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WILLIAM PATERSON TO PRESENT SEVENTH ANNUAL "JAZZ IT UP!" FESTIVAL --Free festival features top jazz artists in concert from July 24 to 29.
The series features concerts every evening at 7:30 p.m. from Monday, July 24 through Friday, July 28 in Shea Center on campus. The festival also includes an 11 a.m. workshop for children on Wednesday, July 26, a special noon-time concert at the Newark Museum in Newark on Friday, July 28, and the final concert of the University's Summer Jazz Improvisation Workshop at 1 p.m. on Saturday, July 29. All events are free and open to the public. "Jazz It Up!," which has drawn thousands of jazz fans to the University's campus during the past six summers, is designed to make jazz more accessible to the community. William Paterson has been on the forefront of jazz education for more than 25 years through its internationally known Jazz Studies Program, and its nationally acclaimed Jazz Room Series of concerts each fall and spring. The festival opens on Monday, July 24 with "James Williams and Friends," including saxophonist David Demsey, coordinator of the jazz studies program, drummer Richard DeRosa, and bassist Steve LaSpina. Williams, one of the most sought-after pianists on the New York jazz scene, is a record and concert producer as well as an accomplished composer. Demsey is a jazz and classical saxophonist who has performed with Clark Terry, Milt Hinton, Rufus Reid and the Nelson Riddle Orchestra. DeRosa is a composer and arranger who has performed and recorded with Jackie Cain and Roy Kral, Marian McPartland and many others. LaSpina has toured and recorded with Stan Getz, Toots Thielemans, Joe Williams and many other top artists and has produced numerous solo recordings with his own group and as a sideman. On Tuesday, July 25, vocalist Marlene VerPlanck, a distinguished interpreter of American song, is joined by her jazz trio. VerPlanck has performed as a backup singer for many top recording artists, from Frank Sinatra to Kiss. She now tours all over the world and has 12 solo albums to her credit. Noreen Grey Lienhard, a pianist, vocalist, composer/arranger, and educator, offers an entertaining look at the world of jazz on Wednesday, July 26 during an 11 a.m. workshop designed to introduce elementary school children to the world of jazz. That evening, virtuoso trumpeter Byron Stripling teams up with the up-and-coming members of the William Paterson Summer Big Band directed by Stephen Marcone, chair of the William Paterson Music Department. Conrad Herwig, a New York trombonist who
has toured and recorded with the great saxophonist/composer Joe
Henderson, will perform contemporary and Latin jazz with his
group on Thursday, July 28 Frank Wess, the legendary alumnus
from the Count Basie Orchestra The festival is being held in conjunction with the University's Summer Jazz Improvisation Workshop for high school and college students, featuring seven intense days of morning classes, afternoon performance sessions and clinics with jazz artists. On Saturday, July 29, at 1 p.m. in Shea Center, the workshop will conclude with a concert featuring the workshop's student ensembles performing with James Williams, Steve LaSpina, Richard DeRosa and David Demsey. "Jazz It Up!" is funded, in part, by a grant from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State. For more information, contact the Shea Center Box Office at 973-720-2371. William Paterson University, one of the nine state colleges and universities in New Jersey, is dedicated to two key principles: academic excellence and student success. The University offers 29 undergraduate and 17 graduate programs to nearly 10,000 students, and has 352 full-time faculty.
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James Williams,
the renowned jazz pianist who is beginning his second year as
director of jazz studies at William Paterson University in Wayne,
will kick off an all-star series of jazz concerts during the
University's seventh annual "Jazz It Up!" festival
from July 24 to 29. Other performers include Conrad Herwig, Byron
Stripling, Frank Wess, and Marlene VerPlanck.