Bill Carrothers

Tag: Bill Carrothers

Lawrence University Jazz Series Welcomes The Bad Plus

The convention-breaking jazz trio The Bad Plus makes its Lawrence University debut Friday, February 1 at 8 p.m. in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel as part of the college’s 2012-13 Jazz Series.

Tickets, at $22-20 for adults, $19-17 for seniors and $17-15 for students, are available through the Lawrence Box Office in the Music-Drama Center, 920-832-6749.

The Bad Plus: Reid Anderson, bass; Ethan Iverson, piano; and David King, drums. Photo: Cameron Wittig.

The trio —Wisconsin native t Ethan Iverson on piano and Minnesotans Reid Anderson on bass and David King on drums — first performed together as teenagers once in 1990. They spent the next decade out exploring their own individual musical languages before reconnecting in 2000. A year later, they released their debut, self-titled album to critical acclaim, earning “best-of” honors from the New York Times, Chicago Reader and others.

As a band, The Bad Plus has continually attracted diverse audiences, combining ground-breaking original work with creative, genre-hopping covers of artists as diverse as Nirvana, Blondie and Pink Floyd as well as Neil Young, David Bowie and Black Sabbath.

The New York Times declared the band “better than anyone at mixing the sensibilities of post-60’s jazz and indie rock.”           

Bill Carrothers, who has played with many of the jazz world’s giants during a 31-year professional career, calls the Bad Plus “one of those groups that only comes along every once in a while in the timeline of our art form.”

“They are all consummate musicians, playing music in a way that is completely their own, doing so with one collective mind. They are taking the art form in new and unexpected directions” said Carrothers, who teaches jazz piano in Lawrence’s Conservatory of Music and collaborated on the Bad Plus drummer David King’s 2012 album “I’ve Been Ringing You.” “This is what we’re all trying to do, or would like to try to do. They’re actually doing it.”

The band’s discography of 10 albums includes 2010’s “Never Stop” and 2012’s “Made Possible,” both of which feature all original material. The trio, which has graced the covers of Downbeat and JazzTimes magazines, has toured steadily while collaborating with jazz legends Joshua Redman and Bill Frisell, among others.

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 Fiske Guide to Colleges 2013 and the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Individualized learning, the development of multiple interests and community engagement are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries. Follow Lawrence on Facebook.

 

Lawrence Commemorates Emancipation Proclamation’s 150th Anniversary with Music, Presentations

In honor of the 150th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln’s Jan. 1, 1863 Emancipation Proclamation, Lawrence University presents a series of Civil War-related events.  All are free and open to the public.

Faith Barrett
 Monday, Jan. 7, 8 p.m., Harper Hall.  Lawrence Associate Professor of English Faith Barrett discusses the origins of Julia Ward Howe’s Civil War classic “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” Following the presentation, a short vocal concert celebrating African-American and Civil War-era music will be performed by 2007 Lawrence graduates Paris Brown and Erica Hamilton and sophomore Brienne Colston.

Erin Dix
 Tuesday,  Jan. 8, 4:30 p.m., Mudd Library, 1st floor, south end. Lawrence archivist Erin Dix presents “Lawrence in the Civil War,” an exploration of the ways in which Lawrence faculty and students participated on the front lines and coped with the effects of the war at home.  At the start of the Civil War, Lawrence was a mere 14 years old and like other academic institutions at the time, was greatly affected by the war.

Bill Carrothers
 Wednesday Jan. 9, 8 p.m., Harper Hall.  Bill Carrothers, Lawrence lecturer in music and jazz pianist, presents “Civil War Diaries,” a performance of period music from the Civil War era, reinterpreted as solo piano improvisations.

Lawrence is currently hosting a traveling exhibition that examines how President Abraham Lincoln used the U.S. Constitution to confront three intertwined crises of the Civil War: the secession of Southern states, slavery and wartime civil liberties.

The 1,000-square-foot exhibit, “Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War,” is displayed on the second floor of Lawrence’s Seeley G. Mudd Library until Feb. 8. The exhibition is free and open to the public.

The exhibition is composed of informative panels featuring photographic reproductions of original documents, including the Emancipation Proclamation, a draft of Lincoln’s first inaugural speech and the Thirteenth Amendment.  It was organized by the  National Constitution Center and the American Library Association Public Programs Office and is supported by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

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 Fiske Guide to Colleges 2013 and the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.” Individualized learning, the development of multiple interests and community engagement are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries. Follow Lawrence on Facebook.