!

The blues are the heart and soul of jazz, but they're also much more than that. As one of the earliest African-American musical traditions, the blues are the seed from which nearly every genre of American music grew, from rock to country. And of course, sometimes the blues are just the blues. Bassist Ruth Davies knows the blues more than most - in addition to her superb jazz playing, she has paid her blues dues with legends like John Lee Hooker, Charles Brown, Van Morrison, and many more. Her annual Blues Night is a perennial favorite. Special guest Keb' Mo' "has that unique ability of being able to turn a classic musical styling...and make it sound new" (Phoenix New Times). Traditional delta blues are the heart of Mo's music, but he mixes in influences from blues-based genres like gospel, soul, country, and jazz to create a compelling personal sound that has won him three Grammy awards. With virtuosic guitar chops and an intimate, candid vocal style, Keb' Mo's blues will make you forget your own.

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Dena DeRose Trio
Dena DeRose, vocals/piano; Peter Barshay, bass; Akira Tana, drums

Monday, July 26, 7:30 PM | Campbell Recital Hall
Tickets: $32 general | $18 students

Lots of singers can play the piano. Some pianists can sing. Very few can do either as well as Dena DeRose, let alone both. "She both sings and plays the piano like a million bucks," says DownBeat, which also named her Live at Jazz Standard Vol. 2 as one of the Top Ten CDs of 2008 (as did All About Jazz and the Jazz Journalists Association). Her piano playing features hip modern harmonies and dazzling improvisation, anchored by a joyous, compelling sense of swing. As a vocalist, she can scat intricate bebop lines one minute and break your heart with a wistful ballad the next. On either one of her chosen instruments, Dena is a remarkable performer with a unique artistic voice. When she does both, it's like seeing two amazing jazz artists in a single body.

Growing up as an aspiring pianist, Dena discovered the other facet of her amazing talent in the face of an obstacle that might have ended a lesser musician's career. A complicated case of carpal tunnel syndrome made it impossible for her to play piano for a few years. During this forced hiatus, Dena found an outlet for her music through singing. By the time surgery and physical rehabilitation had restored her piano chops, it was clear that singing would be more than a footnote in her career. On either of her chosen instruments, Dena is a remarkable performer with a unique artistic voice. When she does both, she's simply "the most creative and compelling singer-pianist since Shirley Horn" (Joel E. Siegel) and "...an exceptionally gifted pianist as well as a sultry and intelligent singer, she has the audience at her feet" (San Francisco Chronicle).

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Junior Mance Trio
Junior Mance, piano; Michael Zisman, bass; Akira Tana, drums

Tuesday, July 27, 7:30 pm | Campbell Recital Hall
Tickets: $32 general | $18 students

Pianist Junior Mance is "so steeped in the blues tradition that he carries it along everywhere" (Encyclopedia of Jazz). Mance's feeling for the blues permeates his sophisticated piano voice, which runs the stylistic gamut from bop to boogie-woogie. Indeed, "Mance seems capable of handling all manner of music with equal dexterity, a rare commodity these days" (Toronto Star). As a young man, Mance left his native Chicago to play with saxophone legends Gene Ammons and Lester Young. He was drafted into the Army in 1951 and narrowly avoided deployment to Korea when none other than Cannonball Adderley requested his services on the home front in the 36th Army Band. The affiliation with Adderley continued into peace-time, and Mance also gigged with many of jazz's greatest artists, including Dizzy Gillespie, Dinah Washington, Joe Williams and many more. He has led his own groups on more than thirty recordings, and his quintet's latest album "Out South" was released in March 2010. After more than seven decades at the keys, Mance still delivers "the kind of electrifying performance that is chalked up permanently in the memories of everyone who [hears] it" (New York Times).

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100 Years of Django
with Julian Lage, Victor Lin and Jorge Roeder
Victor Lin, violin; Julian Lage, guitar; Jorge Roeder, bass

Wednesday July 28, 7:30 PM | Dinkelspiel Auditorium
Tickets: $32 general | $18 students | TAKE 5!

Django Reinhardt was the first European musician to exert a powerful influence on American jazz. Born in Belgium in 1910, Reinhardt spent most of his youth in gypsy settlements on the outskirts of Paris, where he taught himself to play banjo, violin, and guitar. He was already an accomplished guitarist when, at the age of 18, he was badly injured saving his pregnant wife from a caravan fire and lost the use of two fingers on his left hand. He was forced to develop an idiosyncratic guitar technique, which relied on his two remaining fingers and is envied and imitated by ten-fingered guitarists to this day. The urbane, lilting tones of his guitar and his ornamented, melodic improvisations defined the genre known as "gypsy jazz," which flourished in Europe in the 1930's and 40's and launched Reinhardt to international fame. His style of playing "had such presence and power and imagination that "surpassed his very instrument" according to the New Yorker magazine, and its combining of the chromatic harmony and propulsive guitar style of gypsy music with the melodies and rhythms of swing captivated listeners worldwide.

Guitarist Julian Lage was Grammy-nominated in 2009 for Sounding Point, his first album as leader; the SF Chronicle said the CD "demonstrates a jaw-dropping stylistic range and thrilling technique." In addition, he is well known to Festival audiences for his duo work with Taylor Eigsti. Last year however, Lage and fellow SJW faculty Victor Lin and Jorge Roeder also took the stage in a trio format, and the chemistry between them was thrilling. There was no question that we had to bring them back for a full-length performance! This tribute concert turns the spotlight on these three exciting young musicians and the music of the incomparable Django Reinhardt.

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Next Week at Stanford Jazz Festival:

  Order Tickets: stanfordjazz.org / 650 725-ARTS (2787)

Thanks To Our Sponsors
Through cash sponsorships and in-kind donations, our 2010 Festival sponsors help to make the Stanford Jazz Festival and Workshop possible. SJW gratefully acknowledges the following sponsors for their generosity: See’s Candies, Presenting Sponsor of the 2010 Stanford Jazz Festival; Department of Music at Stanford University; KCSM FM 91.1; Palo Alto Weekly; Rosewood Sand Hill Hotel; Stanford Park Hotel; Avid; Vin, Vino, Wine; Gordon Biersch Brewing Company; CoHo; Western Jazz Presenters Network; Stanford Blood Center; Gallien Krueger; Yamaha Drums, Bank of the West Classic.

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