SJW alumni at the GRAMMIES®

/by

We’re thrilled to learn that several alumni of Stanford Jazz Camp and Jazz Residency have been selected to participate in this year’s Grammy® Camp Jazz Session ensembles. During the week-long program, participants will perform at events related to the 54th annual Grammy® Awards in Los Angeles, under the direction of Justin DiCioccio of the Manhattan School of Music, Dr. Ron McCurdy of the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music, and Dr. Leila Heil of the University of Colorado, Boulder. Read more about it here, and congratulations to these great SJW alumni who’ve been selected to participate:

Max Boiko (trumpet)
Lucas Del Calvo (guitar)
Ryan DeWeese (trumpet)
David Leon (saxophone)
Connor Schultze (bass)
Laila Smith (vocals)
Christina Takayama (vocals)
MIchael Wang (trombone)

2012 Camp & Classes dates now set

/by

Mark your calendars, the dates for the 2012 Jazz Camp, Jazz Residency, and Evening Summer Classes have been announced:

  • Evening Summer Classes: June 18 – July 13
  • Jazz Camp, Week 1: July 15 – July 20
  • Jazz Camp, Week 2: July 22 – July 27
  • Jazz Residency, Week 3: July 29 – August 3

Online registration will open the second week of December; stay tuned for an email at that time, announcing that registration has begun. Find out more about our jazz immersion programs by clicking on links above.

Bird with Strings airs this Sunday on KCSM

/by

One of the highlights of the 2011 Stanford Jazz Festival wasBird with Strings on July 16, which featured SJW faculty member Andrew Speight on alto saxophone, the Alexander String Quartet with guests, and a killin’ rhythm section. They performed arrangements written for Charlie Parker and strings by the best arrangers in jazz; performing these arrangements was pretty much the focus of Charlie Parker’s life in early 1950s, so their significance can’t be overstated. But if you attended Jazz Camp or Jazz Residency, this concert happened before you arrived at Stanford, so you couldn’t catch this prime opportunity to hear this great music played by Andrew at his bebop best.

You and anyone else who missed the original performance of this amazing show are in luck! KCSM Jazz 91.1 FM will broadcast the performance this Sunday evening, September 25, at 8:00 p.m. Pacific time! Hosted by Jim Bennett on his In The Moment show, the performance was not only historic — many of the arrangements have not been heard since Charlie Parker himself performed them — but it was also music of the highest caliber.

This Sunday evening, September 25, at 8:00 p.m., you can tune in via radio or the internet to hear the concert: visit KCSM’s web site for more information by clicking here.

For more info about Jim Bennett and the In The Moment show, click here.

You can read the program notes from the original concert by downloading a PDF file here, and see the original event information on the Stanford Jazz Festival web site here.

Lee Hildebrand wrote an excellent article on Andrew Speight for the San Francisco Chronicle just prior to the performance of Bird with Strings; you can read it here.

See photos of the original performance by clicking here.

For more information on Andrew Speight, visit his own website here, and see his page on the San Francisco State University web site here.

Don’t forget to tune in this Sunday!