News

Alumni Happenings

Nov. 2- 15, 2022

1996 Workshop alum Tia Fuller (saxophone) – a Denver native who holds a Master’s degree in
Jazz from the University of Colorado at Boulder and teaches full-time at the Berklee College of
Music in Boston – is backed by a rhythm section comprised of Pittsburgh-area musicians at the
52nd annual Pitt Jazz Seminar and Concert, in the Bellefield Hall auditorium on November 4.
Fuller is then a guest artist at the Pitt Jazz faculty concert in the same venue on November 5,
performing the music of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, and that day she also hosts a
community workshop at the Afro-American Music Institute. You can catch Fuller in another
Pittsburgh performance on November 12 at the August Wilson Cultural Center.

Performances

2009 saxophone alum Max Zooi continues touring as a member of Sammy Rae & The Friends,
and their next stop is on November 2 at the Gothic Theatre in Englewood CO. Performances
are then slated for November 3 at the Commonwealth Room in Salt Lake City, November 4 at
the Knitting Factory Concert House in Boise ID, November 6 and 7 at the Showbox in Seattle,
November 9 at McMenamins Crystal Ballroom in Portland OR, November 11 at the Regency
Ballroom in San Francisco, November 12 and 13 at the Fonda Theatre in LA, and November 15
at House of Blues in San Diego.

2014 piano alum Isaiah J. Thompson performs November 2-6 at Jazz St. Louis in St. Louis; then
he’s at the Carlyle in NYC for a November 8-11 engagement. Thompson performs again at the
Carlyle, on November 15, with guitarist/vocalist John Pizzarelli.

Trumpeter Benny Benack (2008) criss-crosses the country multiple times for these
performances: a jazz jam residency November 2 at Smalls in NYC, where 2008 bass alum Raviv
Markowitz will join him; November 3 at Arthur’s Tavern in NYC; teaming with trumpeter and
vocalist Bria Skonberg for two nights, November 5 and 6, at Dizzy’s in NYC; with the Lineage
Trio on November 7 at the Baked Potato in LA; leading a sunset series performance on
November 8 at Bayside Restaurant in Newport Beach CA; back to NYC for a jazz jam residency
on November 9 at Smalls; another gig at Arthur’s Tavern on on November 10; and a quartet
performance on November 13 at Django in NYC.

Pianist Gerald Clayton (2002) and drummer Obed Calvaire (1998) join saxophonist Ben
Wendel’s quartet in performances November 2-6 at the Village Vanguard in NYC.

2011 drums alum Mike Mitchell (aka Blaque Dynamite) performs at The Blue Note NYC on
November 3.

The Charles McPherson Quartet, with David Wong (1999) on bass (and Workshop mentor Terell
Stafford on trumpet), performs November 3-6 at Smoke Jazz Club in NYC.

Owen Broder (2007 saxophone) performs in a quintet tribute to the late saxophonist Johnny
Hodges on November 3 at The Royal Room in Seattle, on November 4 at Joe’s Mood Indigo in
Bend OR, on November 5 at Jazz Station in Eugene OR, and on November 6 at The 1905 in
Portland OR.

Robert Glasper (1997 piano) performs at Sony Hall in NYC on November 3 and at the Blue Note
in NYC (where he continues his residency) November 4-6. Glasper then commemorates the
10th anniversary of his ground-breaking album, Black Radio, with special guests from hip hop,
jazz, R&B, and soul, on November 13 during The Kennedy Center’s Hip Hop Culture and
Contemporary Music program’s 2022-2023 season in Washington DC. Watch this video of ABC
News with Glasper recently discussing his journey in music and his collaborations with artists
across different genres.

Bassist Russell Hall (2010) fronts his band Bessie at Rom 31 in NYC on November 4.

2007 saxophone alum Chad Lefkowitz-Brown has two more touring dates with trumpeter Chris
Botti—on November 4 at Four Winds Casino in New Buffalo MI and on November 5 at the
Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel IN. Then he has a two-night gig at Kirkwood
Community College, November 11 and 12, in Cedar Rapids IA.

Avant garde composer Jessie Cox and the Sun Ra Arkestra, with Sam Yulsman (2007) on piano,
are in concert at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music in NYC on November 5.

Trombonist Jeffery Miller (2013) takes the stage with the Duke Ellington Orchestra on
November 5 at the Booth Playhouse in Charlotte NC. Then Miller has a series of NYC gigs:
November 7 at Sleep No More, November 8 at The Ned Nomad, November 13 at Soho House,
and back at Sleep No More on November 14.

2002 piano alum Sullivan Fortner performs in the 11th Annual James Moody Jazz Festival
presented by the New Jersey Performing Arts Center on November 8, and streamed on NJPAC’s
Facebook Live page, www.facebook.com/njpac/. Fortner then performs solo at Decatur House
in Washington DC on November 14.

The Amina Figarova Sextet, with 2000 alum Luques Curtis on bass, appears at Kleinhans Music
Hall in Buffalo NY on November 11, during the Art of Jazz series.

The band Fruit Bats, with 2001 alum Frank LoCrasto on piano, performs on November 11 at the
Honda Center in Anaheim CA and on November 12 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento CA.

1996 saxophone alum Tia Fuller (see lead item above) performs in the Uhuru Jazz Sessions at
the August Wilson African American Cultural Center in Pittsburgh on November 12.

Saxophonist Grace Kelly (2008) performs on November 12 at the Taos Jazz Festival in Taos NM.

Trumpeter Keyon Harrold (1997) appears at the Blue Note in NYC on November 13.

2001 trumpet alum Christian Scott ATunde Adjuah appears at the Blue Note in NYC on
November 14.

Recordings

Trumpeter Takuya Kuroda’s new album, Midnight Crisp, features saxophonist Craig Hill (2005);
listen to “Choy Soda.”

Saxophonist Owen Broder (2007) has released Hodges: Front and Center, Vol. 1, a tribute to the
late saxophone master Johnny Hodges, and the album features Bryan Carter (2007) on drums;
listen to “Royal Garden Blues.”

The Emmet Cohen Trio, with Russell Hall (2010) on bass, has released Uptown in Orbit, and it
features Patrick Bartley (2010 sax) on a couple of tracks; here’s one of them, “The Loneliest.”

Venezuelan mandolinist Jorge Glem and accordionist Sam Reider release their debut duo studio
album, Brooklyn-Cumana, on November 4 with special guests including saxophonist Eddie
Barbash (2005); their album-release event is on November 9 at the David Rubinstein Atrium at
Lincoln Center in NYC.

On November 11, guitarist Bill Frisell releases Four, featuring Gerald Clayton on piano.

Recognitions, Awards & Other Items of Note

Rhodes Music has named Robert Glasper (1997 piano) its debut US endorsee and, in
celebration, has released this video of him recently performing “Valdez in the Country” at The
Blue Note in NYC with Terrace Martin (1997) joining on saxophone.

Fire broke out on the second floor of the Blues Alley jazz club in Washington DC early in the
evening of October 25, just before 2007 saxophone alum Owen Broder was set to perform with his band. Broder and the musicians were able to retrieve their instruments and move to safety. The club plans to reopen any day now.