News

Evan Abounassar (2015 trumpet) is among the jazz composers under age 30 who have been announced by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) Foundation as winners of the 2022 Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Awards. Congratulations Evan!

Robert Glasper (1997 piano) performed at the 94th Academy Awards show last week as part of an all-star band, with drummer Travis Barker, singer Sheila E, and a symphony orchestra.

2004 trumpet alum Alphonso Horne accompanies the theatrical performance of Once Upon A Time Called Now at the Joyce Theater in NYC, March 30-April 3. Horne then performs in a series of gigs called Big Band of Brothers: Jazz Celebration of the Allman Brothers – on April 5 at the Neptune Theater in Seattle and April 6 at the Aladdin Theater in Portland OR, joined in both of these by 2007 sax alum Owen Broder; at La Mirada Theater for the Performing Arts in La Mirada CA on April 9; at Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza in Thousand Oaks CA on April 10; and at Fox Tucson Theatre in Tucson AZ on April 12.

Owen Broder (see above) is featured with the UNCSA Jazz Ensemble at the Agnes deMille Theater in Winston-Salem NC on March 30, before joining Horne (see above) for two of the Allman Brothers celebration gigs.  Broder then performs with Mimi & The Podd Brothers at Wild Birds in Kings County NY on April 8, and again at The Rum House in NYC on April 10.

2013 trombone alum Jeffery Miller backs actress/singer Dianna Agron in performances at Café Carlyle in NYC, March 30-April 2 and April 5-9.

Chad Lefkowitz-Brown (2007 saxophone) is touring extensively with trumpeter Chris Botti, with performances slated for March 31 at the Abraham Chavez Theatre in El Paso TX, April 1 at the Del E. Webb Center for the Performing Arts in Wickenburg AZ, April 2 at Fox Tucson Theatre in Tucson AZ, April 5 at Eccles Theater in Salt Lake City, April 7 at Mesa Arts Center in Mesa AZ, April 8 at Balboa Theater in San Diego, and April 9 at McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert CA.

Gerald Clayton (2002 piano) releases his second Blue Note Records album, Bells on Sand, on April 1, and the album includes bass contributions from his father and Vail Jazz Workshop Education Director John Clayton; listen here to “Water’s Edge.” The pianist then performs on April 4 at the Johnson Theater in Durham NH. 

Trumpeter Anthony Hervey (2014) performs with the Christian McBride Big Band April 7-10 at Dizzy’s in NYC.

Drummer Bryan Carter (2007) is on stage April 8-9 at the Ferring Jazz Bistro in St. Louis, and with the Roxy Coss All-Star Sextet at Murry’s in Columbia MO on April 10.

Trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire (2000) performs with a quartet on April 9 at the Guild Theater in Menlo Park CA.

Bassist Katie Thiroux (2005) performs at the Berklee College of Music in Boston on April 9.

Opening on April 9 for Bernstein’s Overture to Candide! by the Downey Symphonic Orchestra in Downey CA is Dottie Nadolski conducting “Simple Gifts,” a Shaker song arranged exclusively for the Orchestra by 2015 Workshop piano alum Luca Mendoza.

Isaiah Thompson (2014 piano) performs with the John Pizzarelli Trio on April 10 at The Ellen Theatre in Bozeman MT, and on April 11 at Union Hall at Capitol Theater in Salt Lake City. 

2002 drums alum Marcus Gilmore performs, along with 2011 saxophone alum Elena Pinderhughes playing flute, on pianist Samora Pinderhughes’s (Elena’s brother’s) new single, “Holding Cell,” (listen here) from his new album, Grief, due out on April 15. The album is part of the pianist’s years-long multimedia effort on loss, structural violence, and possibilities for healing and liberation, known as The Healing Project.

Pianist James Francies (2012) performs on trumpeter Marquis Hill’s recently-released album, New Gospel Revisited. Listen to “Farewell.” And he produced and arranged singer Yebba’s newly-released Live at Electric Lady EP – live recordings of five songs from her debut album Dawn. Here is the track “The Age of Worry,” with Francies on piano.

Vocalist Cecile McLorin Salvant’s new album, Ghost Song, features 2002 alum Sullivan Fortner on piano; listen to “Moon Song” here.

Multi-instrumentalist Julius Rodriguez (aka Orange Julius)’s forthcoming debut album, Let Sound Tell All, features Daryl Johns (2011) on bass; you can listen to the lead single, “Gift of the Moon,” now.