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Concert to feature works by jazz bassist and composer |
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Vicki L. Kroll |
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Mar 12, 2007 |
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| Damschroder |
Saxophonist Gunnar Mossblad recorded a disc titled Bebop Process Excellence, Volume 2: Tribute to Charles Mingus last year with legendary jazz drummer Jimmy Cobb, who recorded with Miles Davis on Kind of Blue.
“My project concept was to put an all-star group together featuring several bass players paying homage to other great bass players from jazz history," said Mossblad, UT professor of music. “The soon-to-be-released recording was so successful that I thought it would make a great presentation for one of our Jazz Master Series concerts, especially with these three great bass players — Marion Hayden, Jeff Halsey and UT’s own Norm Damschroder.”
“A Tribute to Charles Mingus” will take place Wednesday, March 14, at 8 p.m. in the Center for Performing Arts Recital Hall on Main Campus. Tickets are $5 and $3 for students and seniors.
Mingus was a bass player and composer known for fusing elements of jazz, classical and gospel. As a bandleader, he focused on collective improvisation, noting how each musician interacted with the group. He recorded more than 100 albums and wrote over 300 scores. In 1997, Mingus was honored with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
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| Halsey |
“He is a great composer and bass player,” Mossblad said of Mingus. “He had a very unique sound to both his music and his playing, a very personal sound that is based in the blues tradition.”
Three bass players will perform during the concert with the UT Jazz Ensemble, which is directed by Mossblad.
Damschroder, UT lecturer in the Music Department, will play “Haitian Fight Song.” He has performed with Rosemary Clooney, Barry Harris, Jon Hendricks, Michael Feinstein and Sandi Patty. He is a member of the Toledo Symphony Jazz Trio.
Halsey, professor of music at Bowling Green State University, will perform “Jelly Roll.” He has toured the United States, Europe and Africa, and has played with Tommy Flanagan, Dizzy Gillespie, Arturo Sandoval and J.C. Heard.
Hayden, adjunct assistant professor of jazz bass and improvisation studies at the University of Michigan, will play “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat.” A co-founder of the jazz group Straight Ahead, she is touring with Free Radicals, an ensemble led by saxophonist/composer Donald Walden.
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| Hayden |
The three bassists will take the stage together for “Self-Portrait in Three Colors” and “Boogie Stop Shuffle,” as well as a few impromptu interludes.
For more information on the performance that is part of the UT Jazz Master Series, call the Music Department at 419.530.2448 or e-mail jazz@utoledo.edu.
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