Jazz Great Rocks Palmetto

DAVID LIEBMAN: JAZZ PERFORMANCE EXHILIRATING

San Antonio’s jazz community and friends embraced jazz legend David Liebman on May 16 as he swept through the city visiting and teaching students and giving an exhilarating performance at a concert at Northwest Vista College.

Liebman, a world-renowned saxophonist and educator, is a 2011 recipient of the coveted NEA Jazz Masters award, has played with jazz greats, such as Miles Davis and Elvin Jones and has been a multiple Grammy nominee. He founded the International Association of Schools of Jazz and has authored books and instructional DVDs, which are acknowledged as jazz classics.   

The Alamo Jazz Allstars Mentorship, aka A-JAM, opened for Liebman. Prior to the event, Liebman gave the student group tips and suggestions on how to entertain the audience and make their music better. The members of the student jazz mentorship group are singer Shea Adams, guitarist Marco Escobedo, pianist Mark Ligon, bassist Stephen Bennett and drummer James Buentello.
"Having Dave Liebman work with our A-JAM students was an absolutely golden opportunity for them to see, hear, and feel what the music is at the very highest level,” said Katchie Cartwright, NVC associate professor of Music. “His instruction, his presence, his wisdom was invaluable. I heard the students in the wings after the master class, and they were bubbling with excitement.”

Regional music stars Aaron Prado (piano), Audra Menconi (drums), and Mike Porter (bass) performed with Liebman during the concert.   
  
Liebman’s performance turned many in the audience into new-found jazz fans.
“I loved that he played with such intensity, that it looked like every note traveled up and down his spine and made his body almost shake! He and his band may have just converted me to a jazz fan!” said Lisa McDaniel, NVC coordinator of Communications.

Others in the audience, such as jazz aficionado Nathan Cone, were hooked from start to finish.
“Liebman’s mastery of his instrument was apparent from the moment he stepped out on stage for a rendition of Wayne Shorter’s classic tune ‘Footprints,’ performed with the Alamo Jazz All-Stars,” said Cone, who is Texas Public Radio’s director of classical programming. “His set with local artists was inspiring. The highlight for me was an up-tempo rendition of ‘All Blues.’ Heck, all of the songs he played were taken at a quick snap, which I really dug.”    Read more >>

A-JAM Documentary by Alamo Colleges Students

Big thanks to an extremely capable team of Northwest Vista College students for creating an excellent video documentary of our Alamo Jazz Allstars Mentorship (A-JAM) program. The team, led by Jimmy Camillocci, includes Isai Hernandez and Matt Neloff; all Multimedia students of Ron Wojnar.

Watch the video here...

MUAP 1185: IMPROVISATION I

CRN: 19736, 19737, 19738, 19739 or 19740

Tuesdays 5-5:50 PM, Palmetto Rehearsal Hall 152

Contact  dsmith1@alamo.edu

A-JAM ALLSTARS... Are YOU the next generation? Register now for A-JAM PREP, fall 2012.

Hey! This is for real. For research from Johns Hopkins on how jazz grows your brain, read this... 

Jazz Great David Liebman Performs at NVC

World-renowned saxophonist and educator David Liebman will perform in a concert at 7 p.m. on May 16 in the Palmetto Center for the Arts at Northwest Vista College. The Alamo Allstars, a student jazz group, will open for Liebman.

Liebman, a 2011 recipient of the coveted NEA Jazz Masters award, has played with jazz greats, such as Miles Davis, Elvin Jones, McCoy Tyner and has been a multiple Grammy nominee. He founded the International Association of Schools of Jazz and has authored books and instructional DVDs, which are acknowledged as classics in the jazz field.

Regional music stars Aaron Prado (piano), Audra Menconi (drums), and Mike Porter (bass) will perform with Liebman.

General admission tickets are $20 and $10 for seniors, military and groups of 10 or more. Free tickets are available to NVC students with a valid ID and $5 for all other students. To make a reservation, call the NVC box office at 210-486-4527. - mmonroe-young@alamo.edu

Posted on 05/08/2012 by Alamo Colleges PR Team

Jazz - The World's "Cultural Passport"

Why Jazz? Because it's America's great gift to the world, a language of freedom and democracy...

1st Annual International Jazz Day at the UN

"From its earliest days, when the pianist Jelly Roll Morton spoke of a “Spanish tinge,” jazz has been extraordinarily open to international influences. Now it’s official. Last fall Unesco — the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization — designated jazz a “universal music of freedom and creativity” and decreed that henceforth every April 30 is to be celebrated around the world as International Jazz Day."  Read more >>

“What jazz brings to the table is collective improvisation and tolerance, respect and freedom, and when you mix that up with every world musical style, you are creating a cultural passport,” he added. “I really believe that what jazz has given to the world is a window, a paradigm of how countries should be interacting with each other.” (Danilo Perez, Pianist)

“Jazz was immediately a comforting quilt to be under, because I felt I was stepping into a brother music and running into people who embraced me as a friend,” he said. “The jazz musicians of that time, like John Coltrane, were already looking eastward and experimenting with modal music. So it was almost like meeting halfway, which made it easy for me..." (Zakir Hussain, Percussionist)

"Jazz at its best is a microcosm of what society should be, incorporating and absorbing what’s going on around us and coming out with something that breaks down barriers and connects people. Would that the rest of the world could do that.”  (George Duke, Pianist)

A-JAM Combo Featured at Jazz Festival

St. Mary's University's 50th annual Fiesta Jazz Festival is this weekend. This year's event features the Alamo Jazz Allstars Mentorship group at 3 PM on Friday, April 27.

The headliner this year is the venerable Jim Cullum and his band. Read more in Jim Beal's column in the San Antonio Express-News...

http://www.mysanantonio.com/entertainment/article/Fiesta-in-shades-of-jazz-and-blues-3509112.php

APRIL EVENTS - 1st Spring Music Festival @ Vista, St. Mary's 50th Fiesta Jazz Festival

April and May an exciting months for the Alamo Allstars. Here are a couple of highlights in April.  Stay tuned....

Thursday, April 19, 7 PM - Northwest Vista College's 1st Annual Spring Music Festival. Palmetto Center for the Arts, Wiseman Road / 3535 North Ellison, San Antonio 78251.

Two evenings of NVC student concerts featuring solo and ensemble performances. Wednesday evening's concert features the Vista Voices choir and Quod Novus chamber ensembles (April 18). Thursday's concert features the Orquesta Vista jazz ensemble and the Alamo Jazz Allstars combo (April 19). Both evenings include solo peformances by music majors. Proceeds support students in Alamo Jazz Allstars Mentorship program (A-JAM). Tickets $4.

Friday, April 27, 3 PM - St. Mary's University's 50th Annual Fiesta Jazz Festival / World Class Concert. Alumni Pavilion - Pecan Grove, One Camino Santa Maria, San Antonio 78228


Don't miss the "Jazz of Fiesta." Enjoy Jim Cullum's Band as the Fiesta Jazz artist. Sponsored by St. Mary's University Music Department and the Fiesta Commission dedicated to presenting the finest jazz in town. Bring a friend and join us for an evening of "Great Jazz." Concerts from 1:00 to 10:00 PM. Alamo Allstars set is at 3 PM.