bebop

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Lawrence welcomes jazz legend Joe Lovano

Grammy Award-winning saxophonist/composer Joe Lovano showcases his conceptual and thematic ventures Friday, Feb. 2 at 8 p.m. in a Lawrence University 2017-18 Jazz Series Concert. J

Joining Lovano on stage will be his Classic Quartet bandmates: Lawrence Fields, piano, Peter Slavov, bass and Lamy Istrefi, drums.

Saxophonist Joe LovanoTickets for the performance in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel, at $25-30 for adults, $20-25 for seniors, $18-20 for students, are available through the Lawrence Box Office, 920-832-6749.

Lovano’s career has been defined by his creative efforts to find new modes of artistic expression and new ways to define the jazz idiom. With his bandmates, Lovano explores the rich history of mainstream jazz through swing and bebop, driving the edges while honoring the structures of straight-ahead jazz.

José Encarnación, director of jazz studies at Lawrence and an accomplished saxophonist in his own right, calls Lovano “one of my favorites jazz artists of all time.”

“I love every single one of his recordings,” said Encarnacion, who had the pleasure of meeting Lovano in the 1990s while performing at a jazz festival in Puerto Rico with the Bob Mintzer Big Band. “Joe’s music is always fresh, rooted on the tradition but always moving forward with new sounds and adventurous musical stories.”

A 12-time Grammy Award nominee, Lovano won the trophy in 2000 in the best large jazz ensemble album category for his work on “52nd Street Themes.” That same year, he topped both the readers and critics polls in DownBeat magazine as tenor saxophonist of the year. DownBeat named Lovano its jazz artist of the year twice, including 2010 when he captured the magazine’s “triple crown”: tenor saxophonist, jazz artist and jazz group (Joe Lovano Us 5) of the year.

His discography includes 28 albums as leader and more than 50 others as either co-leader or sideman.

Lovano has taught as the Gary Burton Chair in Jazz Performance as an artist-in-residence at the Berklee Global Jazz Institute in Boston.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Engaged learning, the development of multiple interests and community outreach are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.

Lawrence Jazz Series welcomes guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel

Trailblazing guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel and his New Quartet band close out Lawrence University’s 2015-16 Jazz Series Friday, May 13 at 8 p.m. in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel.

Tickets, at $25/$30 for adults, $20/$25 for seniors and $18/$20 for students are available through the Lawrence Box Office, 920-832-6749.

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Kurt Rosenwinkel

During his 25-year career, Rosenwinkel, who lives in Berlin, Germany, has evolved the language of jazz in a way few other guitarists have since his arrival on the scene. He won the 1995 Composer’s Award from the National Endowment for the Arts and since has released 10 studio albums.

He also has been featured on more than 75 other albums, including hip-hop veteran Q-Tip’s “Renaissance” project. His extensive list of collaborations includes such dynamic peers as Brad Mehldau, Brian Blade, Joshua Redman and Chris Potter as well as jazz elders Joe Henderson, Paul Motian and Gary Burton.

“Kurt is both unique and very steeped in bebop tradition,” said Steve Peplin, who teaches jazz guitar at Lawrence. “His earlier work really shows how deeply rooted he is in the language of jazz. His compositions, on the other hand, are very modern, often informed by the new augmented-scale thing happening around the globe, but much more deep than just another harmonic concept Kurt reminds me of Lennie Tristano in the way he synthesizes the old and the new.

“His emphasis on tone and a light touch, combined with singing his lines in unison with his guitar creates a ghostly sonority not often heard in modern jazz guitar,” Peplin added.

Rosenwinkel says his music is about “the relationship that we each have with the universe at large and how we use our intuition to hear what it is telling us.”

His most recent album, 2012’s “Star of Jupiter,” which he says came to him in a dream, underscores that concept, transporting “listeners on a journey toward discovery, truth and ultimately peace.”

It features his New Quartet band — pianist Aaron Parks, bassist Eric Revis and drummer Justin Faulkner — a fiery group of rising stars and veterans-in-the-making.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College” and Fiske’s Guide to Colleges 2016. Engaged learning, the development of multiple interests and community outreach are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.