DR. BILLY TAYLOR HEADLINES WILLIAM PATERSON UNIVERSITY’S TENTH ANNUAL "JAZZ IT UP!" FESTIVAL AND SERVES AS ARTIST IN RESIDENCE DURING JAZZ WORKSHOP FOR STUDENTS
• Taylor celebrates 82nd birthday at his July 25 performance
• Notable jazz artists in concert from July 21 to 26

Legendary pianist and jazz educator Dr. Billy Taylor headlines William Paterson University’s tenth annual "Jazz It Up!" festival from July 21 to 26 with a performance in Shea Center on the campus in Wayne. Taylor and his trio join a slate of notable performers – bassist Earl May, the New York Voices with the William Paterson University Summer Big Band, trumpeter Joe Magnarelli, and David Demsey and Friends.

The festival is being held in conjunction with the University’s Summer Jazz Improvisation Workshop for high school and college students. As an artist in residence, Taylor will participate in the program that includes seven intense days of morning classes, afternoon performance sessions and clinics with jazz artists. All students will participate in hands-on, small group sessions with the guest artists. On Saturday, July 26, the workshop will conclude with a 1 p.m. concert featuring the workshop’s student ensembles.

The Jazz It Up! series features concerts every evening at 7:30 p.m. from Monday, July 21 through Friday, July 25 in Shea Center on campus. The festival also includes a workshop for children with the Blackman Brothers at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, July 23. A $10 pass for the entire week may be purchased prior to Monday evening’s concert or single tickets may be purchased for $3.

Dr. Billy Taylor will perform on Friday, July 25 with a trio that includes Chip Jackson on bass and Winard Harper on drums. Taylor will celebrate his 82nd birthday on July 24, and will mark his 59th year as a performing musician. Honored at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center for his musical contributions, Dr. Taylor is a performer, composer, educator, author and broadcast media personality. He has played and recorded with many legendary performers, and earned a doctorate from the University of Massachusetts in addition to his 16 honorary degrees. Taylor is known for his work on CBS Sunday Morning and National Public Radio, including hosting "Billy Taylor’s Jazz from the Kennedy Center."

"Jazz It Up!," which has drawn thousands of jazz fans to the University’s campus during the past nine summers, is designed to make jazz more accessible to the community. William Paterson has been a flagship 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 21 with David Demsey and Friends. Demsey, a saxophonist and coordinator of William Paterson’s Jazz Studies Program, performs with the New York Philharmonic and recently with the Kirov Orchestra of St. Petersburg, Russia. Demsey fronts a quartet that includes Rich DeRosa, head of jazz composition/arranging for William Paterson’s Jazz Studies Program, on drums; Jim McNeely, a William Paterson University adjunct faculty member and music director of the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, on piano; and Steve LaSpina, William Paterson adjunct, on bass. The members of the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra serve as artists in residence at William Paterson.

On Tuesday, July 22, bassist Earl May claims the spotlight. He will be joined by Catherine Russell, vocals, with Eddie Locke, drums, David Glasser, alto saxophone, and Larry Ham, drums. Through the last seven decades, May has loaned his considerable talents to such stars as Cab Calloway, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Tommy Flanagan, Doc Cheatham, and more.

The Blackman Brothers offer an entertaining and interactive look at the world of jazz in their "Journey into Jazz" program on Wednesday, July 23. The workshop is designed to introduce elementary school children to the world of jazz. That evening, the vocal jazz ensemble New York Voices teams up with the William Paterson Summer Big Band directed by Stephen Marcone, professor of music at William Paterson. Formed in 1987 by Darmon Meader, Peter Eldridge, Kim Nazarian, Caprice Fox and Sara Krieger, New York Voices is a Grammy Award-winning vocal ensemble renowned for their excellence in jazz and the art of group singing. Their interests are rooted in jazz, but their performances and recordings often include Brazilian, R & B, classical, and pop influences.

Trumpeter and flugelhorn player Joe Magnarelli takes the stage on Thursday, July 24 with his ensemble featuring Dick Oatts, lead alto saxophonist for the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, on saxophones, Paul Gill on bass, Renee Rosnes on piano and Billy Drummond on drums. Magnarelli has played with Lionel Hampton and Harry Connick Jr., as well as saxophonist Charles Davis and organist-pianist Sam Yahel. His latest CD is the 2000 release, "Mr. Mags."

"Jazz It Up!" is funded, in part, by a grant from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, and a newly awarded grant from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.
For more information, contact the Shea Center Box Office at 973-720-2371.
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NOTE: High resolution, downloadable photographs of the guest artists are available at:
http://ww2.wpunj.edu/adminsrv/pub-info/Photos/index.htm

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For Further Information, contact:

Mary Beth Zeman, Director, Public Relations 973-720-2966

6/18/03