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It is my pleasure to announce that the 35th annual Head of the Lakes Jazz Festival will be held on the
UMD campus, Saturday, March 8th, 2008. This Festival will be non-competitive in nature, offering
positive, learning-based experiences for young jazz ensembles and outstanding evening concerts!
Our Saturday evening feature guest artist will be Tom Harrell with UMD JAZZ I. A veteran jazz
trumpeter, composer, arranger and bandleader, whose work Newsweek calls "pure melodic genius,"
Harrell has steadily garnered international acclaim since the mid-1970's. A frequent favorite of Down
Beat and Jazz Times magazines' critics and readers polls, Harrell is known for his mellifluous sound and
is widely regarded as one of the most stylistically versatile improvisers and composers working today.
Every album he has made as a leader has found its way into various "top ten" lists worldwide. In addition
to the twenty album releases and thousands of concerts worldwide as a leader, Harrell has performed and
recorded with other artists including Horace Silver, Dizzie Gillespie, Bill Evans, Gerry Mulligan, Art
Farmer, Charles McPherson, Phil Woods, Lee Konitz, Charlie Haden, Joe Lovano, Kathleen Battle and
Jane Monheit. A graduate of Stanford University with a degree in music composition, Harrell is also a
prolific composer and arranger. To learn more about Tom Harrell, you can visit his website at
http://home.earthlink.net/~tomharrell/harrell.html.
In addition to Saturday performances and clinics by Tom Harrell, there will also be a Friday evening,
March 7th performance by the Jeff “Tain” Watts Quartet, including Christopher Smith (bass),
Yosvany Terry (alto/soprano saxophone) and Henry Hey (piano). Innovative and influential
drummer Jeff “Tain” Watts holds the distinction of being the only musician to appear on every Grammy
Award winning jazz record by both Wynton and Branford Marsalis. As a bandleader, Watts has
established himself as one of jazz music’s most unique and creative composers, evidenced by his four
solo albums and in his performance with dynamic Jeff “Tain” Watts Quartet. Watts joined the Wynton
Marsalis Quartet in 1981 and proceeded to win the Grammy Awards with the ensemble. After working
with George Benson, Harry Connick Jr., and McCoy Tyner, he joined the Branford Marsalis Quartet in
1989. He worked in the film and television industry as both a musician on the Tonight Show with Jay
Leno and as an actor, Rhythm Jones is Spike Lee’s Mo Better Blues. To learn more about Jeff “Tain”
Watts you can visit his website at www.chambersoftain.com.
***Tickets($15) are very limited for the Jeff Watts Quartet concert. There are 200 tickets that will be
held for jazz festival groups until Feb. 1st. The remaining tickets will go on sale to the general public on
Feb. 18th. Also, these tickets must be purchased through the UMD Box Office (218-726-8877). Jeff
Watts Quartet tickets may not be reserved through the jazz festival office.
Friday, March 7th, 7:30
Jeff Watts Quartet
Weber Music Hall
**Must be reserved through the UMD
Box Office at (218)726-8877.
Student Ticket price of $15
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Saturday, March 8th, 7:30
Tom Harrell and UMD Jazz I
Marshall Performing Arts Center
**Please use the attached reservation form
to reserve tickets for this concert and
guarantee your participation in the festival |
The Head of the Lakes Jazz Festival will also include:
- Performances by UMD Jazz Ensembles
- 40 minutes of individualized time for your ensemble. Most ensembles perform for about twenty minutes and are then critiqued by two clinicians for another twenty minutes.
- Adjudicators. Including leading jazz educators from colleges across the country to adjudicate
and clinic your ensembles and directors. Recent Adjudicators have included: Billy Taylor, Gene
Aitken (UNC), Bob Kase (UWSP), Tom Matta (DePaul University), Bob Kleinschmidt (Tiffin
University), John Salerno (UWGB), Terry Vermillion (St. Cloud State), Tom Pfotenhauer
(UWyoming) and many others.
- Non-competitive atmosphere. This positive, learning-oriented approach has become a
hallmark of the Head of the Lakes Festival. No trophies or defeats, just jazz music, hard work,
and fun!
- Clinics. Numerous clinics will be given by the guest artists, UMD jazz faculty and by our
adjudicators, all of whom are recognized leaders in their fields.
- Scholarships. The chance for instrumentalists to audition for a scholarship to attend the
University of Minnesota Duluth as a music major!!
- Prizes. Performance certificates and prizes will be awarded to individuals who offer
outstanding performances during the day.
Please print and complete the reservation form (click here) and return it with payment to the address below by the
February 8th deadline so that we can hold a spot for your ensemble(s) at this year’s festival. The fee for
participants is $150.00 per ensemble. We will fill performance spots on a first come, first serve basis so
get your reservation form in early. Upon receipt of your registration fee, we will contact you regarding
group hotel rates and other information. Click here for a printer friendly version of this information.
I look forward to seeing you this year, and to hearing your ensembles perform. If you have any questions
regarding the festival, please feel free to contact me at (218)726-6327, or by email at
umdjazz@d.umn.edu.
Sincerely,
Ryan Frane
Director of Jazz Studies
University of Minnesota Duluth
231 Humanities Building
1201 Ordean Court
Duluth, MN 55812
Click
here for more information on Jazz @ UMD.
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